Nicole Wolcott Presents: rehearsal

Wolcott’s improvisatory performance is a hyper live spectacle blending structured improvisation with her signature comedic flair and "rolodex" of characters. Her compositions operate like a series of cinematographic quick cuts where density of narrative detail is delivered in complex blasts, placed in theatrical settings that look like the dreams of the real places we inhabit. Witnessing a dance being composed in real time gives the audience a sense of being an intimate co-conspirator in the venture and a feeling of shared risk.

Collaborators: Sound Designer Omar Zubair and Production designer Markus Paminger

Nicole Wolcott is an independent choreographer, dance artist and teacher based in Brooklyn, NY and Missoula, MT.  In all of these roles she is driven by an interest in the flux between the body being an abstract kinetic form in space and an amalgam of qualities and experiences that comprise a human identity – an individual who has history, expression, a sense of humor.  Even as she embraces the ineffable nature of this art, it is important to her that people find a part of themselves in the work, so she places her dances in settings that look like the dreams of the real places we inhabit. Her compositions operate like a series of cinematographic quick cuts where density of narrative detail is delivered in complex blasts. The visual and kinesthetic information ultimately compounds and subdivides, giving the audience a sense of being an intimate co-conspirator in the venture.

Contemporary Dance Wyoming Presents: For Maira Kalman

For Maira Kalman

This work-in-progress exists in its most raw form, at the intersection of awareness and transformation. The responsibility of creating any art can be exhausting, leaving one feeling unmoored. As we navigate this human experience, we are the doer, the reactor, and the observer, constantly perceiving the interplay between action and reaction. This short piece is the early stages of a deeper exploration into the idea of holding something and also being held—whether by a person, a concept, space, or by oneself. Inspired by Maira Kalman’s question, “What do women hold?”, this work seeks to uncover the layers of that experience in holding: the work, the work of the world, the work of being human, and most of all, the love.

Francesca Romo- (CDW Associate Artistic Director and Dancer)

FRANCESCA ROMO was born in London and knew she wanted to dance early in life. After graduating from the Royal Ballet School and London Contemporary Dance School, she danced for The Richard Alston Dance Company from 2003-2006. While on tour, she fell in love with the U.S., and moved to New York to Co-found the Gallim Dance Company in 2006 where she was Associate Director until 2014. Francesca has had the fortune of touring and working both internationally and nationally, and now resides at Dancers’ Workshop in Jackson Hole where she dances, teaches,and  mentors. Fran is an integral part of wellness programming, teaching Gyrotonic and Craniosacral work with both adults and infants. She is a recipient of the Wyoming Arts Council Grant for 2022. 

Michaela Ellingson  (CDW member)

Michaela Ellingson is a dancer, choreographer, educator, aspiring poet and outdoor enthusiast from Jackson, Wyoming. She received her BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase and MA from London Contemporary Dance School. She danced with EDge Postgraduate Company and performed work by Itamar Serussi, Robert Clark, Eleesha Drennan and Siobhan Davies. In London she also performed with multi-disciplinary companies Bittersuite and Flavour & Some. She has been a member of Contemporary Dance Wyoming for 7 seasons and she is a guest artist with David Dorfman Dance. She was awarded a Wyoming Arts Council Performing Arts Fellowship Grant in 2022. She is the Junior Company Director at Dancers' Workshop and also teaches Pilates. 

Bailey Walker (CDW member ) 

Bailey Walker is an artist, choreographer, and educator originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated from Southern Utah University with a Bachelor of Science in Dance Education. Bailey is an accomplished teacher and choreographer whose work and teaching philosophies center around contemplating, understanding, and expanding the human experience through dance. Bailey is a registered yoga teacher (RYT200) and often draws from philosophies associated with yoga in order to inform mindful and intentional movement.

Bailey has had opportunities to be trained and mentored by many artists, educators, and activists who have influenced and inspired her on her artistic journey. She has had the privilege to share the space, work with, and learn from artists such as Kay Anderson, Nick Blaylock, Alexandra Bradshaw-Yerby, Bill Evans, Raja Feather Kelly, Danielle Lydia Sheather, and Yin Yue. 

Bailey is an accomplished choreographer. Her dance film Seven Worlds (2021), was an official selection of the Red Rock Film Festival in 2021. This work was also featured as a live dance piece at the American Collegiate Dance Association Conference (ACDA) in 2022. Most recently Bailey received a grant from Southern Utah University to stage her own evening-length work entitled Crossing, Burning, Crossing (2022). This work featured a score that she created in tandem with the choreography and concept. 

Along with creating her own work, Bailey has had the privilege to contribute to and observe many creative processes. She has performed works choreographed by artists such as Alexandra Bradshaw-Yerby, Nick Blaylock, Larry Keigwin, Danielle Lydia Sheather, and Yin Yue.

This is Bailey's first year dancing with Contemporary Dance Wyoming.