A new dance theater work makes its DC premier at the Capital Fringe in July

WASHINGTON, DC, USA, July 8, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- “A Good Woman” is a new dance theater work reimagining of the story of the Odyssey’s Penelope. Waiting at home for her husband Odysseus to return, Penelope weaves and unweaves a shroud, hoping that she can avoid being forced to marry one of many suitors who desire her body and title. In a creative collaboration between two queer femme performers, a dancer and a violinist, and a loom, the work delves deeper into Penelope’s inner narrative, untangling relationships to gendered ideals, shame, and pleasure.

“A Good Woman” is performed by Nerissa Tunnessen and Sam Xiao Cody. Choreography is by Nerissa Tunnessen and composition is by Sam Xiao Cody. The set was designed in collaboration by the artists as were costumes. Lighting design by Nerissa Tunnessen, and are operated by Aemilia Tunnessen.

Nerissa Tunnessen (they/them) is a dancer and choreographer based in Philadelphia, PA. With a BA in History from Vassar College, Tunnessen’s work often interrogates historical movements and subject matter with a contemporary twist. Recently, Nerissa has had the pleasure of showing and performing in work at Asheville Fringe, Richmond Fringe, Philadelphia Fringe, Triskelion Arts, NYU JCT Theater, Kefalos Municipal Theater, the Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture, KYLD Inhale, When Waves Collide Festival, the River Dance Festival, and alongside Carne Viva Dance Theater at Urban Movement Arts. Nerissa is a founding member of NYC Based Gesture Theater. To find more about them visit Nerissatunnessen.com.

Samantha Xiao Cody is a queer, half-Chinese writer and violinist from Silver Spring, Maryland. She has performed both solo and ensemble pieces in Washington D.C., Princeton, New York, Dublin, Vienna, Budapest, and Prague, among other places. Their written work is published in the New England Review, the Missouri Review, Best Small Fictions, and elsewhere. She currently lives in Philadelphia, where she likes to knit in her free time.

Nerissa and Sam practice a cross-disciplinary investigation of form through text, conversation, and embodied practice. Working collaboratively, they are interested in interrogating the structures and histories of each medium, creating subtle critiques of “western” cannon to divine deeper meaning on the material impacts of those cannons on global power structures. Their work is process-driven, prioritizing exploration, improvisation, and conversation between artistic forms. A Good Woman premiered at the Richmond Fringe Festival in April and was shown at the When Waves Collide Festival while in process.

“A Good Woman” plays at DCJCC’s Cafritz Hall as follows:

July 11 at 8:40 pm
July 13 at 4:45 pm
July 19 at 8:50 pm
July 21 at 1:00 pm

Tickets are $15 and
can be purchased online at capitalfringe.org.
Contact: Nerissa Tunnessen at (202) 441 7044 or ntunnessen@gmail.com

Nerissa Tunnessen
Nerissa Tunnessen and Sam Xiao Cody
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