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mission (2004)
dance theater + live music
Fierce dancing, bold ideas, an unpredictable labyrinthine set, and original live music. Astounded audiences respond, “This is the most original work I’ve seen.” Replete with barbed wire, beauty queens, rebels, a mobile maze, undercover agents, neuroscience and philosophy, Mission draws on a wide range of inspirations, from Mission: Impossible and 24 to works by Albert Camus and Viktor Frankl in a mystical adventure about meaning, survival, and purpose. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette remarks, “Miller is to be commended for her intelligent and complex approach.”
- mobile set
- 60 minutes + no intermission
- 8 dancers + 1 actor + 1 musician
- choreography and text by melanie miller
- original live and recorded music by karl mullen
- set and costume design by tavia lafollette
technical requirements
stage = min. 40’ x 28’; 18’ to lighting grid; crossover; min. three 4’ wings
orchestra pit = min. 4’ x 6’ with stage view
call for additional info
Made possible by a grant from the Heinz Endowments’ Small Arts Initiative and the Richard King Mellon Foundation
forget/everything (2003)
dance theater + live music
“A vivid choreographic setting initiated by the talented young Miller,
memorable in its own right for the authenticity and complexity of its movement.”
—Pittsburgh Post Gazette
One of Miller’s most compelling works, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette rated Forget/Everything one of the top ten dance performances of 2003. Borne from controversial theories about memory and memory loss and defined in a meta-conscious dance-world of fragile minds, false memories, and unremembered truths, Forget/Everything’s lush visuals, multi-level mobile set, complex characters, and beautiful dancing impart the protracted devastation of Alzheimer’s disease, recovered memories of abuse, and cultural memories that have shaped social consciousness.
- 5 dancers + 3 actors + 1 musician
- 60 minutes + no intermission
- choreography and text by melanie miller
- original live and recorded music by karl mullen
- set design by frank ferraro
- project consultation by jonathan schooler phd
Technical requirements
stage = min. 40’ x 28’; 18’ to lighting grid; crossover; min. three 5’ wings
orchestra pit = min. 6 x 8 feet with stage view
call for additional info
Made possible by a grant from the Heinz Endowments’ Small Arts Initiative
i.e., harmony (2001)
dance theater
“Part of Melanie Miller’s artistic charm lies in her bold sense of humor.”
—Pittsburgh City Paper
i.e., harmony reveals the bizarre true story of a life that could belong to anybody—un-seriousness and irreverent subversion, charm and profanity, Sunday parties and exile.
- 3 dancers + 2 actors
- 75 minutes + no intermission
- choreography, script and costumes by melanie miller
- taped and live music by various artists
- set design by frank ferraro
- video by dennis childers
Technical requirements
stage = min. 30’ x 30’; 18’ to lighting grid; crossover;
piano = preferably black grand
call for additional info
Commissioned by the Frick Art & Historical Center/ based on the life and art of Elie Nadelman
the renegade performance series (2003 – ongoing)
No lights...no stage...no tickets...just renegade… in your face dance, when you least expect it.
Junction Dance Theatre takes their provocative contemporary dance/ theater/ live music performances out of the theater and into the streets. This thoroughly unconventional portable performance project is transforms public places with an onslaught of free surprise site-specific performances in the strangest places... supermarkets, nightclubs, restaurants, lobbies, parking lots, libraries, cafes, malls, 5k races, homes, and more.
various works, choreography by melanie miller
various # of performers, occasionally includes community performers
original live music by karl mullen, taped music by various artists
2003-04 series made possible by grants from the Heinz Endowments’ Small Arts Initiative, Mellon Financial Corporation Foundation, Operation Weed & Seed, Pennsylvania Partners of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Sprout Fund.
Photo credits this page (top to bottom): Larry Rippel, Larry Rippel, Jim McClory, Michael Mancini
copyright © 2004-2006 junction dance theatre
Philadelphia:
Kumquat Dance Center, 3500 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104
215.387.2000
Pittsburgh:
Junction Dance Theatre, 423 Noble Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Tel: 412-608-8535