fall ’24

CARLOS FRANQUIZ
NOELLE KAYSER
ADAM MCGAW

Sep 13 – 21, 2024
ERICKSON THEATRE

Founder & Artistic Director: Olivier Wevers
Company Manager/Director of Education: Karl Watson
Production Stage Manager: Becca Blackwell
Lighting Designer: Michael Mazzola
Admninistrative Asscoiate: Amanda Eaker
Audience Services: Hedy Davis

Forgiveness Sonata

Choreography: Adam McGaw in collaboration with the dancers
Dancers: Jacob Beasley, Owen Fulton, Stella Jacobs, Aliya Janov, Daeyana Moss, Ashley Rivette, Kyle Sangil
Music: Oleksandr Demianenko, Frederico Mompou, Franz Schubert, Zakè
Costumes: Adam McGaw

The Seed Of Embracement

Choreography: Carlos Franquiz
Dancers: Jacob Beasley, Owen Fulton, Stella Jacobs, Aliya Janov, Daeyana Moss, Ashley Rivette, Kyle Sangil
Original Composition: Rush Carson
Costumes: Carlos Franquiz

Druid Hills, Wild Bills

Choreography: Noelle Kayser in collaboration with the dancers
Dancers:Jacob Beasley, Owen Fulton, Stella Jacobs, Aliya Janov, Daeyana Moss, Ashley Rivette, Kyle Sangil
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Indriði Einarsson, Darryl Hoffman, Sigvaldi Kaldalóns, Elgin Lumpkin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Troy Oliver
Costumes: Aviad Arik Herman
Additional Tailoring: Mark Zappone
Text: Judith “Miss Manner’s” Martin (see below), Noelle Kayser
Voice Actors: Tyler Meredith, Jeff Kurysz, Noelle Kayser

RUNNING TIMES

(in minutes)

Program 91 min

Forgiveness Sonata

 22 min
INTERMISSION 15 min

The Seed Of Embracement

 20 min
INTERMISSION 15 min

Druid Hills, Wild Bills

 19 min
Program 91

Forgiveness Sonata

 22
INTERMISSION 15

The Seed Of
Embracement

 20
INTERMISSION 15

Druid Hills, Wild Bills

 19

CHOREOGRAPHERS NOTES

The Seed Of Embracement

The beauty in a seed being planted is the moment when you get to watch the process of it becoming a tree or a plant or a flower. There is a specific process needed for it all to grow properly, but the beauty of nature is what allows that to happen and begin it’s process of growth. A famous quote that I love and live by is “if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” In the work the dancers are experiencing many separate trials throughout, but all have a similar root. They continue to lift each other up out of these hard trials and in the end their faith and hope they have for a better day is what gets them through to the next. No matter how many times we try to sweep something under the rug without addressing it together we can’t accomplish the act of moving forward. 
 
I would like to thank all the artist involved in this process for their collaboration in bringing this vision to life. Thank you to my friend Rush Carson for building such an amazing soundscape for the work to be developed in. Thank you to Olivier and the entire WHim W’Him team and faculty for trusting in my vision for this creation and for all the work you do for these artist. Thank you as well to the whole entire stage crew who work to produce the magic seen on stage. 

Druid Hills, Wild Bills

This work is about all the ways we as humans have tried to organize ourselves in an effort to live cohesively since the dawn of time—etiquette, tradition, decorum—and it follows our successes and catastrophic failures along the way. Despite our best intentions, we will always make missteps, and hopefully, we are gentle with each other when we do. After all, it’s so hard to be a person in the world.
 
Author: Judith “Miss. Manners” Martin
Book: Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior
  • “Assertiveness,” “Looking out for number one,” and other systems for the dissemination of rudeness…“Did you summon me?”…take out your anger on objects, within the limits of legality…” (pg 3-4)
  • “Is there a common ground somewhere between those who have presence and those who just take up space?” (pg 13)
  • “A child who is able to express his true feelings without the restraints of convention is a menace to society… That decided, when do we begin to torture the baby?…the newborn baby is permitted to sleep while visitors are present… But he must be made to understand his obligation to allow visitors to satisfy their curiosity as to his looks…A child who is less than a month old is not expected to produce social smiles… He should expect to be passed around to visitors and should remember to bring some protective covering with him. Wetting or otherwise inconveniencing well-wishers is not a good way to begin a social career. He should never show a negative reaction to a compliment for a present. Crying in response to an innocent remark or shifting one’s head when a new bonnet is placed there are both bad form… Parents who think of these visits as occasions for encouraging their children to cater to the comforts of guests, rather than the other way around, will be getting their children off to a good beginning. (pg 39-40)
  • “Basic Civilization…The harsh truth is that there is no more hostile and humiliating social environment than grades K through eight.” (pg 56)
  • “Handshakes, Kisses, and Other Introductory Gestures.” (pg 79)
  • “It has always been proper for women to shake hands with each other…How firmly are we talking about?” (pg 80)
  • “Lips. In America it is the right cheek only. The right cheek, followed by the left cheek. The hand.” (pg 81-82)
  • “Proper distance between conversing acquaintances.” (pg 83)
  • “Street Greetings… Hat Tips… Arms and the Gentlemen…” (pg 84-85)
  • “Oh, I’m so terribly sorry, I just can’t.”… “Because I’m afraid it’s just impossible” (pg 88)
  • “Death…The most graceful way of getting through all of these is to search one’s mind until one has a supply of anecdotes about the dead person that are both favorable and believable.” (pg 685)
  • “I’m sorry.”…”I’m so sorry.”… “It’s all for the best.”… “It’s really much better this way. You wouldn’t have wanted her to linger on and deteriorate, and this way you can remember her at the height of her youth”… “Oh, dear. What can I say?”

POST SHOW
Q & A

Be curious!

Stay after the performance for a Q&A session

with the artists of Whim W’Him!

VISION

Enriching lives by investing in imagination,
illuminating that art exists within each and everyone

JOIN WHIM W’HIM TODAY,
BECOME A REAL RENTER! 

Real Rent calls on people who live and work in Seattle to make rent payments to the Duwamish Tribe. Though the city named for the Duwamish leader Chief Seattle thrives, the Tribe has yet to be justly compensated for their land, resources, and livelihood.

You can do something today to stand in solidarity with
First Peoples of this land by paying Real Rent.

All funds go directly to Duwamish Tribal Services (DTS) to support the cultural, economic and political survival of the Duwamish Tribe. Visit the webiste to learn more about this grassroots movement to support Duwamish sovereignty

REALRENTDUWAMISH.ORG

SUPPORT NEW DANCE CREATIONS & THRIVING ARTISTS

Every gift makes an impact on our artists, programs and community.

Thank You for Your Generous Support!

Your support makes our work possible and we are deeply grateful for all the ways you continue to show up for Whim W’Him, our artists and each other – by donating, joining us in the theater, participate in our conversations, and sharing the work we do with your family, friends and neighbors.

Thank you for being part of the Whim W’Him family!