photo by Miles Wilder
Choreographer Ella-Gabriel Mason presents an original interdisciplinary performance work, Everything After, at Conwell Dance Theater (1801 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19122) for one night only on September 10th, 2022 at 7:30 pm. The 60 minute piece, weaves together movement, video, photography, text, and original music to explore the labor involved in healing from trauma.
“Though trauma is pervasive in our society, its impact on survivors and the work of healing from traumatic events is often invisible. This performance makes visible the long-term impacts of trauma and the extensive labor survivors perform on our healing journeys. Everything After began as a way for me to reflect and process on my own healing from child abuse and sexual assault and the ways that PTSD can manifest as an invisible disability. Now it has become a way to honor and uplift the labor of survivors, no matter the source of their trauma. Rather than focus on moments of violence and catharsis, what can we learn from the years-long work of recovery that survivors living with PTSD undergo?” – Choreographer and director Ella-Gabriel Mason
The 60-minute movement piece is directed by Ella-Gabriel Mason who also performs alongside collaborating dancers Mandy Hackman, Lia Haynes, Tiana Sanders, Tessa Rhodes, and Madeline Shuron. The work is framed by a projected installation featuring images of Mason in domestic scenes surrounded by a mass of orange pill bottles. Mason has been collecting the bottles which held the anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications since they were diagnosed with PTSD just over a decade ago. The six dancers move through this installation performing movement scores abstracted from PTSD therapies, including Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, Polyvagal Theory, Internal Family Systems, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. A matching musical score, also abstracted from these therapies is played live by composer and videographer Miles Wilder.
Tickets to Everything After are currently on sale by visiting fringearts.com. General admission is $15; student tickets are $5. More information on Ella-Gabriel Mason can be found at moriahellamason.com, and via instagram @ella_theybriel.
This project was funded by a Vice Provost for the Arts Student Grant from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Artist Bio
Ella-Gabriel Mason wants to understand who we are, how we got here, and how we’re all thinking and feeling about that. An artmaker, educator and bodyworker, they combine rigorous academic research with lived experience, words with dance, brain with body, living in the tension between ways of knowing and methods of being.Over the past decade Mason has created 7 evening-length performance works and a number of installations, video pieces, and short movement works. They have been granted residencies at Future Tenant Gallery (PGH) and Pearlarts Studios (PGH), and their works have been presented at the New Hazlett Theater (PGH), Kelly-Strayhorn Theater (PGH), vox populi (PHL), wild project (NYC), WOW Café Theater (NYC), and BAAD! (NYC). In addition to their work as a creator and performer, Mason is a licensed massage therapist specializing in trauma-sensitive bodywork. They bring their deep background in embodied practices to their work (both paid and volunteer) in a variety of community organizing roles. Mason is currently a dance MFA candidate at Temple University and aspiring to bake the perfect babka.
Full Cast & Collaborators
Choreographer/director Ella-Gabriel Mason
Composer & Videographer Miles Wilder
Photographer Michael Benko
Collaborating Dancers Mandy Hackman, Lia Haynes, Tiana Sanders, Tessa Rhodes, Madeline Shuron
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