Body Comes Apart

Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith present the New York City premiere of Body Comes Apart, an intimate duet based on a dynamic improvisational score. Lieber and Smith, who were nominated for a 2013 Bessie Award for Emerging Choreographer (Lieber also won a 2016 Outstanding Performer Bessie “for her introspective and tenacious performances”), focus their work on the bodily desire to heal oneself in connection with others.
Body Comes Apart is a declaration of love, commitment, catharsis, and rage. Continuing their ten year challenge of making work based in abstraction but in response to trauma, the work “… uses the potentialities of our bodies to challenge perceptions of female identity and to understand the multiplicity of joy, pain, and suffering,“ state the creators.

The performances at New York Live Arts theater feature an immersive knitted set design by Liliana Dirks-Goodman, sound design by James Lo, lighting design by Thomas Dunn.

Runtime: approximately 1 hour

Mar 6 Opening night benefit performance, including champagne toast to support artists for $75
Mar 7 Stay Late Conversation moderated by Anna Adams Stark

Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith  have been making experimental dances in New York since 2006. Focused on the bodily desire to heal oneself in connection with others, their work is an equal collaboration between the two choreographers, always performed by Molly and Eleanor.  Recent works include: Basketball (PS122 and Baryshnikov Arts Center for COIL 2017), Rude World (PS122 and The Chocolate Factory Theater for COIL 2015), Tulip (Roulette, 2013; Judson Now at Danspace Project, 2012), and Beautiful Bone (The Chocolate Factory Theater, 2012). Residencies and awards: 2018 Dance In Process Artists at Gibney Dance Center, 2018 Bessie Schonberg Resident Artists at The Yard, Featured in “The Best Dance of 2017” in The New York Times, Featured in 2017 “Speaking in Dance” series for The New York Times, 2016 LMCC Process Space Residency, 2015 Rosas Summer Studios Recipient, PS122’s 2014/2015 RAMP Artist, 2014 Baryshnikov Arts Center Artist Residency Program, 2013 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award Nomination for Emerging Choreographer, and the 2013 NYFA Fellow Finalist Award. Molly and Eleanor were Guest Artists at Sarah Lawrence College in 2018, Guest Artists at Connecticut College in 2015 and taught workshops together in New York through Movement Research and CLASSCLASSCLASS.

Molly Lieber recently performed in works by luciana achugar, Wally Cardona and Jennifer Lacey, Keely Garfield, Neil Greenberg, and Donna Uchizono. She received a 2016 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for her body of work as a performer and was featured in Dance Magazine’s March 2016 issue on New York’s freelance dancers. She teaches at Movement Research and Gibney Dance Center.

Eleanor Smith currently dances in works by Ivy Baldwin Dance, Molly Poerstel, and Katie Workum. She has performed in works by Vanessa Anspaugh, Anna Azrieli, Kim Brandt, Levi Gonzalez, Juliana F. May, and robbinschilds. She was a 2010 Fresh Tracks artist at Dance Theater Workshop and a 2012 Studio Series artist at New York Live Arts. Eleanor has enjoyed curatorial experience through serving on the 2011 Fresh Tracks Selection Committee and as a member of the team for the Movement Research Festival Spring 2016.

Anna Adams Stark is a NYC based performer and arts administrator. Anna has performed in work by Laurie Berg, Tara Aisha Willis, Ivy Baldwin Dance, Levi Gonzalez, Lindsey Dietz Marchant, Kendra Portier/BANDportier, Megan V. Sprenger/MVworks, among others. Currently, Anna is working with Kim Brandt and the A.O. Movement Collective. In 2014, Anna joined the staff of Movement Research, where she works as the Programs & Events Manager. She grew up in Normal, IL and holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Iowa.