OPHELIA
noc-turne
noun
:a work of art dealing with evening or night
Welcome to noc-turne
For the sake of performers and the audience experience:
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No food or beverage allowed in the studio.
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Place your chairs in designated areas only.
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Use the restroom before the show starts. It will not be possible to access the restroom during the show.
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Please, no filming or photography.
Thank You! Enjoy the Show!
Director's Notes
This is a story born in the wake of grief, both personal and collective: the grief of death, of pandemic, of George Floyd’s murder, of overwhelming isolation, of January 6th’s insurrection, of the end of Roe. The grief of understanding that my new horror was a long-lived reality for so many.
Collectively, the past three years are a history that has been repeated over and over: systemic injustices, tumult, pandemic, action, and a reckoning with the disparate realities of what “We, the People” actually means. Personally, the last two years have ushered in more deaths than any other single year of my life. The losses felt, emotionally and spiritually, like a kind of drowning.
It was in this place that, in a quiet moment after Roe was overturned, I found myself reflecting on Shakespeare’s tragic character Ophelia. In the cold violence of a kingdom in crisis, Ophelia is a woman driven mad by the death of her father at the hands of the man she hoped to marry. Her most famous contribution to Hamlet is her watery death, either by broken bough or intentional suicide. There have been so many Ophelias: bright lights, promising minds, snuffed out under the crush of isolated grief in a culture that holds no room for its floods. And I wondered, could it be different?
In noc-turne, Ophelia, I wanted to hold space to explore my personal grief. By the end of our first rehearsal, I realized: I’m not alone. Now, we open this space once more to welcome you, and to ask:
When grief makes a home in your bones, when it drowns you, how do you sink?
And how do you rise?
-Greyce Skinner
"Dancing was barely tolerated, if at all, so they danced in the forest where no one could see them..."
-Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Women Who Run With the Wolves
"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."
-William Shakespeare
Hamlet
Show
CAST
Ophelia ——————————— Octavia
Wild Woman —————————— Kyra
Sirens of the Wild Woman ——–-———— Heather, Anna, Savannah, Christina
Monsters of the River —–———–-———— Desirée, Sarah, Summer, Shannon
PRODUCTION
Producer, Director, Group Choreographer ————————- Greyce Skinner
Choreographer, “Bottom of the River” ————————- Georgia May Wake
All solo pieces were choreographed by the performer.
RUN OF SHOW
cast listed by performer name
in order of appearance
Welcome ———–————— Kyra, Heather, Savannah,Christina, Octavia
“Ophelia”, Natalie Merchant ————— Octavia, Kyra, Heather, Anna, Savannah, Christina
“Heavy in Your Arms”, Florence + The Machine ——------ Octavia
“Bottom of the River”, Delta Rae ———- Georgia, Sarah, Summer, Heather, Savannah
“Sinking”, Feverkin ——————— Heather
“Where the Dark Things Are”, Kerli —————— Shannon
“Dark Side”, Bishop Briggs ———————--- Anna
“Mad Woman”, Sevdaliza ——————------ Savannah
“WHEN I WAS OLDER”, Billie Eilish ——-------- Christina
“Dead in the Water”, Spelles —— Octavia, Georgia, Sarah, Summer, Kyra, Savannah, Anna, Heather, Christina, Shannon
SPECIAL THANKS
Ashlee Renee | Tease Studio Denver
Emily Petrie | Uncommon Practice Pilates
Mitchell Reinhart—Reinhart Designs
Miranda Podmore
Rachel Graham—RDGPhotography
Ryan Kacirek
Stefanie Chow
STORY
In the following sections, each choreographer and cast member of noc-turne: Ophelia will introduce their character and what they hope to teach in this new story of Ophelia. In their introduction, they will share about their character’s role in this reimagining of the tragic tale, about themselves as dancers and storytellers, and about the tool they use to craft narrative: their bodies. They will tell you about a part of themselves that feels dangerous, powerful, and
feminine, and about an object unrelated to the body that embodies these same ideas.
CAST
(in order of Appearance)
KYRA | Wild Woman / Original Poetry
The Wild Woman walks freely on the bridge between the known and the un-known. She carries the knowledge and smoldering bravery of lifetimes, and beckons to those who seek more. As Ophelia will learn, the Wild Woman provides no map, but she is the unwavering companion of any who dare delve deep.
This is my second year in noc-turne. I got my B.A. in poetry from the University of Colorado Denver, but I have been telling stories since before I could write. My movement and journey started with dance when I was very young. While I have tried on many forms of movement over the years, I always return to dance, because it is a way to live the story I am telling.
My shoulder blades are the shields that protect the muscles where my body carries emotions. If they were an ordinary object, they would be a hori hori knife. In one interpretation, it is a universal gardening tool. In another, it is a weapon whose only purpose is the creation and maintenance of life.
“All one might need, all that we might ever need,
is...whispering from the bones of story.”
-Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run with The Wolves
MARGAUX | Siren
"Sinking" -- Feverkin
My piece opens with Ophelia waking up in the river of purgatory, covered by her death shroud. She is caught in the indecision of fighting for her soul to remain on earth or moving on to the afterlife. Throughout the piece, Ophelia struggles through the stages of grieving her own passing and while her heart keeps trying to
move on. I am the embodiment of the desperate determination of Ophelia's soul to rewrite her narrative in a book she already closed.
I spent 15 years of my early life doing ballet and the same amount of time dedicated to hip hop as an adult. Dance has been a consistent source of joy and peace. The beautiful and wonderful in my life has been bookmarked in the library of my mind by specific songs I've danced to. I have been a dancer for as long as I've carried the weight of my depression, but I have always felt the need to protect my love for dance from being "infected" by the darkness of my depression.
I have also always felt that my dance vocabulary has been limited because I've only explored dance through someone else's movement. This piece is the first time I've choreographed anything in my voice and it's the first time I've allowed myself to feel the depths of my darkness in dance.
A person's arms and hands hold a beautiful dichotomy of power and grace. The same motor functions used to climb mountains or wrap someone in an embrace can also delicately wipe a tear, write a letter, or open a pickle jar that has already been graciously loosened for you. It is in the balance of the major movement of the arms and the minor movement of the hands that we are able to exist as functional
humans. These muscles also make a dancer an effective storyteller. One of my favorite things to notice in dancers is how they carry their arms.
Your arms and hands are also a physical extension of your emotions and are often the first things in your body to react. When you feel unsafe, you wrap your arms around yourself. When someone is hurt, we extend our hand to help them. The understated power of a person choosing softness in touch, despite life's hardships, is something to be respected. To extend your hand to someone simply because you
care about them genuinely has the power of life or death.
“We slip into the darkness of our grief and depression, as if it were a body of water, not knowing whether or not it will consume us.”
ANNA | Siren
"Dark Side" -- Bishop Briggs
My piece expresses to Ophelia that softness in darkness can be found. Floating in darkness can feel like the only form of peace in chaos and leaning into it can release the tension. Once the tension is gone, you’re free.
I started dancing years ago but fell in love with pole and aerial dancing this year.
The wrists are what hold the most strength of the rest of our bodies. The power that our wrists allow us to become an extension of the silk to melt our bodies into one with the dance and the silk shows the true feminine nature of our power.
“We are kept from our goal not by obstacles, but by a clear path to a lesser goal .”
-Bhagavad Gita
SAVANNAH | Siren
"Mad Woman" -- Sevdaliza
My piece depicts a woman driven to insanity by men. Her head is light with dizziness and anger while heartbroken, confused tears stream down her face. Her blood boils, contrasting a broken spirit yearning for understanding. In the progression of the piece, this woman ascends to an enlightened state of strength, self worth, and understanding. She becomes the embodiment of assuredness. A lone wolf when she needs to be. A nurturer when she wants to be. An ally to all women, and a
teacher to those who are in acceptance. She attends to the wide-eyed naive girl she once was with forgiveness and love.
I have a frame built for muscle. It has taken a long time to accept my traditionally non-feminine upper body. As a now retired commercial dancer, a profession where body shaming and eating disorders are more common than not, I've been afforded the opportunity to shift my focus to what my body can give me now as opposed to what "it used to be". This has led me to appreciate all of my assets, especially my
arms, and fully respect and nurture my body. The form that I carry now is who I've always been. Strong, powerful, and grounded. This is like a bridge girder.
“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
-J. K. Rowling
OCTAVIA | Ophelia
"Heavy In Your Arms" -- Florence and The Machine
I have the opportunity to portray Ophelia's journey from lost to something new. I hope to embody the aspect of change and transformation that is both enlightening, beautiful, and terrifying.
This is my second year performing with noc-turne. I have been an aerialist and mover for six years and an artist since I was a small human.
The part of my body that I feel is both dangerous and powerful is my heart. The more time I spend with my heart the more I see its range in strength, delicacy, resiliency, fragility, and boundless capacity while also the need to set limits for it. An object I feel best represents my heart is a bird.
"Hearts are wild creatures."
-Unknown
CHRISTINA | Siren
"WHEN I WAS OLDER" -- Billie Eilish
My character is a woman who lost her partner and in losing that love felt like she had been swept under a tidal wave. After fighting for so long, she was drowning, felt like life was flickering away, and she lacked the strength to continue. She started to believe the surface didn’t exist anymore. She drifted down into darkness, and there, completely removed from the rest of the world, found peace within herself. That peace evolved into power because she realized she didn’t need to fight—she was the waves. She would rise and fall, but always continue. Sometimes violent, sometimes calm, but always making progress, never stuck. In that power she was able to take her life back, crawl from the depths, and sail towards new beginnings where joy would be found once more.
She is here to show Ophelia that even when it feels like the fight is lost, she still has power within her. When everyone around her is telling her what to do or think, when she feels out of control of her situation, she can find the power to reclaim herself and steer her life in a new direction. Even after falling to the deepest depths of despair, there is still hope.
I draw the inspiration for my character’s journey from my own life experiences. I found my peace in nature and in movement. Dance has allowed me to reclaim my power. I’m grateful to be able to use movement to tell my story.
A part of my body that that feels dangerous or powerful or feminine is my belly. I think of it as something soft and malleable, and also resilient. It’s something that I have fought against and hated but finally accepted no matter it’s fluctuating form/size. If I were to recapture how I feel about that part of myself into an object, it would be a bowl. It is a vessel that wants hold things. Sometimes it is full of abundance, nourishment, overflowing. Sometimes it can also be empty. But it exists to be full.
“Look, we are not unspectacular things.
We’ve come this far, survived this much. What
Would happen if we decided to survive more? To love harder?
What if we stood up with our synapses and flesh and said, No.
No, to the rising tides.”
- Ada Limón, “Dead Stars”
SARAH | Monster
"Bottom of the River"-- Delta Rae
Our piece symbolizes the beginning of Ophelia’s journey. My movement reflects what a strange, intense, otherworldly creature I am.
My hair is a part of my body that makes me feel powerful and confident and feminine. It is long, wavy, thick, and red —it captures attention and defines me in others eyes before I even speak. As a dancer, I love to use my hair to pull attention and punctuate choreography. It is like a feather boa—it can be used to hide and reveal, to tease and titillate, and with the proper moves, it can convey power and confidence or sensuality and gentleness.
“Feminine power is silent, dark, mysterious, healing, nurturing.
A woman can walk into a room and control it.
She doesn’t even have to open her mouth if she knows where her power is.”
-Iyanla Vanzant
SUMMER | Monster
"Bottom of the River" -- Delta Rae
Like Ophelia, my character was driven mad by a man. She fell prey to his manipulation and abuse for so many years that she lost herself. Only by finding like-minded souls has she discovered who she is. She shows Ophelia that she already has the strength to overcome her challenges and she will always have help when it’s needed.
I started dancing when I was still scared of thunderstorms and was so weak I couldn’t turn without falling. Through life I’ve learned that storms are raw power and through dance I’ve learned that I can be too.
The neck is delicate, lovely, and shows elegance and beauty. Though these things are typically considered a weakness, the neck has the most important job in the body: communicating all wants and needs of the brain internally through a highway of neurons, and expressing emotion with muscle and posture. Through its vulnerability, it has strength and power. It is like silk: soft and beautiful, made from the smallest fibers, but pound for pound stronger than steel.
“Feminism isn't about making women stronger. Women are already strong, it's about changing the way the world perceives that strength .”
-G. D. Anderson
SHANNON | Siren
"Where the Dark Things Are" -- Kerli
My piece is welcoming Ophelia to the darkness where the unknown lives, but resilient and unbroken feminine energy grows still, unable to be smothered by the mud.
I think my shoulders are the most powerful and sexy part of me. They cut beautiful lines but when I call on them, they transform. The muscles come to life beneath my skin and they are able to take my weight and the weight of anything I need of them. They allow the rest of me to be carefree and move easily. If I were to recapture them in something other than me, it would be a willow tree that provides shelter for women to dance below it.
“The presence of fear and darkness does not mean
that the hopeful parts of me cease to exist.”
-Erin Frye
Production
GEORGIA MAY WAKE | Choreographer
"Bottom of the River" -- Delta Rae
This piece is about Ophelia's adventure to the deep. The dirty River Monsters, the guides forward, come forth from the darkness to greet Ophelia, perform the ritual to allow for her safe departure, and transport her to begin her newest journey.
Georgia May Wake is the pseudonym for my human name, Holly Herrin. I am a choreographer and teacher who desires most for my work to tell a story. From Burlesque to Contemporary dance styles, I hope to portray a message that makes you feel whole, while also wanting more. I have been a dance performer and teacher for many years, but have been teaching at Tease Studio for just over 2 years. My passion for storytelling, teaching, and breeding confidence in students has left me very excited for the performance piece from my Contemporary Jazz class for noc-turne.
My brain is powerful. Intellectual conversation and the ability to contemplate and discuss topics is the quintessential human trait that drives us. It can be terrifying to entertain ideas and thoughts that don't match your preconceived notions and the ability to do so is one of the most powerful evolutionary gains of humankind.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain an idea without accepting it.”
-Aristotle
GREYCE SKINNER | Producer/Director
I am an actor, aerialist, movement teacher, and director with over 20 years of focused performing arts experience.
I began my aerial journey in 2012. While living in Los Angeles I had the great pleasure of training, teaching, and performing at The Choreography House under the instruction of Kelly Yvonne. In 2018, I began training and teaching low-dance trapeze at Aerial Works Castle Rock under the guidance of Rebekah Leach. I'm also thrilled to be a part of Ashlee Renee's team at Tease Studio: teaching sling and pole choreography.
A part of my body that feels dangerous, powerful, and feminine is my back. I will often look over my shoulder at the expanse of my back. The curvature of my spine, the edges of my tattoo. My back shows off the efforts I have made to strengthen and more clearly articulate my physical presence in the world.
“Your power doesn’t reside in what you withhold.”
-Denise Soler Cox
"Art is not just for oneself, not just the marker of one's own understanding. It is also a map for those who follow after us."
-Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Women Who Run With the Wolves
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