For over a decade Company | E has been commissioning and creating works that speak to the climate crisis. For our 2021 edition of NEXT:WARMER, four remarkable choreographers from four countries were chosen out of over 60 entries.
Tackling exceptional issues with humor, metaphor, insight, and grace, these choreographers, hailing from India, Hungary, Canada, and the United States, bring their own unique perspectives to what President Biden has called the existential crisis of our time.
"the art of looking back" by Emese Nagy (Hungary) is all about the chaos and impact of consumption.
"CURRENT" by Maddie Hanson (Canada) explores water: how the human body is made up of mostly water, how we are dependant on it to live, and yet, how rising sea levels due to human actions are threatening our future.
"These Frames" by Robert Rubama (Brooklyn, NY) is inspired by sustainability practices in building and construction. Drawing on "Architecture: Form, Space, and Order" by Francis D.K. Ching, he finds human form in the design of places.
"Y zero" by Ashley Lobo (India) looks at how humans treat the earth; and that it is only through seeing her as a fellow human that we will begin to see our impact on the only planet we have.
NEXT: WARMER also premieres the work of Rayven Leak, the inaugural winner of the LIZ CHERRY JONES MEMORIAL COMMISSION in partnership with Howard University.
Ms. Leak, a 2020 Howard University graduate, brings her artistry to "Passenger" alongside composer and Company | E Co-Music Director Clifton Brockington.
Named in honor of the late Liz Cherry Jones, the LCJMC is an ongoing annual partnership with Howard University.