liminal animal (a-thousand-blades of grass version) (2022-24)

liminal animal (a-thousand-blades-of-grass version) is an outdoor projection installation. It arises out of a solo dance performance practice (liminal animal) in which I embody an emerging being, slowly moving face down on the ground. The result of the design of the video and projection, viewers have said, is that my body appears to be emerging out of the earth.

The work explores humans’ existence as fleeting biological entities and relationship to the rest of the natural world. My appearing to be there in the grass while also clearly not actually being creates a feeling of the uncanny that highlights tensions in that relationship.

The work has been presented by Fulton County Arts at the Emma Darnell Aviation Cultural Center in Atlanta; by Alternate ROOTS at ROOTSWeek 2024 outside Asheville, NC; and at the Rubenstein Arts Center at Duke University. Various iterations have been presented with support from an Alternate ROOTS Artistic Assistance grant.

Credits: Concept, Movement, and Projection: Brooks Emanuel /// Camera: Elizabeth Houck-Zozaya /// Post: Simone Barros

liminal animal (found animals)(2024)

For Sleepy Fest 2024 music festival in Saxapahaw, NC, I created a new work with six dancers that I projected onto the iconic ink vat that serves as the logo for the historic Haw River Ballroom that hosted the festival. For portions of the evening, a DJ also played inside the ink vat. Featuring Mauri Connors, Indigo Cook, Emma Geiger, Erica Janko, Emma Little, and Pinky Thomas. Produced with support from Culture Mill.

liminal animal (Sleepy Fest variation) (2024)

For Sleepy Fest 2024 music festival in Saxapahaw, NC, I projected the original liminal animal not only onto the lawn but then also across a walled walkway into a bed of tall grasses and flowers. The site allowed me to experiment not only with these mixed surfaces but also with letting festival-goers walk through and interact with the work. As always, children showed they know how to do this best.

sleeve of saltines (2024)

Freestyling is how I began dancing as a kid, and it still comprises a central part of my work. I have trained in a breadth of forms and often explore the interplay among them. Here, in short freestyle from the TANK/TINK event in Durham, North Carolina, I played with movements and music that both move me deeply and spoke to each other very naturally for me, but which might not initially strike many people as relating to each other. I am interested in the information we can find in the moments of rupture created by such unexpected juxtapositions.

liminal animal (origin) (2021)

"liminal animal" is a performance practice that began spontaneously within another movement practice. While moving, I found myself embodying an emerging being. It was not (and still is not) clear whether the being is human. This video captures a portion of that spontaneous emergence.

I have since explored the process by engaging in it for up to 2 hours at a time. I have conceptualized multiple iterations of the process as performance, projection, and film works, some of which have been realized—like "liminal animal (a-thousand-blades-of-grass version)” and some which have yet to be.

Everybody’s Here (2021)

"Everybody's Here" is a durational, site-determined piece that utilizes the movement of people both with and without formal dance backgrounds. The iteration excerpted here was performed on the quad on Duke University's East Campus in December 2021.

Dancers: Kelsey Brod, Amal Dadi, Emma Geiger, Braulio Guemez, Marika Niko, Kendra Tse, Zhixuan “Miki” Zhu.

Transmography (2012)

"Transmography" was performed at the gallery Poem 88 in Atlanta, in conjunction with the residency of visual artist Phillip Buntin. The piece was inspired by Buntin's work, the impossibility of true repetition, and the change inherent in attempted repetition. The piece explores the patterns created through repetition of one movement phrase over time, across bodies, and through interaction and interruption.

Dancers: Jessica Gaines, Aasim Hudson, Chris McCord, Rachael Rinehart, Said Rios, and Lane Eldridge Salter /// Music: "eight zero one" by lacunae and "Sacrificial" by Shigeto