New York-Based Contemporary Dance Companies Present Selections from Repertory and New Works-in-Progress 

SAXYN Dance Works’ newest piece is based on the myth of the “selkies”, mythic sea creatures, half woman, half seal, that embody the human quest for freedom. As the story goes, the Selkie woman emerges from the ocean and removes her seal skin to bask in the sun on land. Her skin is then stolen by a man and in that theft she is bound to him until her skin is returned to her. During this time she may marry, bear children, and create a home with this man, all the while the ocean remains, beckoning her back. Inevitably the Selkie finds her skin and must return to her wild nature, trading the life she has created on land for her first home, the water. This piece investigates the ties that bind us both natural and constructed and the – often painful – journey of discovery that brings to light our true identity full of resilience and freedom.

Further inspired by the seductive powers of the songs and incantations commonly associated with folklore creatures, the piece will explore music, composed and sung by Bre Short, that evokes haunting feelings of living memories and missing parts.

Joining Saxon at Windhover for the first time, Alison Cook-Beatty and her company Alison Cook-Beatty Dance will perform several works from their repertory including Lifeline and Touched by Fire, Seele (An Excerpt), which uses momentum, inertia, physical limitation, and dynamic experimentation to explore the complexities of the human psyche through an abstract presentation of the id, ego, superego; and Central Park Field #4, a work from 2020 originally set in a baseball field during the pandemic that reflects both the melancholy and despair of isolation and a transformative resolution through energy and stamina.

ABOUT The Artists

Thryn Saxon is a NYC-based dance artist. An audience favorite, Saxon returns to Windhover after sharing her acclaimed choreography and performance of Shedding Velvet with Brad Beakes as part of Michael Trusnovec’s Glancing Backwards and Moving Forward program in 2021. Her work centers the experience and investigation of humanness in the form of movement storytelling. Through a dynamic tapestry of kinetic influences, including contemporary dance and theater, the work invites audience members into an intimate conversation of our shared human experience. A deep love affair with improvisational listening, design, music, and rhythm propels the development of their work. Thryn’s choreographies have been presented at venues across New York, Maine, and Miami, Florida, New Dance Festival Korea, and The Atlantic Center for the Arts.

Alison Cook Beatty Dance Company was founded in 2012. The company is a classically-based modern dance company exploring the universal human condition through expansive and emotionally-driven movement grounded in American modern dance while exploring new approaches to finding unique creative expression. The healing and transformational power of the arts inspire the company to work with diverse groups within the community, as well as collaborative efforts with other artists across multiple disciplines.