As if everything was perfect

As if everything was perfect, directed and choreographed by Gianna Burright, confronts the pressure women carry and the constant negotiation between compassion and guilt.

A character-driven embodiment of a woman’s internalized sense of responsibility, As if everything was perfect centers women’s oscillation between having compassion for past, current, and future versions of themselves and extreme guilt. Humor, surreal imagery, and sharp physicality move through memories, fantasies, imagined futures, colliding with the push and pull of expectation: too much, too little, too early, too late. Brooms function as both metaphor and partner, unearthing domestic labor, discipline, and the weight of responsibility. Joy and despair sit side by side as this performance work, scored by Shio Tepper, lingers in contradiction, complexity, and the many shades of gray, inviting audiences into a layered emotional landscape.

Details

Commissioned by Baryshnikov Arts, Will Premiere November 12 & 13 at BAC.

Upcoming fall 2024 Baryshnikov Arts Center Artist Residency

Supported by Jacobs Pillow and Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship

Supported by Dance Gallery Festival

Collaborators/Dancers: Ariel Clarke, Piper Dye & Alex Rix

Collaborators who have breathed life into the work: Natalie Allen, Nicole Hagen & Tess Hewlett

Composer/Collaborator: Sio Tepper

Costume Designer: Olivia Kirschbaum

Photography by Stephen Cummings Danica Paulos, Zach Hyman & Hope Spears

“The beginning of Gianna Burright’sAs if everything was perfect was magical. A lovely woman, Natalie Allen, slowly entered dressed in a gorgeous blue gown with a floor length black lace jacket and pushing two long handled industrial brooms. The juxtaposition of the two was surreal and her control of the brooms and how she made them dance was amazing.”

-The LA Dance Chronicle, Jeff Slayton

Next
Next

to yell in quiet places, 2023