Before it hurts. at The Tank

Before it hurts is a dance theater piece structured like a concept album. With form, we intend to stretch and explore the boundaries of dance vocabulary and theatrical text. We’re interested in ways of expression that transcend the confinement of context and conventions of both dance and theater. With content, this piece dissects the tensions between intimacy and isolation, power and vulnerability – the fine line between kiss and kill. What happens when theatrical storytelling is not organized by plot but by a tone and relational theme that weave through fragmented, poetic dialogues? What happens when bodies hold, specify, and heighten the ambiguity of the words? 

Through interdisciplinary collaboration, this work is a study on developing relationships through physical movement. We seek to present clarity in movement but fluidity in relationship, balance physicality and text, and earn stillness and silence in equal measure. What can we learn from what is left unspoken?