Gradients of Growth - Dance Performance

On October 26th, Dance theatre artists Lyra Butler-Denman and William Acker perform in response to Gradients of Growth. Their work was made during a week-long residency at Chimera Gallery immersed in Deirdre Murphy's imagery and objects. The performance explores migration, portals, and Murphy's focus on the ecologies of hope.

Tickets are pay what you can, $20 suggested, no one turned away for lack of funds.

This event is held in conjunction with the Closing Reception for Gradients of Growth.

Agenda:

Doors open: 6:00 p.m.

Artist Talk with Deirdre Murphy: 6:30 p.m.

Dance Performance: 7:30 p.m.

Event concludes at 9:00 p.m.

BIOS

Lyra Butler-Denman - I am a dancer, choreographer, actor, theatre maker, deviser, and visual artist based in Portland, OR and Philadelphia, PA. I make live physical performances; plays, dances, and rituals, sometimes all at once. I make work about death, grief, belonging, the damage we do to each other and the planet, and excruciating beauty, noticed and unnoticed. I make work to offer the pleasure of being touched, the joy of our magnificent bodies, the discomfort of change, and the pain of being human in this world.

My work depends on the intimacy, immediacy, and physicality of being in a room with other people, able to hear each other breathe. My work agitates, delights, and disturbs in order to reconnect us to our bodies, each other, and the ecosystems we are inextricably a part of. I believe living fully in our bodies is anti-oppressive practice and that art making, especially with our bodies, is radical cultural and political work. I am obsessed with mycelium, anatomy as metaphor, how dams affect rivers over time, and what happens when we remove them.

Wiliam Acker - My artistic journey is a celebration of the memories etched in my heart, guided by a tender reverence of playful nostalgia. Through my work, I am attempting to imbue the world with the colors of queerness, and hoping to infuse my community, and beyond, with the essence(s) of joyful defiance.

Whether through movement, storytelling, or conversation, I invite others to join me in the exploration of our collective humanity. I attempt to lay bare my pride and my shame, weaving them into the fabric of shared experience - in the hopes of fostering a community where love knows no bounds, and happiness finds its roots in genuine connection.

My mission is to craft spaces where difference is celebrated, where we center authenticity, and where the beauty of diversity is valued. Through my art, I aspire to nurture a world that is not only more meaningful but also brimming with the boundless possibilities of love, acceptance, and understanding.

Host or Publisher Chimaera Gallery