Terms & (Condi)tioned

Exploring the systems that quietly shape our daily lives—social, cultural, and institutional structures that often go unnoticed as we move through routine- the work reflects on how participation in these systems can happen almost automatically. Drawing on Michel Foucault's ideas and quotes and incorporating performers' reflections on the systems they inhabit, the choreography examines the tension between agency and structure. As the dancers move through shifting patterns of control, repetition, and resistance, the piece asks how we navigate life’s constant push and pull when so much of it is organized by forces we rarely stop to question.

During the choreographic process,

I asked the performers a series of questions about awareness and reflection centered on systems, control, compliance, resistance, and repetition. Rather than functioning solely as performers executing movement material, the dancers contributed personal observations, embodied experiences, and reflections that actively shaped the work itself.

These questions became a way to uncover the systems we move through automatically, the patterns we internalize, and the tensions among comfort, participation, and resistance. Many of the movement choices, repetitions, and relational dynamics within the choreography emerged directly from these conversations and reflections.

Questions:

Awareness Questions

Name a system you participate in daily without thinking about it
When did you first realize this system existed
What does this system give you
What does it take from you
What would happen if you stopped participating for one day only

Where do you feel control in your body
Where do you feel compliance
Where do you feel resistance
Finish the sentence “I know this/blank is happening, but I still…”

What do you do to stay comfortable in these systems
What do you tell yourself so you can keep going
What feels easier than change

Reflection questions

What did you notice?
Did anything repeat?
What surprised you?
What changed as you went/what stayed consistent?
What felt familiar?
How did you start?
Where did you get stuck?
What felt automatic?
What do you notice has shown up more than once?
What patterns are you seeing?

Click to read their reflections:

Most impressionable sculptures

The following sculptures, created by the dancers in response to the systems they identified within their own lives, played a significant role in shaping the choreography (in no particular order).