Artistic Direction & Choreography
ShaLeigh Comerford in collaboration with the artistic team
Creative Specialist
Davian Robinson
Narration
ShaLeigh Comerford and Davian Robinson
Company Members
Elizabeth Bailey, Ciara Coleman, Hannah Nicole Marr, Jessica Wooten
Guest Artists
Phoebe Crumbine, Kevin Higgins, Josie Houck, Emily McClung, Mena Orr, Lilly Sears, Marissa Schroeder, Tiana Smith
Creative Experts
Nicolle Alleman, Susan Cataldo, Karin Desalu, Janie Desmond, Hillary Honig Ensminger, Isela Garcia, Yazmyne Jenkins, Chemae Mebane, Taylor Ofori, Ed Rizzuto, Brice Smith, Jan Tu, Susannah Wright
Live Musician
Omar Ruiz-Lopez
Original Compositions
Eric Hirsh
Sound Design
Erik Ramquist
Environmental & Scenic Design
Nicolas Jackson
Projection Design
Jonathan Faw and Alex Maness
Lighting Design
Jeremy Kumin
Costume Design
Iris Lloyd
Text Consultant
Alison Fields
Script
ShaLeigh Comerford in collaboration with the artistic team
Creative Consultants
Audrey-Anne Bouchard, Krishna Washburn
Social Dance Consultant
Naga Devi Wasserman
Props Master
Kiernan “Skittles” Bastien
Stage Manager
Cheryl Edson
Sound Board Operator
Candace Spencer
House Managers
Kayla Lynn Oelhafen and Proxemic Media
Venue Manager
Tim Walter
Marketing Manager
Katie Jo Fulks
Pre Show Experience Audio Description
Jan Tu
enVISION: The Next Chapter is an immersive interdisciplinary performance that relies not on sight or sound but on the felt sense of sonic experiences and visual perceptions. In a collective creative process, the work has brought together a team of collaborators around two questions: Can we listen to what we see? Can we see what we hear? Conceived explicitly with and for individuals who are low-vision and blind, as well as low-hearing and deaf, the work proposes a new multisensory experience of dance and theater. The work will be presented to a live audience who can choose to experience the show blindfolded or with earbuds, and six audience members will be invited to join the experience onstage. This ADF commission builds on enVISION: Sensory Beyond Sight, which premiered at ADF in 2022.
SHALEIGH DANCE WORKS (SDW) is a nonprofit, dance-theater company dedicated to inspiring people of all abilities, social backgrounds, cultures, and generations with the transformative power of dance. Under the direction of founder and artistic director ShaLeigh Comerford, SDW is recognized for its socially conscious works, expansive movement language, and commitment to community action. SDW creates programming at the intersection of art, culture, and social change to enrich our communities. The company also offers multiple performances that bring mixed-ability movers to professional stages and panel discussions on making dance inclusive to people with disabilities. SDW’s engagement practices are an integral part of their work and include numerous partnerships with local organizations to provide advocacy, opportunities, and access to the arts for all people. From inspiration to world premiere, SDW annually commissions composers to create original new music for their programs as well as a diverse collaborative artistic team of performers, designers, and creators. Their success has taken them from performances and creative residencies in NC, VA, and NYC to Germany, England, Israel, and Japan. With a focus on artistic excellence, nurturing artists, and designing programs to empower those impacted by marginalization, SDW aims to provide a concrete example of how dance can transform people’s lives and enrich society.
enVISION: The Next Chapter by ShaLeigh Comerford is co-commissioned by ADF with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works and is supported in part by the Durham Arts Council's Annual Arts Fund, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New Music USA’s Organizational Fund 2023-2024, the North Carolina Arts Council, Triangle Community Foundation, and South Arts in partnership with the NEA and the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources. www.NCArts.org
These presentations of enVISION: The Next Chapter at ADF are funded, in part, by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council.
We would also like to thank our invaluable community partners Arts Access, Cirque De Vol, Governor Morehead School for the Blind, MM Professionals, Ninth Street Dance, North Carolina Dept. of Health and Human Services - Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, Paperhand Puppet, Vision InSights, The Fruit, The Reality Center, Representative Valerie Foushee, and Legislative Assistant Arturo Reyes.
