Alexa West Brings Pageant's Work To Moma Kravis Studio

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Choreographer Alexa West will bring her collaborative work from East Williamsburg's Pageant to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) this August. The move is part of the museum's Kravis Studio artist residency program, marking the first time West and her four Pageant collaborators will choreograph a piece together in their four-year history.

West, a prominent figure in New York's experimental dance scene, is known for creating“Rube Goldberg-esque” dances that emphasize the physical effort of performance. She co-founded Pageant, a recognized center for performance in New York, with her collaborators. The artist discussed the upcoming MoMA residency during a winter meeting at Pageant, reflecting on the two-part premiere of her recent ambitious work, Jawbreaker Part 1 & 2 (2025).

“So much of dance is supposed to hide how hard it is,” West said.“All the dancers I work with are interested in pushing themselves, so we play with making material that allows them-or doesn't allow them-to do the dance successfully. The labor has to be shown.”

Developed over an extended period, Jawbreaker Part 1 & 2 built on strong relationships between West and its five dancers, who are regulars at Pageant. Following a work-in-progress phase at Movement Research, the piece debuted at Pageant in October, then at Chinatown's 99 Canal a month later. The work exemplifies West's style, combining kinetic movement, a hypnotic soundtrack, and crucial props that dancers engage with. Her use of set dressing and props, an approach refined during her studies at the Martha Graham School, Cooper Union, and Bard College's Milton Avery School of the Arts sculpture department, has been central to her choreography.

“What I'm coming to understand is, I've learned how to make dances from a sculptural approach in terms of material, scale, and time,” she explained regarding her training. While previous works like 2023's Occasion, Occasion, Occasion incorporated furniture, Jawbreaker featured a fabricated lamppost-like structure and a teal green plastic“room wrap” that enveloped both performance spaces. This“claustrophobic” and“invasive” room wrap, created and installed by Charlap Hyman & Herrero, contributed to the strenuous experience for both performers and audience members.

Dancers in Jawbreaker writhed, sweated, and jerked to the point of“exhaustion” amidst the green vinyl, following a score derived from diverse sources, including golden-age Hollywood musicals, YouTube compilations of drunk men, and rehearsal improvisations. After a presentation of Jawbreaker at the TONO Festival in Mexico in March, West and the Pageant collaborators began preparing for their MoMA residency.

“It's a new thing for us, to take Pageant out of Pageant,” West said, noting the challenge of translating their experimental energy to the MoMA setting. Looking around her humble one-room studio, she commented, laughing,“It's going to be a little out-of-body-from this to MoMA.”

Source: ARTnews

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