* June-August, 2009: Fall Dance/Movement Concert

Wallis Knot is in rehearsal to develop a new performance piece based on Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale and Othello, to include a variety of text, performance and dance styles.  The piece is being assembled and choreographed by Eileen Connolly, and will utilize the performance talents of a variety of NYCDA students including Ed Robinson, Dan Brown, Andhy Mendez, Dannie Flanagan, Sophia Parra and Annalisa Chamberlin. 

Performances will be in November, 2009, at the Hudson Guild Theater, NYC. 

Stay tuned for performance dates and times.

  * April 11, 2009: Spring Dance Concert

Wallis Knot hosted the second annual spring dance concert Paper on April 11, 2009 at the Hudson Guild Theater in New York City. 

The concert featured dances by the following choreographers:  Meredith McCanse, Sean Roschman, Connie Rotunda, Richard Omar, Eileen Connolly, Mary Donaldson and Megan Furnish.  Lighting by Jamien Lundy Forrest.

The concert is made possible in part due to the generous donation of rehearsal space by Joan See and the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.

The concert was free of charge; donations accepted. 

* January 13, 2009: Mystery Reading Night

Wallis Knot began their reading series Closed Out Of Town with a 1936 play by mystery writer Ellery Queen entitled Danger, Men Working which closed out of town before ever making its Broadway debut, but was later reworked for a Hollywood film.  The Ellery Queen Estate gave us permission for the one time event which included Wallis Knot company members Richard Omar, Connie Rotunda, David Del Rio and also included New Dramatist Joe Goodrich, as well as several students at the school. 

The event was generously sponsored by the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and took place at their studios in Chelsea, New York.

Coming Soon: we have been granted the rights for a NYC reading of S. N. Behrman's Let Me Hear The Melody...dates TBA.  email wallis@wallisknot.org to be on our mailing list.

This classic cautionary tale of desire and power was set at Christmas-time in the post-Vietnam War era.  The production wove together a tapestry of imagery: go-go girls clad in American flag bikinis, swaggering salsa dancing soldiers, a Zen martial arts exercise with Birnham Wood birch poles, naked rag-doll baby marionettes, a karaoke-singing & blood-splattering Lady Macbeth, and a Handel-singing finale that climaxed in a modern dance and hand to hand combat collision.  Multimedia film projections included a war montage, a travel scene, and a haunting witchly projection sequence.  The stage was kept relatively bare – only minimal mid-century modern furnishings – with most of the tragic couple’s scenes taking place in a cramped bathroom.  Plastic sheeting added a sterile mood with a dash of horror-film chic.  Marionette puppets brought the apparitions to life.  Costumes started with war-time staples (authentic fatigues, army boots, dog tags) and were placed in ironic juxtaposition to cozy robes and fluffy slippers for the Christmas morning scene; hippie tie-die dresses for the witches; and “Laura Petri” turtlenecks and capri pants for Lady Macbeth.   And the music? Well...what is it about this period’s classic rock and bossa nova country-club orchestra beat that almost make one want to forgive Macbeth his murderous rampage?  Or, is it just me?

The production was beautifully lit by designer Jamien Lundy Forrest, and included choreography by Eileen Connolly as well as Sean Roschman. Video projections were filmed and edited by Tyler Gattoni.  Featured actors included Andhy Mendez (Macbeth), Zade OBlenes (Lady Macbeth), Dannie Flanagan (Witch) and Tyler Gattoni (Macduff) all of whom also participated in last spring's annual dance concert, and Eric Whitten (Banquo) who was also seen in the Joe Goodrich play reading event. The other actors who so artfully brought this modernized Shakespeare to life were: Kara Young & Katy Kirkwood (our sexy hippie Witches), Bean Brennan (our humorous Irish Maid), Anastasia Zorin (our heartbreaking pregnant Lady Macduff), Mike Komala (our intense King), Jake Zachry (our loveable underdog Lennox), Bobby Millhouse (our mysterious Hecate), Jesuhan Malave (our rageful patriot and loving cousin), and Stephen Irvine (our troubled Malcolm).

Wallis Knot's spring 2008 dance concert entitled WET: Shakespeare included a variety of choreographers working within a variety of movement genres -- while adding a dash of Shakespearean text to the mix and working with the theme: wet.

Performances were Thursday May 8 & Friday May 9 at 6:30 pm

at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (39 W 19th Street, 2nd floor, NYC).