Styx and Stones: a re-imagining of the Orpheus myth
2024. Created and performed by Elinor Harrison in collaboration with Jorrell Lawyer-Jefferson. Second Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, MO.
“In this work, the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus is picked apart, unraveled, and examined through the framework of Harrison’s creative process. A variety of performance modes are employed and juxtaposed against each other. From physical theatre, to dramatic dialogue, to contemporary dance and the multitude of connotations that carries. These various mediums are constructively utilized to allow for a wide landscape of meanings to unearth themselves.” —Josiah Gundersen
Utterances
2025. Presented by Space Station. Created by Elinor Harrison in collaboration with the dancers. Hope United Church, St. Louis, MO.
Dancers: Sam Fink, Josiah Gundersen, Abbie Hinrichs, Ramona Orion, Paige Van Ness, Zoe de Young.
“This simple and clever device—continuously building and breaking form, and with it the audience's expectations—continued throughout the piece, making for an effective and engaging work. A standout duet between Josiah and Ramona saw her hand placed firmly over his mouth as she egged him on: “I don’t get it. Spit it out, I need you to spit it out! Are you ready? Spit it out!” As the two tried and failed to communicate, they flailed and bounced off each other’s bodies, blending tense antagonism with slapstick in an expertly crafted work.” —Melissa Miller
Dune Alpha
2024. Selected to be performed at the American College Dance Association National Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Created by Elinor Harrison in collaboration with the dancers.
Dancers: Luke Jasso, Lourdes del Mar Santiago Lebrón, Christopher Salango, Lorraine Stippec, Tess Angelica Losada Miner, Olivia Wilton.
"A wondering of alternative spaces and times organized as an unpredictable confetti of dance theater. This work encourages us to imagine dance as a conduit for moving within other realms of now and there.” —ACDA conference adjudicators Stefanie Batten Bland, Thomas F. DeFrantz, and Daniel Roberts
Not all these things are true
Created and performed by Elinor Harrison in collaboration with the dancers. Intersect Arts Center, St. Louis, MO.
Dancers: Leighanne Guettler-James, Erika Harano, Elinor Harrison, Erin Morris, Grace Philion, Jane Tellini, Xi Zhao.
This work is based on the idea that autobiographical memory is integral to our sense of self. According to embodied cognition theory, memory retrieval depends on reactivating physicalized expressions within our bodies, and our animated remembrance of events from our past is how we know who we are.
Table for Two
2022. Created by Elinor Harrison in collaboration with the dancers. Washington University Dance Theatre, St. Louis, MO.
Dancers: Ali Yaniz and Juli Yaniz. Photo credit: Jack Rushen.
“Exploring the interconnectedness of twin memory and cognition, this piece captures the unique relationship of “twinning”—a profound physical and psychological closeness marked by separation. Though developed through deeply personal storytelling about how it feels to share a womb and then a world, the work opens up a model of sociality that can apply to us all.”
Archived works
Mamaland, 2021. Created in collaboration with Jessica Anthony.
Party for the Lonely, 2020. WUDT.
As we drift, 2019. WUDT.
(I)sland, 2015. Fringe Festival Critic’s Pick Award.
Spinning Lines, 2011. Collaboration between Jessica Anthony and visual artist Megan Prince, Invisible Dog, Brooklyn, NY.
Omphaloskepsis, 2011. Dumbo Dance Festival, Brooklyn, NY.
Frank and Mamah, 2010. White Wave Festival, Brooklyn, NY.
Comme si j’etais la seule, 2009. White Wave Festival, Brooklyn, NY.