Nkechi Njaka
Before the performance even began, something felt different in the theater. The stage was open and not just visibly, but also open as in available. Audience members were invited to step onto the stage before the house settled in their seats, giving viewers an opportunity to explore the space with curiosity. Curiosity is a way we invite belonging. This early gesture quietly set the tone for (y)OURS, a collaboratively produced evening by choreographers Marcos Duran, Jenni Hong, and Elise Knudson, premiering at ODC Theater. From the start, the work signaled an integrated approach between the relationships of performer and performer as well as performer and witness — blurring the lines and inviting a shared presence.
Co-produced by Duran, Hong, and Knudson, all artists whose creative paths have intersected for decades from New York City to the Bay Area, (y)OURS unfolds as a collection of new works linked by collaboratively crafted interludes. Performed by an intergenerational cast, the evening explored belonging through relationships, reunions, arrivals, and the synchronous and asynchronous tensions within each. Rather than offering a singular narrative, the program existed as a layered experience of connection. There were four pieces total with an intermission after the second work. The first dance was a trio of the three presenting choreographers followed by works from Duran, Knudsen and the final piece by Hong.
The evening opened with (y)OURS, choreographed and performed by the three presenting choreographers: Marcos Duran, Jenni Hong, and Elise Knudson, with original music by Hallie Smith. In this work, the trio established a tone of intimacy and mutual listening. Their movement together was shaped by decades of a shared practice and trust.
The first half of the program culminates in Re/Union, directed by Marcos Duran with choreography developed in collaboration with the dancers. Performed by Duran, Amal ElWardi, and Lynda Zepeta-Gutierrez, with original sound design by Carlos Rios-Dominguez, the work weaves together movement, memory, and voice. Recorded voices of elders: Cirila and Frank Valderrama, Blanca and Miguel Mendoza and an excerpt from Arvo Pärt’s La Sindone lent the piece a feeling of lineage and reverence. A particularly striking moment was a section in which movement unfolded alongside voice narration utilizing verbal language running parallel to the non verbal language of the body. It felt like we were watching a sincere conversation..
As Re/Union reached its closing moment, the audience was invited into the choreography itself. Friends and family members rose from their seats and gathered onstage — a group of roughly thirty to forty people. The group formed a living circle that made the stage communal. Tender, and disarming, this moment did not feel theatrical. Everyone on stage danced together and then independently, and the stage became a site of shared witnessing, shortening the distance between performance art and regular life happening. And this, very strikingly, offered an actual, tangible reunion.
After the “ intermission/ dance break”, Ingress: a Collection of Arrivals, directed by Elise Knudson, reopened the evening with a sense of spacious curiosity. Knudson started the piece by acknowledging (before the lights came on) the sacredness of being in the dark together. There was a beautiful mention of what it meant to be new to the Bay Area, and other musings like learning that the Golden Gate Bridge whistles when it’s windy. There was also a sweet acknowledgment of people who were there onstage and those who could not be. And it reminded us of belonging.
Developed with contributions from Risa Jaroslow, Scott Marlowe, Anna Greenberg, Sharon Dalke, and the dancers, the work treats arrival as an ongoing practice rather than a fixed event. This was experienced in the style of movement that felt reminiscent of a contact improvisation jam, with lifts and fluidity and a natural circuitry. A found set/instrument discovered during a fog-laced morning in the Santa Cruz Mountains anchored the piece in both chance and wonder. This created a rich collage of music, inviting a textured listening.
The evening concluded with cake beast, choreographed by Jenni Hong in collaboration with the performers. Some of the dancers were in metallic looks, the music ranged from melodic to club. Playful, unruly, and deeply charismatic, the work celebrated devotion and endurance through humor, irreverence and ferocity. Shaped by the journeys of its collaborators cake beast closed the program with a reminder that dance can challenge us by simply offering an unexpected texture.
Throughout (y)OURS, the artists insisted on one essential truth — collaboration creates belonging. By opening the stage, inviting friends and family into the work, and centering collaboration at every level, (y)OURS is a shared artifact of belonging amongst the choreographers and their artistic contributors.
Nkechi Deanna Njaka (she/her) is a practice-based creative researcher, choreography artist, public speaker and culture writer whose work explores the intersection of embodied presence, somatic research, well-being, science, art, and social practice. She is the founder of The Compass, NDN lifestyle studio, and co-founder of the sleep app DreamWell, emphasizing mindfulness and creativity as essential for individual and global well-being.
“(y)OURS” Is Collaboration was originally published in ODC.dance.stories on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.