A Mauri and Matthew Production
1. Bench Trio – Mauri Connors, Daniel Levin and Matthew Young – 8 min
2. Slow Time – Mauri Connors and Matthew Young – 12 min
3. Mr. Bell’s Trio – Mauri Connors, Ray Schwartz and Matthew Young – 20 min
4. Grazing Piece, 1 – Brooks Emanuel, Xueyan Han, Erica Janko, Davian Robinson, Alexa Vélez, Poah West – 14 min
5. Tendril – Ray Schwartz and Matthew Young – 4 min
6. Align – Matthew Young and ensemble – 5 min
Production and direction: Mauri Connors and Matthew Young
Choreography and movement structures: Mauri Connors, Ray Schwartz and Matthew Young
Dance performances: Mauri Connors, Brooks Emanuel, Xueyan Han, Erica Janko, Davian Robinson, Ray Schwartz, Alexa Vélez, and Matthew Young
Original music: Daniel Levin, Poah West and Matthew Young
Lighting and scenic design: Kate Alexandrite
Backstage and front of house: Jessica Ferrall, Mariana Gomez-Arceo and Noah Young
Special thanks to: Silvia Sheffield, Jessica Ferrall, Noah Young, Ninth Street Dance, Barriskill Dance Theatre and Walltown Children’s Theatre
Biographies
K. Alexandrite
K. Alexandrite is a North Carolina practitioner of video, performance, photography, sculpture and collage. A doctoral candidate in Duke’s Computational Media Arts and Cultures program and a member of the Kenan Institute for Ethics Laboratory for Social Choreography, Alexandrite researches the social organization of memory and aesthetics of its performance and material reproduction.
Mauri Connors
Mauri Terra Connors is an artist from Rockbridge County, VA. Currently she is located in Durham, NC, where she makes work with movement, paper, and words.
Mauri received her BA in Dance with honors from Connecticut College in 2015, where she studied with David Dorfman, Heidi Henderson, Shani Collins-Achille, Lisa Race, and Shawn Hove. From 2018 through 2021, Mauri was the Artistic Director of Halestone Dance Studio, located in Lexington, VA. In that role she provided artistic direction, strategic management, operational management, grant-writing, production, and education for a small, rural arts non-profit.
Currently Mauri works as a childcare practitioner and teaches dance at Barriskill Dance Theatre, Ninth Street Dance and elsewhere in Durham. Additionally, she is pursuing doula certification through Birthing Advocacy Doula Training, as well as working towards her Body Mind Centering Infant Developmental Movement Educator certification with Movimiento Atlas in Zaragoza, Spain.
Brooks Emanuel
Brooks Emanuel has backgrounds in both (1) dance and choreography and (2) civil rights law, policy advocacy, and legislative and political work. He obtained his J.D. from NYU Law and his MFA in Dance from Duke University. He has had the great fortune to work for both Stacey Abrams (Georgia House Democratic Caucus) and Bryan Stevenson (Equal Justice Initiative), as well as serving as public policy director for Planned Parenthood Southeast. Brooks has both performed at Symphony Space in New York City and drafted petitions to the United States Supreme Court. He has been a member of Michael Mao Dance and Beacon Dance, and danced in projects for PearsonWidrig DanceTheater and Several Dancers Core, among others. His current work aims to bring all these experiences to bear. In addition to facilitating movement workshops for social justice practitioners, Brooks creates performance works that investigate humans’ relationships to each other and the rest of the natural world.
Xueyan Han
As an artist and educator, Xueyan explores the power of the medium to excavate self-narratives from the complexities of everyday life. Through interdisciplinary and participatory practice, she seeks to transform traditional gallery spaces and reimagine the spectator-performer dynamic. Her work examines art’s potential as a tool for self-expression, memory, and connection, fostering alternative ways for individuals to engage with both personal and collective histories.
Erica Janko
Erica Janko is a scholar, dance artist, and educator based in Carrboro, North Carolina. Her work investigates consequences of the structural devaluation of care in our society.
Her first evening-length work, the performers, premiered to a sold-out house at the 2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
In DC, Erica was a company member with Contradiction Dance Theatre for their 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons, during which she performed in works by Kelly King and MissJessica Denson and helped facilitate movement workshops across the city. Erica directed a collaborative community performance that spanned three-quarters of a mile on the National Mall as part of Contradiction’s “Dance About DC” series. In DC, Erica also performed in works by Heather Sultz/Keyhole Residencies and May Kessler.
In the Durham area, Erica has danced in Brooks Emanuel’s liminal animals (found animals), Alyssa Noble and Chris Strauss’s RECITAL, and as a community mover in Bill T. Jones’s What Problem. She has taught classes at the Carrboro ArtsCenter and the Seymour Center.
Erica holds a minor in dance from Swarthmore College, where she was a co-recipient of the Hally Jo Stein Award in Dance and earned highest honors for her choreography thesis. She has also trained at ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival, the American Dance Festival Dance Professionals Workshop (with Liz Lerman and Leah Cox), Florida Dance Festival, and the West Coast Civic Ballet, among others.
You can learn more about Erica’s work at ericajanko.com.
Daniel Levin
Cellist Daniel Levin is “one of the instrument’s most brilliant contemporary practitioners” (The Wire). He was born in Burlington, Vermont, and began playing the cello at the age of six. In 2001, he graduated with a degree in Jazz Studies from the New England Conservatory of Music and arrived on the New York City jazz scene shortly thereafter. Since then, Daniel has developed his own distinctive voice as a cellist, improviser, and composer. Ed Hazell noted upon release of Levin’s first record as a leader, “Cellist Daniel Levin is a major new voice on his instrument and in improvised music.” Elements of European classical music, American jazz, microtonal and new music, and European free improvisation all figure prominently in his unique sound. He has recorded more than 25 albums as a leader or co-leader, which can be found on Clean Feed, HatOLOGY, Not Two, Trost, Riti, Mahakala, and various other record labels. Daniel is a REMIC Microphones and Glasser Bows Artist Endorser.
In addition to his career as a performing artist, Daniel has more than 20 years of experience in arts education: teaching students, coaching and developing teachers, and providing support to school leaders and networks of schools to build, sustain, and improve performing arts programs. He has built and run several showcase orchestra programs for schools, and is the founding Arts Director and Orchestra Director at Durham Charter School in Durham, NC.
Davian Robinson
Davian DJ Robinson is a passionate dance artist, choreographer, and movement specialist dedicated to enhancing physical expression and well-being through movement. He holds degrees in Dance Performance and Choreography and Exercise Science from UNC Charlotte (2020) and is a licensed massage therapist with advanced certifications in sports rehabilitation and therapeutic bodywork.
As a dancer and choreographer, Davian’s work is deeply rooted in kinesthetic awareness, adaptability, and storytelling through movement. His background in postural assessment, cupping therapy, and stretching techniques informs his approach to movement training, ensuring dancers optimize their mobility, strength, and recovery. He integrates an evidence-based perspective into his choreographic and teaching practices, helping movers of all backgrounds deepen their physical and artistic potential.
Born in Hickory and raised in Newton, NC, Davian is a former U.S. paracyclist who brings a unique perspective on movement efficiency and body mechanics. He is the founder of Sensory Beyond Sight, a dance workshop series exploring movement beyond vision, expanding artistic expression and accessibility in the dance world. An avid runner, he infuses energy, enthusiasm, and innovation into every creative endeavor, fostering an inclusive and dynamic artistic experience.
Ray Schwartz
Ray Eliot Schwartz has been doing this dancing thing for some time now. He is pretty happy that it still seems to be going on. He has enjoyed very much moving with Matthew and Mauri and preparing this offering. He hopes you have a wonderful time contributing your presence to its existence. Thank you for being here.
Alexa Vélez
Alexa Vélez is an artist, educator, filmmaker, and dancer based in North Carolina. In 2017, she completed her undergraduate studies at the University of North Florida where she received a BFA in photography and a BA in English with a minor in film studies. In 2021, she graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with an MFA in Visual Art. As a graduate student, she was a recipient of the Chancellor’s Fellowship and won best in show for her thesis work examining our relationship with the element of air. Over the last few years, her short films have screened both nationally and internationally. Most recently, she was a recipient of the Frankenthaler Climate Art Award for her video work addressing climate change.
Poah West
Poah West Portillo (they/she) is a multi-instrumentalist who plays for dance classes at ADF, Duke University, Meredith College, and the Living Arts Collective. They play guitar and sing for the Berry Bueno Brigade and bass for MEGABITCH. Poah recently released Dance Class Loops, Vol. 1, a collection of tracks created to support dance technique classes. Their other music releases spans rock, lo-fi beats, and a songspell practices. Outside of music, Poah enjoys making really good spicy salsa.
Matthew Young
Matthew Young has been creating and performing dance works for the better part of three decades. For the past 20 years he has focused on improvisational skills and performances. While his shows are infrequent, art making is a central and fulfilling part of his life.
Mar I Terra 