concept + direction
kt williams
movement research, collaboration, + performance
Noa Greenfeld
Leondria McRae
Dani Oblitas
Aislinn Travis
Kristen Whalen
Caitlin Wonsowski
lighting design
Giau Minh Truong
costume design
kt williams, in consultation with Tara Webb
sound
“8” by Kelly Lee Owens
“Idontknow” by Jamie xx
“Prizewinning” by Julianna Barwick
“Information” by Matija Strniša
“Rhizome” by Bendik Giske
“End” by Bendik Giske
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we gather on the ancestral homelands of the Council of the Three Fires—the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples—and the many Indigenous nations who have cared for this land across generations, including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo, and Mascouten.
As we share this space through movement, we honor the enduring presence of Indigenous communities, past, present, and future. May we remember that every gathering is shaped by the histories of the land beneath us, and may we move with gratitude, respect, and responsibility.
Thank you.
Welcome!
Thank you for joining us this evening for the premiere of Contraflow, the first evening-length contemporary dance work created and presented by kt williams + artists!
Contraflow has been a work-in-process since June 2024, and it has seen many different iterations over the last two years. As we continued to develop, deconstruct, edit, question, expand, simplify, and edit again, we also experienced significant life shifts and moments of growth, loss, pain, uncertainty, and joy. Yet, as big life experiences and changes come and go, our trust, vulnerability, and the community we have for each other has been the glue that reinforces our momentum and keeps the work running.
I am profoundly grateful to the six collaborating dance artists whose creativity, generosity, and trust in me made this work possible: Noa Greenfeld, Leondria McRae, Dani Oblitas, Aislinn Travis, Kristen Whalen, and Caitlin Wonsowski. I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge three of the original dancers of Contraflow, who generously dedicated their time and expertise to the early research and development of this work: Erin Harner, Sarah Stearn, and Taylor Taylor. While working with a new cast, it has been incredible to integrate nine different perspectives on tension, contradiction, and what it means to carry opposing truths at the same time.
This spring, we have been crowdfunding to cover the expenses of producing Contraflow through a sponsorship with Fractured Atlas. Our budget for this crowdfunding campaign prioritizes an hourly wage for each dance artist in rehearsal and performance ($18/hr). Our campaign also covers the hourly rental costs for rehearsal and performance spaces. It truly takes a village to produce dance, so I thank everyone who has so generously donated to support our campaign this spring!
Contraflow exists as a mirror, stirring sensations, memories, or emotions that invite you to witness and reflect on your own nuanced contradictions, while staying present in your body. This performance does not feed an answer. Instead, it serves as an invitation to sit within the complexity of contradiction. Notice the friction, listen to the opposition, and allow the tension to rise and flow freely through the soft tissues of your body.
Thank you again for showing up and sharing this evening of dance with us. It really means the world to us and we are so glad you’re here.
much love,
kt
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.
I'll meet you there...”
⁃ Rumi
Photos by Sarah Jeffers
Contraflow poetically weaves themes of emotional tension, embodied contradiction, and the intimacy of these experiences into a nonlinear portrayal of what it looks and feels like to hold opposing truths at the same time. Built upon the personal experiences of six dance artists and their subjective experiences with grief, fear, discomfort, and social contradictions, Contraflow serves as a meditation on embodied contradiction. Each dance artist offers a unique, embodied physicality that moves through areas of tension, noise, exhaustion, and tenderness, all of which counterflow throughout their bodies and stretch into each other. Contraflow reminds us that during moments of embodied contradiction, overwhelm, tension, and discomfort — nuance radiates through the in-between space of possibility and reality.
For additional information and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Contraflow, click here.
Photo by McCall McClellan
Photo by Sarah Jeffers
Tickets for tonight’s performance are sold as a suggested donation of $25. A donation of any amount will support our goal of paying each collaborating dance artist $18/hour, along with covering the hourly rental costs for rehearsal and performance space. We are grateful for your support!
Contraflow is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Contraflow must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Thank you to our generous donors and communities for supporting us along the way:
Anthony and Stephanie Bittman
Jennifer Cullen
Hunter Evans
Susan Feibus
marissa girard
Rachel Goodman
The Greenfeld/Haire Family
Sandy Greiner
Mary Hoffman
Melinda Malecki
Lucy Riner
Caitlyn Schrader
Joe and Tara Travis
Lynne Williams
…and many more!
THANK YOU FOR DONATING!
IT TAKES A VILLAGE.
The Menomonee Club | Terence Marling and Sarah Hayes
Thank you for hosting a place for dance to be witnessed and experienced. Thank you for your generosity of space and sharing available resources. Contraflow would not be the same without your help and support!
Giau Minh Truong
Thank you for sharing your time, your resources, and your excellent lighting design!
Tara Webb
Thank you for your design expertise, for inspiring my color palette inquiry, and for your guidance on using tertiary colors as a “line of tension”!
Kate Laughlin, Maggie Vannucci
Thank you for your eyes, your ears, and generosity of feedback.
Lucy Riner + Michael Estanich | RE Dance Group
Thank you for your endless support of my work, and for hosting the first performance of Contraflow in January 2025.
Amanda Maraist + Michael Macdonald | bim bom studios
Stefany Cotton | The Rooted Space
Sarah Gonsiorowski | Lost Language
Sarah Jeffers
Thank you for documenting this process more recently through such an honest and empathetic lens, which so beautifully has shaped our marketing materials.
McCall McClellan
Thank you for capturing photos and videos of Contraflow in its early stages.
Aaishanni Agny, Alena Corniea, Ryan Dick, and Claire Marzolf
Thank you for volunteering to help Contraflow run smoothly from start to finish.
Ben Dixon, Will Madsen, Evan Powers
Thank you for moving big things and helping make our set up and strike run quickly and efficiently!
Lynne Williams
Thank you, Mom, for the last-minute stitching, hemming, and sewing costumes, for brainstorming creative fundraising ideas, and for your unwavering support of my (ambitious) dance dreams, always.
Noa Greenfeld, Leondria McRae, Dani Oblitas, Aislinn Travis, Kristen Whalen, and Caitlin Wonsowski
Thank you to my collaborators - this work would not carry its fullness, its density, its ferocity and tenderness without your beautiful minds, somatic embodiment, and the life experiences you have so generously shared throughout this process. This work is yours. I can’t wait to see where we go next.
Erin Harner, Sarah Stearn, Taylor Taylor
Thank you to the original dance artists of Contraflow whose collaboration and performance helped shape the foundations of this work. I want to express my deep appreciation for the time and energy they dedicated to joining this process early on, without any promise or expectation of a final performance date. Their voices still echo throughout the expansiveness of this piece, as Contraflow would not exist without their work!
We would love to hear your thoughts!
