2nd Best Dance Company
RED

NOVEMBER 11 & 12, 2022

RUNTIME: 1 hour 45 minutes including a brief intermission

This performance includes audience participation! Participation is voluntary. If you choose to participate, you will not be asked to leave your seat, and you will be told exactly what to do. To signify that you consent to participate, please visibly wear a sticker. You may remove your sticker at any time.

Choreographed, written, and directed by Hannah Garner

Performers of 2nd Best
Courtney Barth
Hannah Garner
Will Noling
Ryan Yamauchi

Costumes and Props
Ariel Noltimier Strauss

Directorial assistance
Ann Noling and Patrick Garner

Music
Offerte non encore exécutée, H. 522 composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, performed by Musica Antiqua Köln & Reinhard Goebel
Le chevalier du guet (The Night Watch Officer) performed by André Claveau, Mathé Altéry, Christian Borel & Claire Vallin
O Waly, Waly performed by Chanticleer
I’m Sorry written by Dub Allbritten and Ronnie Self, performed by Brenda Lee
Nocturne Op.9 No.2 In e Flat Major composed by Frederic Chopin, performed by Brigitte Engerer
Dancing Queen written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, performed by ABBA
Parlez-moi d'amour written by Jean Lenoir, performed by Lucienne Boyer
Messe a 3 voix (Panis angelicus) composed by César Franck, performed by Debrecen Kodaly Choir, Dezso Karasszon, and Salamon Kamp

Lighting Designer
Matt Morris

Technical and Production Manager
Anna Wotring

The first scene borrows language from Little Red Riding Hood written by Charles Perrault.

Founded in 2016, 2nd Best Dance Company creates, performs, and teaches physically rigorous, sometimes virtuosic, almost always slapstick dance-plays. Pursuing these interests their work has gone past the traditional dance proscenium to include collaborations in sculpture, animation, theater, film, and site-specific works. Past commissions have included GroundWorks DanceTheater, Gibney Dance, GALLIM x CreateArt, Kizuna Dance, SUNY Purchase, the Hartt School, among others. 2nd Best was a Resident Artist of Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (2022), GALLIM’s ‘Moving Women Residency’ (2021), Atlantic Center for the Arts (2021), and Triskelion Arts (2019). Recent credits include the Redtail Artist Residency, an upcoming dance film, movement direction for Snail Mail band (‘Valentine’ European tour, 2022), and a week of teaching at University of Montana. 2nd Best is thrilled to be on the last stop of their first tour of RED, beginning in Missoula, MT, heading west to Seattle, and ending at home in Brooklyn.

Led by Hannah Garner, 2nd Best continues to seek multidisciplinary partnerships, explore limits of the body, and find solace in the humor of being human. In real life they live in New York City, on the internet they live at 2ndbestdance.com.

Hannah Garner (she/her/hers)
Hannah, awarded Dance Magazine’s ‘25 to Watch’ in 2020, graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Purchase. Since graduating, Hannah has worked with Doug Varone, Raja Feather Kelly, Sue Bernhard Danceworks, Megan Williams Dance, and Rovaco Dance Company in venues such as The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, and New York Live Arts. Her work as 2nd Best has been commissioned nationally by dance artists, musical artists (Snail Mail, Frankie Cosmos, Half Waif) and educational institutions (Hartt School, SUNY Purchase). Hannah is on faculty at SUNY Purchase, Bard College (upcoming), and Gibney Dance Center.

Courtney Barth (she/her/hers)
Courtney is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, and began her dance training at Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts. She then attended SUNY Purchase where she received her BFA in dance and performed works by Kyle Abraham, Kevin Wynn, Martha Graham and performed as an original cast member of Polaris by Crystal Pite at Sadler’s Wells. Courtney is currently based out of New York City and has worked with Shannon Gillen, Kensaku Shinohara and Loni Landon. She currently works with Doug Varone and Hannah Garner’s 2nd Best Dance Company.

Will Noling (they/them/theirs)
Will is a performer and educator originally from Brooklyn, NY. A founding collaborator with 2nd Best, they graduated from SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Dance, having spent a term at London Contemporary Dance School. Will also serves as Lead Actionist and Partnership Manager for Hands are for Holding® at Gibney, working in NYC schools with young people to promote healthy relationships. Will was previously an Artistic Associate with Gibney Dance Company, and has performed works by Kyle Abraham, Raja Feather Kelly, and Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. Most recently, Will performed at the Joyce Theater with Doug Varone and Dancers.

Ryan Yamauchi (he/him/his)
Ryan was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and began his dance training at the Mid-Pacific Institute School of the Arts. He later moved to New York and received his BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase. Ryan has had the pleasure of dancing with 2nd Best Dance Company, Doug Varone and Dancers, Loni Landon Dance Projects, and Sidra Bell Dance New York. He has also performed as a guest dancer with the Santa Fe Opera, Gibney Dance Company, and Santa Barbara Dance Theater. As a choreographer, Ryan has created work for students at SUNY Purchase and The Juilliard School.

Matt Morris (he/him/his)
Matt is a NYC based lighting designer with a wide array of lighting design experience including theater, music events, comedy, and broadcast. But he has a special love for dance and movement, and the collaboration with creative and inventive artists and choreographers. He is grateful for the opportunities like this to support the new work of these artists.

Anna Wotring (she/her/hers)
Anna, Pittsburgh native, is a community minded dance artist, designer and production stage manager committed to the practice of collaborative leadership. She currently works with Annie Heath, Lauren Horn, Jennifer Nugent and slowdanger as a technical design consultant, dancer, and production stage manager. Wotring obtained her BFA in Dance, at the Five College Dance Department in Western Massachusetts. She has had the privilege of working with a multitude of dance organizations, including Alvin Ailey Studios, Attack Theater, Ballet Des Ameriques, BalletNext, Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Company, the Dance Conservatory of Pittsburgh, Dance Place, H2O Contemporary Dance, Monica Bill Barnes and Company, New York Live Arts, the Pillow Project, Prayers of the People, RoseAnne Spradlin, Scapegoat Garden, Time Lapse Dance, and many others. Wotring is beyond excited to begin working and imagining with the Trisk team. @annaissupercool

RED was created in 2019 as Resident Artist of Triskelion Arts. As always, we are eternally grateful to the Trisk team for their continual love and support.

Special thanks to Nicole Wolcott, Joy French, Bare Bait and Westside Theater, Ann Noling, Tory Bailey, The Costume Collection at TDF, Ariel Noltimier Strauss, the Garner family, Eliza Doyle, and Alexa Carroll.

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