Chuck Wilt/UNA Productions: Grass Is Green

Chuck Wilt/UNA Productions

Grass Is Green
March 10-11, 2022 . 8PM EST
Photo by Jim Carmody

Event Attributes

Presented By

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Accessibility: 

For more information regarding accessible accommodations, please click here.

Estimated Length: 
One hour, no intermission
Audience Advisory: 
This performance includes haze effect.

Join us in person at The Clarice! Please note that this performance will not be livestreamed.

Chuck Wilt is the artistic director of UNA Productions, a dance company working in California and NYC. An NYU Tisch School of the Arts alumnus, Wilt has been a choreographic fellow for the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation NDCL, a Dance Initiative Artist In Residence, a recipient of the Rainin Opportunity Fund and an Artist in Residence at the 92nd St. Y, CUNY Dance Initiative, Fusion Japan and Berkeley Ballet Theatre. Wilt’s work has been described by Dance Enthusiast as showcasing “radical vulnerability [and] eloquent sincerity" with company members that “hold our attention with their sensitivity to each other and their meditative focus.” The company’s dedication to celebrating individuality and embodying human existence has led to collaborations that honor and explore sexuality and gender and juxtapose connection and isolation.

During the 2020–21 season, Wilt virtually taught several dance technique classes in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS). He also created a new work, Mural, with TDPS students, which The Clarice commissioned and premiered during the TDPS Spring Dance Concert.

This event is part of Arts for All, a campuswide initiative which leverages the combined power of the arts, technology and social justice to address the grand challenges of our time.

Concessions:
The Clarice lobby concession bar Encore will be open for food and beverage sales during the Friday, March 11th performance. It will not open on Thursday, March 10th.

Health + Safety

All patrons 12 years of age and older are required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result from a test taken within 48 hours of the performance for entry into the venue (home tests will NOT be accepted). 

Please see our Health + Safety page for more information.

THE ARTISTS ON CAMPUS AND IN THE COMMUNITY

The Clarice is committed to creating extensive opportunities for our campus and community to engage with Visiting Artists throughout the season. During their time at UMD, Chuck Wilt and members of UNA Productions will have engaged in:

  • Multiple class visits with UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) dance students.

  • Choreographing of a new work commissioned by The Clarice for TDPS students to perform as part of their main stage season in 2020-21.

CHUCK WILT • ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, CHOREOGRAPHER & PERFORMER

Raised in San Francisco, CA (the stolen lands of the Ramaytush and Ohlone peoples), Chuck Wilt (he/they) is the Artistic Director of UNA. In 2013, Chuck founded bi-coastal dance company UNA Productions, working in NYC and San Francisco. UNA has been presented by the Chutzpah! Festival in Vancouver, Sointula and Alert Bay-performing and engaging in cultural exchange with the ‘Namgis First Nation Community, presented by Fusion International:Japan in Kaga and Tokyo, co-presented by the ODC Theater, presented by the Spectrum Dance Festival, Movement Research at the Judson Church, 92nd St. Y, Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out, Platform! Montreal and more. This year, Chuck will create new work for Springboard Danse Montreal as a Resident choreographer, KSU as a Choreographic Fellow and Berkeley Ballet Theater/Post Ballet. UNA also received support from US Artists International to tour new work to Jerusalem. 

Chuck has been an Artist in Residence of Berkeley Ballet Theater, Fusion International (Japan), Brooklyn College/CUNY Dance Initiative, The Launchpad/Dance Initiative (CO), 92nd St. Y and a choreographic fellow for the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation NDCL.  

Wilt and UNA's Associates have created and set repertory for NYU Tisch Dance, UMD, SALT Pro, Ailey Fordham, Mason Gross Rutgers University, LINES Training Program, Berkeley Ballet Theater/Post Ballet/SF Girls Chorus, LITVAKdance Company, Springboard Danse Montreal as Emerging Choreographer and the ODC Youth Company. 

He has been on faculty for Tisch Summer High School Program, the Lines Ballet Training and Summer Programs and has taught internationally. Chuck graduated from NYU Tisch, has performed for and assisted international choreographers and is also a Gyrotonic teacher. They are second generation Queer and a proud pup parent.

INSTAGRAMVIMEOWEBSITE

PERFORMERS & CREATIVE TEAM

Tushrik Fredericks, performer, (he/him/his) was a recipient of the Princess Grace Award in 2021. Tushrik is originally from Johannesburg, South Africa but is currently living in New York City. Growing up, he specifically found himself drawn towards the style ‘KRUMP’. He graduated from the Peridance Capezio Center Certificate Program in New York City in June 2015, where he received most of his training. He has had the opportunity to work with Ate9 Dance Company (Danielle Agami, Artistic Director) and Sidra Bell Dance New York. He is now working with TRIBE (artistic director/founder Shamel Pitts). Tushrik was an assistant lecturer to Sidra Bell at The University of the Arts Philadelphia for Sophomore students (2016-2018). In May 2021 Tushrik received third prize for dance at the SoloTanz Festival in Stuttgart for his self choreographed solo (territory) of the heart and in November 2021 Tushrik toured the solo to seven different cities in Germany as part of the SoloTanz Festival. Tushrik joined UNA in the Spring of 2021.

Dominica Greene, performer, (she/her/hers) • My name is Dominica Greene. I am Black, I am a woman and I am an artist. I grew up dancing, I went to college for dance and I dance for a living. I believe in the sun, reading, watering plants and nourishing in all of the ways that we can. Above all, I believe in movement. Movement as love, movement as hope, movement as listening, movement as growth. I hope that you have laughed today.

Dasol Kim, performer, (she/her/hers) is a native of South Korea and is currently a movement artist based in Brooklyn, NY. While attending NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she performed with Kidd pivot at New York City Center and was chosen to study abroad in Berlin, Germany where she worked with Johannes Wieland and Ayman Harper. Dasol has performed works by Sasha Waltz, Ohad Naharin, Andrew Winghart, Emma Portner and more. She is represented by bloc NYC and her work has been featured on BOOOOOOOM, a global arts & culture platform highlighting emerging artists. Dasol joined UNA as a company member in 2019.

Rebecca Margolick, house choreographer/rehearsal director/performer (she/her/hers) is a Canadian dancer and choreographer based in New York. Her multi-disciplinary and solo works have been presented in Costa Rica, France, Singapore, Poland, Mexico, Bulgaria, Israel and around the U.S. and Canada. She was named one of Dance Magazines Top 25 to Watch in 2021. Her solo Bunker + Vault won the Jury Prize for “best indoor choreographic work” at the 2019 Festival Quartiers Danses in Montreal. She was selected for the 2020 New Directions Choreography Lab Fellowship at the Ailey School and was a Dance Artist in Residence at The Banff Centre for the Arts in December 2019. She was a 2017 GPS Fund Movement Research Artist in Residence at Derida Dance Center in Sofia, Bulgaria and a 2015/16 LABA Fellow at the 14th St Y in NYC. She has been commissioned to create works on Ballet BC’s Performance Project, Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, Michiyaya Dance and DancePORT Derida. Rebecca began dancing with UNA in 2014 and is currently a performer, House Choreographer and rehearsal director for the company. She was a dancer with Sidra Bell Dance New York from 2012-2016. As a freelance dancer she has worked with a number of artists, including most recently Kayla Farrish / Decent Structures Arts. Rebecca trained at Arts Umbrella in Vancouver and graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance. Rebecca is an Artistic Associate of BC Movement Arts Society and is a proud member of Dance Artists National Collective.

WEBSITE

Courtney Mazeika, performer, (she/her/hers) received a BFA in Dance from the University of Texas at Austin. She then trained under Summer Lee Rhatigan and faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. She has been a performer with UNA Productions since 2018. As an independent artist, she has had the opportunity to perform in original works by Tom Weinberger, Bobbi Jene Smith, David Harvey, Christian Burns, Lone King Projects, Alex Ketley and more. Her independent choreography has been shared at the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition (awarded the 2nd Place Prize), Chop Shop Contemporary Dance Festival, Austin Dance Festival, University of Texas at Austin, Utah Valley University, SALT Contemporary Dance I and II, Oquirrh West Project and more. She has also self-produced her work in San Francisco and Salt Lake City. Courtney has had the honor of being on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program and served as director of the SALT Pre-Professional Training Company. She has taught open classes, workshops and movement labs through institutions such as The Playground NYC, UNA Productions, Repertory Dance Theatre (UT), SALT Contemporary Dance, Chop Shop: Bodies of Work and more.  Courtney has previously worked as a rehearsal assistant for Tom Weinberger’s original creations at Johannes Weiland Dance Company (Kassel, DE), SUNY Purchase, Arts Umbrella (VBC) and more. She has also served as rehearsal director at North-West Arkansas Ballet Theatre, Oquirrh West Project and SALT Contemporary Dance.

WEBSITE

Jennifer Payán, rehearsal director, (she/her/hers) is a Dominican-American New York-based movement artist, Pilates practitioner and Yoga instructor. She is an Artistic Associate for UNA Productions and the Associate Artistic Director for Company SBB. Jennifer has helped set company repertoire for students, both in person and virtually at The Juilliard School, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Lines Ballet Dance Program, The Ailey/Fordham Dance Program and Salt PRO Contemporary Dance Company. In 2021, she joined Montclair State University as an Adjunct Professor for their spring semester and set work on the third year students with Company SBB in their fall semester. Jennifer also returned to her alma mater, Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, this fall semester to help set work with UNA Productions. Before the 2020 shutdown, Jennifer performed for Punch Drunk's Sleep No More but has since returned to freelancing in both live performance and film projects. She looks forward to returning to the immersive dance theater and beginning her choreographic journey. Recent affiliations: Trisha Brown Dance Company, LeeSaar the Company, Netta Yerushalmy, Bobbi Jene Smith, Pam Tanowitz Dance, Yara Travieso, Jasmine Hearn, Maleek Washington, Kelly Ashtond Todd, Amy Gardner, Loni Landon, Troy Ogilvie and Marla Phelan. Jennifer completed a 452-hour comprehensive Pilates Teacher Training through Polestar Pilates under Kim Gibilisco. She has been a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (NCPT) since 2015. Jennifer recently completed her 200-hour Bhakti Yoga Teacher Training certification through the Bhakti Center.

Alisya Razman Adam, performer, (she/her/hers) is a freelance artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her performance credits include Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Merce Cunnigham, Andrea Miller, Jose Limón, Christina Robson and Elizabeth Dishman. She is the co-creator of WHY NOT HERE?, a site specific movement workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She participated as a dancer in The Delicate Power Project Research Lab for Helen Simoneau Danse. Alisya is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Alisya joined UNA as an apprentice in the spring of 2019 and as a company member in the fall of 2019. She has assisted Chuck Wilt in creating new work at The Ailey School/Fordham University in 2021 and is currently on Faculty at The Ailey School.

Rose Nylons, drag queen/cellist/pianist (she/her/hers & they/them/theirs) • Hailing from the great state of Minnesota, but now based in the Bay Area, Rose Nylons is a Jackie Of All Trades and Master of Puns. Inspired by vintage fashion, 90’s nostalgia and radical faerie ritual, this post-gender, Midwestern dairy queen has been dabbling in visual and performance art since her first bloom. Delicate at first blush, but thorny as hell, she’ll reel you in with her sweet smile, pull at your heart strings with her mystic melodies and captivate your dreams with her alluring aesthetic. Whether you’ve known her for years or just planted her in the garden, Rose is sure to become your perennial favorite. Rose began collaborating with UNA Productions in the spring of 2019.

Grass is Green is inspired by cycles of destruction and rebirth both within humanity and the land we are a part of. We acknowledge and honor that these performances are taking place on the unceded Nacotchtank and Piscataway territories.

The performance will be approximately 1 hour with no intermission.

Grass is Green was co-commissioned by The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center for its world premiere. Grass is Green was created with support as an Artist in Residence at the 92nd St. Y's Harkness Dance Center, as an Artist in Residence at Brooklyn College through the CUNY Dance Initiative and as an Artist in Residence at Berkeley Ballet Theatre. The work received additional support from Marta Miller's Certain Bird Residency in Vermont, KT Nelson's RoundAntennae Residency in San Francisco, LITVAKdance in San Diego and Evolution Dance Center in San Diego. Grass is Green was developed with the vital contributions of performers Kyle Filley, Maxi Canion, Jamal Abrams, Jennifer Payán and Haley Williams.

Photos courtesy of UNA Productions.