OTHER WORKS
"Her programs are meaty, full of protean emotions splayed wide open — piercing, probing, uncomfortable and occasionally gentle.”
— Pittsburgh Post Gazette
FEED YOUR HEAD CAFE
5 professional dancers, 9 emerging artists, 1 drag queen, 1 local guest performing artist, 85 minutes
An introspective look at the disillusionment of growing older. Told through the eyes of Alice, the fifty something proprietor of a highly surreal café, FEED YOUR HEAD CAFÉ is a cryptic place where virtually everything is turned upside down, including the tables and chairs. Alice takes the audience on a journey to a place where memories and illusion become one.
" Corning's dance production is ambitious, brilliant."
— Pittsburgh Tribune Review
“Detailed and visually striking... a journey encompassing what once was, what remains unfulfilled, and what was lost — the innocence of youth…a marvelous and gratifying trip down the rabbit hole and into the mind of woman coming to terms with her life" — Pittsburgh City Paper
“Call it surreal, dreamlike, or a real trip...it works." — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
An introspective look at the disillusionment of growing older. Told through the eyes of Alice, the fifty something proprietor of a highly surreal café, FEED YOUR HEAD CAFÉ is a cryptic place where virtually everything is turned upside down, including the tables and chairs. Alice takes the audience on a journey to a place where memories and illusion become one.
" Corning's dance production is ambitious, brilliant."
— Pittsburgh Tribune Review
“Detailed and visually striking... a journey encompassing what once was, what remains unfulfilled, and what was lost — the innocence of youth…a marvelous and gratifying trip down the rabbit hole and into the mind of woman coming to terms with her life" — Pittsburgh City Paper
“Call it surreal, dreamlike, or a real trip...it works." — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
4-2 MEN
5 dancers, 30 minutes
Exploring issues of maternal nurturing, what is passed on, what is nature, what is nurture. Inspired by Bunraka Puppetry, the issue of “who is leading who” is played out using real and human puppets. Through the use of explosive dancing that is both magical and theatrical, the audience is witness to both sides; that of the puppet and the puppeteer.
“The anonymity imposed (or perhaps granted?) by the hoods provided a mystique, but also amplified the work's evocation of gender politics, in which the women (literally and figuratively positioned behind their men) went unacknowledged. As is typical in Corning's work, the movement was psychologically rich and often dreamily slow. Breathtaking”
— Bill O’Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper
Exploring issues of maternal nurturing, what is passed on, what is nature, what is nurture. Inspired by Bunraka Puppetry, the issue of “who is leading who” is played out using real and human puppets. Through the use of explosive dancing that is both magical and theatrical, the audience is witness to both sides; that of the puppet and the puppeteer.
“The anonymity imposed (or perhaps granted?) by the hoods provided a mystique, but also amplified the work's evocation of gender politics, in which the women (literally and figuratively positioned behind their men) went unacknowledged. As is typical in Corning's work, the movement was psychologically rich and often dreamily slow. Breathtaking”
— Bill O’Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper
LOST
5 dancers, 7 members of Pittsburgh’s Renaissance City Women’s Choir, 35 minutes
A funeral parlor alive with both mourners and lost souls, all searching for connection, surrounded by their individual loss and unanswered needs. With live music performed by the “mourners” this mix of non-dancers and poignant theatricality, quirky characters and soaring technicality, this work ranges between the comical and the deeply touching.
“…dense with physical and emotional intensity...arguably some of Corning's best choreography to date".” — Steve Sucato, Arts Air
SELECTIVE MEMORY
5 dancers + Clown Gordoon, 35 minutes
With wit, poignancy, breathtaking imagery, and magical dancing Corning explores the nature of memory’s impact, interpretation, and retention. Incorporating the magical genius of nationally renowned performer Jeff Gordon, a.k.a. “Le Clown Gordoon”, dancers wielding 60” umbrellas, a small doll’s carriage — Corning’s new work provokes both the sense and the synapses.
“ The richest of memories are the ones that we can call up in an instant, and there are scores of them in (this work)…whimsical elements of surprise…the kind of performance that you cannot and will not forget!” — Pittsburgh Post Gazette
With wit, poignancy, breathtaking imagery, and magical dancing Corning explores the nature of memory’s impact, interpretation, and retention. Incorporating the magical genius of nationally renowned performer Jeff Gordon, a.k.a. “Le Clown Gordoon”, dancers wielding 60” umbrellas, a small doll’s carriage — Corning’s new work provokes both the sense and the synapses.
“ The richest of memories are the ones that we can call up in an instant, and there are scores of them in (this work)…whimsical elements of surprise…the kind of performance that you cannot and will not forget!” — Pittsburgh Post Gazette
IN A SMALL PLACE
5 dancers, 29 minutes
A dreamlike landscape inspired by Norwegian Poet Dag T. Straumsvåg’s prose poem that begins “Hundreds of birds suddenly break out of a hole in the sky”. With a simple set of sky blue ramps, this quintet of linen clad performers create a moveable landscape that is both tangible and ethereal. Through striking imagery and exquisite movement, the journey is a timeless one, emotional and moving …one’s ability to fly is solely dependent upon another’s ability to be grounded.
“Imaginative exploration of individuality set against group dynamics, a stimulating experience, strong in its intellectual and emotional aspects…Corning’s language resonates deeply with the aspirations and compromises of the human experience." — Pittsburgh Tribune Review
“…a lively migration of undulating movement…challenging the bonds of gravity…exemplifying life’s tenuous nature.” — Steve Sucato, Dancemagazine
A dreamlike landscape inspired by Norwegian Poet Dag T. Straumsvåg’s prose poem that begins “Hundreds of birds suddenly break out of a hole in the sky”. With a simple set of sky blue ramps, this quintet of linen clad performers create a moveable landscape that is both tangible and ethereal. Through striking imagery and exquisite movement, the journey is a timeless one, emotional and moving …one’s ability to fly is solely dependent upon another’s ability to be grounded.
“Imaginative exploration of individuality set against group dynamics, a stimulating experience, strong in its intellectual and emotional aspects…Corning’s language resonates deeply with the aspirations and compromises of the human experience." — Pittsburgh Tribune Review
“…a lively migration of undulating movement…challenging the bonds of gravity…exemplifying life’s tenuous nature.” — Steve Sucato, Dancemagazine