Inside Undercover Episodes: A Workshop, led by Robyn Mineko Williams
Dancers Elliot Hammans and Adrienne Lipson in Undercover Episodes. Photo: Todd Rosenberg
Program Dates: June 13-17 & June 20-25, 2022
COMMON is honored to collaborate with award-winning director and multi-disciplinary artist, Robyn Mineko Williams, on a one-of-a-kind summer workshop delving into the creative and performative processes of her critically-acclaimed performance series Undercover Episodes.
The workshop will be held at COMMON (1535 N. Dayton St. Chicago, IL 60642) for two weeks, running Monday - Friday from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm. Each day will begin with a technique/warm-up class followed by rehearsals. A tentative preview of the daily schedule can be found below.
During the workshop, artists will immerse themselves in the Undercover Episodes (UE) experience: learning and interpreting UE materials, re-working choreography and creating its "newness" with Robyn, using improvisation and imagination to adapt to various spaces, working with lighting and projection, collaborating together to work towards a special series of live UE performances. COMMON’s Artistic Director Terence Marling will support the UE experience by running break-out rehearsals to develop new material or rehearse existing ideas as well as directing an improvisation performance. Artists can expect their creativity to be stretched!
The workshop will conclude with a series of live performances (venue/s TBD) on Saturday, June 25th. Ticket sales from the final performances will be split equally among the participating dancers.
Sample Daily Schedule
10-11:30 am Technique/Warm-up Class
11:30 - 12:00 Break
12-2:00 Rehearsals
2:00 - 2:30 Break
2:30 - 5:00 pm Rehearsals
* Performance schedule on Saturday, June 25th will differ, please expect to be available from 10 am - 9 pm on this date.
Audition (In Person & Virtual): FREE
Tuition: $900 Total
$450 due upon registration by/before April 1, $450 due by/before June 1, 2022
Audition
Pre-professional and experienced dance artists of all backgrounds and practices are encouraged to audition. Artists must be at least 18 years of age to participate and need to be fully vaccinated (with eligible boosters) at the time of the workshop. Dancers will be asked to partner or make contact with other artists throughout the process.
COMMON is housed in an ADA-accessible space and we encourage artists with specific accessibility requirements to send us an email when they register to audition. Only 15-18 dancers will be invited to participate in the workshop. All artists must be available for the entire duration of the workshop and performances.
Virtual Audition
Between 11:30 am -1:30 pm on Saturday, February 26, 2022 via ZOOM
The virtual audition will be broken into smaller groups (approx. five dancers per group) and upon registering to audition, dancers will be assigned a 30-minute block to join Robyn Mineko Williams on ZOOM to learn Undercover Episodes material. Dancers do not need studio space to join, this audition can be done in your living room!
Due to staggered start times, a warm-up will not be provided. Please come warm & ready to move! After the audition, dancers will be given a task to film and submit by email before Friday, March 4th at 6 PM CST.
Dancers will be notified about their acceptance decisions by Friday, March 11th, and must register to hold their place by Friday, April 1st.