Rhythm Bath Talk Back With Creators Susan Marshall and Mimi Lien

Choreographer Susan Marshall has collaborated with visual artists, scientists, composers, and music ensembles on large theater productions and gallery installations. She is known for employing modest means to resonant effect, and her movement vocabularies, which often include everyday gestures, are distilled to near abstraction and finely calibrated. Interdependency, freedom within constraints, and humor are constants in her work and process. As the parent of a son with autism and as a member of a community of families of neurodiverse individuals, Marshall is excited by the increasing access for neurodiverse viewers and participants in the arts community and is pleased to be a part of this movement working to expand access to cultural events and to dance in particular. Among other honors, Marshall is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, and three New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Awards. Her dance company has performed extensively in theaters throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, including in NYC at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Kitchen, New York Live Arts, Baryshnikov Arts Center, and Andrea Rosen Gallery, and nationally at venues such as the Kennedy Center, Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, Krannert Center, Gammage at Arizona State University, Walker Art Center and Montclair State University. Her work is in the repertory of major dance companies, including Nederlands Dans Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Since 2009, Marshall has been a professor and the Director of Dance at Princeton University.

‍studiosusanmarshall.org‍

@studiosusanmarshall

‍facebook.com/StudioSusanMarshall

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Mimi Lien is a designer of sets/environments for theater, dance, and opera. Arriving at set design from a background in architecture, her work often focuses on the interaction between audience/environment and object/performer. In 2015, she was named a MacArthur Fellow, and is the first stage designer ever to achieve this distinction. Mimi received the 2017 Tony Award for her design of Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 on Broadway. Selected work includes Grounded (Metropolitan Opera and Washington National Opera), Parsifal (Bayreuther Festspiele), The Righteous (Santa Fe Opera), Intelligence (Houston Grand Opera), The Comet/Poppea (Prototype/The Industry/AMOC*), Die Zauberflöte (Staatsoper Berlin), Sweeney Todd (Broadway – Tony nomination). Her large-scale public artworks include The GREEN, a public space intervention commissioned by Lincoln Center; PARADE, a conveyor-belt installation commissioned by The Bentway, Toronto; MODEL HOME, a performance installation utilizing a 60-ft crane; and 2×4 TREE, a kinetic sculpture commissioned by Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. Selected awards include a Bessie Award, Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Award, American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award, and an OBIE Award for sustained excellence. Mimi is a co-founder of the Brooklyn performance/art space, JACK.

@mi2lien

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Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew is an award-winning designer for theater, dance, opera, musicals, music performances, and large-scale immersive installations. As a designer, Jeanette aims to create a visual environment that is organically integrated into the production's landscape and its language. Her designs have been seen nationally and internationally in Havana (Cuba), Prague (Czech Republic), Lima (Peru), Edinburgh (Scotland), Tokyo (Japan), Graz (Austria), Shanghai (China), and Bloemfontein (South Africa). The New York Times described her designs as “clever” and “inventive.” Her dance work has also been praised for its “vibrant richness of a Caravaggio painted in neon.” In addition to Rhythm Bath with Susan Marshall, Jeanette has collaborated with Tendayi Kuumba, Annie-B Parson, and Donna Uchizono on The March, Wicked Bodies with Liz Lerman, and Chasing Magic with Ayodele Casel. She was the lighting designer for Company XIV between 2014 and 2019. Immersive experiences include David Byrne’s Theater of the Mind (Goodman & DCPA) and Emursive’s Life and Trust. Jeanette is a 2026 USA Fellow and has received an Obie for sustained achievement in design, the Henry Hewes Lighting Design Award, and recipient for the NEA/TCG Career Development Program. Arts Professor and Head of Lighting Design Training at NYU Tisch Drama.

‍jeanetteyew.com‍

@jeanette_yew

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Oana Botez is a Romanian American costume designer working in theater, opera, film, and dance. She is a recipient of the Lucille Lortel, Obie, Henry Hewes, Princess Grace, and Barrymore Awards, and the NEA/TCG Career Development Program. US: BAM, Public Theater, LCT3, Signature Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep, The Kitchen, The Joyce Theater, Arena Stage, Hartford Stage, Wilma Theater. Opera: Detroit Opera, The Industry LA; Alice Tully Hall/ Lincoln Center; Minnesota Opera; Glimmerglass Festival; Portland Opera; Pittsburgh Opera; Prototype NY; National Sawdust; REDCAT; BAM; Wolf Trap Opera; NY Philharmonic; Château de Versailles. Internationally: Bucharest National Theater, Old Vic, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Les Subsistances , Budapest National Theater, The International Festival of Contemporary Theater (Turkey), Le Quartz (France), La Filature (France), Exit Festival /Maison des Arts Creteil (France). Ms. Botez is teaching at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale in the Design Department.

‍oanabotez.com

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A founding and current member of the influential quartet, Sō Percussion, composer/percussionist Jason Treuting has performed worldwide at the Barbican, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, DOM Moscow, Walt Disney Hall, and elsewhere. His compositions, noted for their compelling rhythmic language and evocative expressivity, have been performed by Shara Nova, the JACK Quartet, TIGUE, Susan Marshall and Company, and others. Treuting explores and composes music in collaboration with artists including laptop artist/composer Cenk Ergun; guitarist Grey Mcmurray; and guitarist/composer Steve Mackey. His compositions have been performed at the Lincoln Center Festival, the Barbican, Walker Art Center, National Sawdust, Fast Forward Austin, Kadence Arts Boston, Chatterbird, the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival and elsewhere. Commissions for other ensembles have included the League of Composers Orchestra and the Composers Guild of New Jersey. He received his Bachelors in Music and the Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music, and his Masters in Music along with an Artist Diploma from Yale University. Treuting studied marimba with Keiko Abe in Japan, and gamelan with Pac I Nyoman Suadin in Bali. He co-directs the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, co-directs a percussion program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, and is a lecturer of music at Princeton University, where Sō Percussion is ensemble-in-residence.

jasontreuting.com

‍sopercussion.com‍

@jasontreuting

‍facebook.com/jasonhussein.treuting

Dan Trueman is a musician: a composer, a fiddler, a collaborator, a teacher, a developer of new instruments. Pervading all of his work is a deep curiosity about the creative process, the relationships between musicians and musical instruments/machines, and a desire to discover new music through these relationships that would be previously unimaginable. His current primary instrument/performance/composition projects are bitKlavier and Project Resonance.  As a tool, bitKlavier explores the relationship between musicians and machines, devises new tuning systems, and builds changeable, flexible digital instruments. As an instrument, it aids in composing at the interface between musician and machine and facilitates musical play and pedagogy. He co-leads Project Resonance with the Bergamot Quartet, focusing on the expressive and compositional potential of new and old acoustic instruments with sympathetic strings based on the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle; this has included the design and commission of new acoustic instruments, leading to numerous compositions by Dan and others. Dan’s work has been recognized by fellowships, grants, commissions, and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Barlow Endowment, the Bessies, the American Composers Forum, the MacArthur Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, among others. Dan is a Professor and Chair of the Music Department at Princeton.

‍manyarrowsmusic.com

Headshot credit: Maria Grazia Facciolá

Tony Crawford is an east coast-based Production Manager and Technical Director for dance and ballet. A veteran of both the performing and visual arts, Tony began designing sets and lights for theatrical productions early in his career. After taking an interest in painting sets and full size backdrops, he was accepted to Cobalt Studios, a scenic art conservatory in the Catskills. Tony’s career-defining shift occurred after taking a job at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival as a seasonal Production Coordinator. From there he wanted to be more involved in the dance world and stayed with Jacob’s Pillow for three years, becoming the Operations and Production Manager, and for the last 15 years has worked in dance and ballet production with Richmond Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, The New York City Ballet, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Some of Tony’s more recent work has been with Aszure Barton and Artists as Production Stage Manager, and Twyla Tharp’s Diamond Jubilee Tour as PSM. During the 2020 pandemic Tony completed a degree in Geographic Information Science from Arizona State University. At home, Tony restores vintage and mid-century modern furniture.

@crawfordsattic

Jørgen Noodt Skjærvold is a designer and technician from Trondheim, Norway. He has been working in theater and making sounds and music since 2005. Recent artists he has worked with include Julio Torres, Half Straddle, Andrew Schneider, Monica Bill Barnes & Company, JoAnne Akalaitis & Philip Glass, Findlay//Sandsmark, Mabou Mines and Shana Moulton.

Headshot credit: Julia Frey

John Flak is thrilled to be the Stage Manager of Rhythm Bath after serving as the Production Manager for the Philadelphia premiere. John is a theatre artist with an extensive background in Stage and Production Management. For over 35 years, John has been an active member of Actors’ Equity Association as a Stage Manager. His stage management highlights include Arden Theatre Company; Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Weston Theatre Company (Weston Playhouse); Actors Theatre of Louisville; and the Broadway tour of Ragtime in Chicago. John was the Production Manager of A Fierce Kind of Love, produced by the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, which tells the untold story of Pennsylvania’s Intellectual Disability Rights Movement. John has taught and mentored young Stage Managers at The University of the Arts, Arcadia University, Villanova University, Temple University, and Northwestern University. John is also a photographer, artist, and proud Dad.

‍flakphotography.com

Lila Hurwitz supports artists of all kinds with project/tour management, grant-writing, communications, strategy and more. Long-time clients include dance artists Susan Marshall, Bebe Miller, Rosy Simas, Kathy Westwater and others. She is a co-founder of Motion State Arts, a presenting organization supporting innovative dance in Providence, RI, and is Program Manager for Next Steps for Boston Dance. She co-founded Dance Art Group, which created and produced the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation and related events for 18 years. She was the graphic designer for Contact Quarterly magazine for 11 years, and served as Communications and Associate Director at Seattle’s Artist Trust for 10 years. Lila has performed with Heidi Henderson, Linda K. Johnson, Nina Martin, Karen Nelson, Mary Oslund, Stephanie Skura and many others. She is also a Guild Certified Feldenkrais^® Practitioner and taught Authentic Movement for a decade. Lila graduated from Hampshire College in 1987 with a BA in Dance Choreography & Criticism.

doolittleandbird.com

@doolittleandbird

facebook.com/DoolittleandBird

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Lisa Sonneborn (she/her) is Director, Media Arts and Culture (MAC) for the Institute on Disabilities, Temple University CEHD. Her work has engaged communities locally, nationally, and internationally in conversations around the lived experience of disability, the preservation of disability history, and cultural access. As MAC director, Lisa leads teams of artists, people with disabilities and families through the development and implementation of multi-layered cultural programming. MAC projects have served as models for inclusion, authenticity of voice, and arts accessibility. Under Lisa's direction, the Institute commissioned and produced the play A Fierce Kind of Love, which was the recipient of the ArtReach Kimmel Award for Accessible Experience. In collaboration with Built for Good, UK Lisa has supported the implementation of WatchWord technology, making live performance accessible to people who are d/Deaf or experience hearing loss. Recent projects include File/Life: We Remember Stories of Pennhurst, a multi-modal community led exploration of the archives of the Pennhurst State School and Hospital; Rhythm Bath, a dance installation designed with and for neurodiverse audiences, by Susan Marshall and Mimi Lien; and You Caught Me on Your Shoulders, a new collaboration with Kinetic Light and FringeArts (2027).

@mac_iod

Rohan Bhargava was born and raised in New Delhi, India. In 2012, he moved to New York to pursue his BFA in Dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Rohan has experience in dance styles of Bhangra, Bollywood, floorwork, ballet, contemporary, and street-jazz, as well as in Indian street-theater. As Founder & Artistic Director of Rovaco Dance Company, Rohan produces multidisciplinary productions at the intersection of Indianness and queerness. His choreography earned him the 2020 Jadin Wong Fellowship in Dance from Asian American Arts Alliance and a feature in Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch" in 2021. Under Rohan's leadership, Rovaco has been supported by Brooklyn Arts Council's Brooklyn Arts Fund (2021-26), New York State Council on the Arts' Support for Organizations (2026) & Support for Artists (2025), Brooklyn Org's Microgrant (2026), NYU Production Lab's Artist Development Program for Dance (2024), The Danse Mirage Foundation's Choreography Pilot Program (2024), Dance/NYC's Dance Advancement Fund (2022-23), and a CUNY Dance Initiative Residency at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (2017-19). Rohan currently teaches for Mark Morris Dance Center and Notes in Motion Outreach Dance Theater, and he is the Programs & Marketing Manager for Mare Nostrum Elements' Emerging Choreographer Series.

‍rovacodance.com‍

@rohan.dance

‍Headshot credit: Jake Kruty Photography, courtesy of Rovaco Dance Company

Anichi Moon 月亮。安柅崎 A name discovered in a dream, carried gently by the wind between worlds. Born as Ching-I Chang, a name lovingly gifted by a beloved grandfather, Anichi walks through life with wonder in heart and songs in soul. Anichi dreams of a world where humans and nature remember they are one; where creation flows freely without borders, separation, or fear. Anichi speaks with trees and listens closely to the wisdom hidden in their dances beneath the sky. When time softens, you can find Anichi singing to the moon, dancing barefoot through ordinary moments, and turning everyday life into a small celebration of being alive. Anichi loves bananas.

‍chingichangbigelow.com‍

@tax1050

‍facebook.com/chingi.chang

Headshot credit: Travis Magee

Kristin Clotfelter is based in Durham, NC by way of NYC and Dayton, OH. She co-directs Studio C Projects, a Collaborative investigating intersections of movement, design and performance; is Associate Artistic Director of Barriskill Dance Theater School and teaches dance at Duke University. At Barriskill, she manages Community Engagement and co-directs two annual story ballets and a pre-professional company. She also works with Dance Project in Greensboro, NC to facilitate the Durham-branch of their Artist-in-Residence program, serving dance artists across the state. Kristin has been a member of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre since 2005 and worked with Susan Marshall since 2011. Additional performance credits include: The Metropolitan Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, State Theater of Kassel in Germany, and Punchdrunk’s off-Broadway show, Sleep No More. She has been awarded residencies through Durham Independent Artists, Tobacco Road Dance Productions, and Dance Omi. Kristin holds a BFA with honors and a minor in Visual Arts from the Alvin Ailey/Fordham University program and an MFA from the University of the Arts. @k_r_i_5_t_i_n

‍Headshot credit: Heather Craig

Nico Gonzales (he/him), a Colorado native, started his early dance training at Denver School of the Arts, and under Brian Young and Tami Bing. He received his BFA in Dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. In addition to working with Studio Susan Marshall, he performs with Heidi Latsky Dance and is a founding company member of both Rovaco Dance Company and HOLDTIGHT Company (Denver, CO). Nico has also performed with Bryn Cohn + Artists and Periapsis Music & Dance at venues including Jacob’s Pillow, Lincoln Center, The 92nd St Y, Bryant Park and Ailey Citigroup Theater.

@nicolost

Headshot credit: Jade Warner Photography

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Paul Hamilton, a “Bessie”-winning performer, began his training in Jamaica at the Jamaica School of Dance. After relocating to the U.S., he continued his studies at SUNY Purchase under Kevin Wynn and Neil Greenberg. His dance repertoire includes performances with Elizabeth Streb, The Martha Graham Dance Ensemble, and The Barnspace Dance Company. In 2000, Paul began a long-standing collaboration with Reggie Wilson Fist and Heel Performance Group, resulting in acclaimed works like Black Burlesque (revisited) and the Bessie-winning Big Brick. His thirst for knowledge led him to choreographer Keely Garfield. A pivotal moment arrived in 2014 when Paul teamed up with artist Ralph Lemon to create Chorus, an integral part of the Scaffold Room performance at the Kitchen NYC, earning Paul a Bessie nomination. His journey continued in Bessie-winning productions including Jane Comfort’s 40th Anniversary Retrospective and David Thomson’s He his own mythical beast. Paul restaged Bruce Nauman’s Wall Floor Position at the Museum of Modern Art. Currently, Paul thrives in original works by Melinda Ring, Neil Greenberg, and Susan Marshall. A Movement Research Artist in Residence, his choreographic work has been presented at Performa Biennial 2021 in collaboration with artist Kevin Beasley, and at Judson Church NYC.

‍https://linktr.ee/HamiltonPaul

Headshot credit: Daniel McKnight

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Courtney Henry is an artist, writer, performer, educator, and mother whose work follows the spiral of re-membrance between body, story, and place. Working across dance, voice, film, and text, she creates immersive experiences that invite audiences into deeper conversation with themselves, one another, and the more-than-human world. A former principal dancer with Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Courtney brings more than two decades of embodied practice to an artistic career spanning performance, choreography, education, and writing. Rooted in improvisation, African diasporic philosophies, somatic inquiry, and imagination, her practice is grounded in the belief that movement remembers what language cannot, and that art can help us return to what has always been ours to know. She is the founder of East Bay GYROTONIC®, an educator and mentor, and the author of the forthcoming children's book The Wandering Prince, an Afrofuturist coming-of-age story inspired by Yoruba cosmology. Whether in the studio, on stage, or on the page, Courtney creates spaces where re-membrance becomes both an artistic practice and an invitation to imagine new ways of relating to ourselves, one another, and the living world. Courtney lives and creates in the San Francisco Bay Area with her son, Issa.

‍courtneyhenry.org

‍@co__henry

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Vanessa Knouse is a dance artist and teacher based in New York City. Originally from Santa Fe, NM, she trained at the School of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet before earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Vanessa has performed work with the Merce Cunningham Trust, Cornfield Dance, Bill Young/Colleen Thomas & Co., Ian Spencer Bell, Susan Marshall & Co., Jody Oberfelder Projects and Douglas Dunn + Dancers. She has been a guest teaching artist at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Dewitt Clinton Highschool, New Mexico School for the Arts, Southern Vermont Dance Festival, University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Madison Ballet School. She worked with Kimberly Bartosik/daela and Douglas Dunn as a rehearsal assistant and has assisted Patricia Lent in staging event versions of Merce Cunningham’s work. Vanessa is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Illinois.  

‍vanessaknouse.com‍

@vanessa.knouse

‍facebook.com/vanessa.knouse

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Headshot credit: Jaqlin Medlock

Bryn is a dance artist and pediatric/family chiropractor based in Portland, Oregon. After earning her BS in dance and psychology at University of Oregon, she moved to NYC to continue dancing, collaborating, and performing with Michelle Boulé, Susan Marshall, and Sidra Bell among others. In 2018 she founded the physical theater company BIRDHOUSE with artistic director Raven White, curating, teaching, and performing in multidisciplinary performance pieces in NYC. She has performed at Theaterlab (NYC), The Oculus (NYC), LAKES DEJOT (Riga, Latvia), La Mama Downstairs (NYC), Links Hall (Chicago), The Chocolate Factory (NYC), and beyond.

‍brynluna.com‍

@bryn.here.now

Headshot credit: Theik Smith

Eileen Thomas is a founding member of Susan Marshall & Co., performing with the company from 1985–2000. She also served as choreographic assistant to Susan on several dance company commissions and was rehearsal director for the Philip Glass Opera production of Les Enfants Terribles. She is thrilled to join these performances of Rhythm Bath. Eileen is a licensed massage therapist, teaches therapeutic yoga and dance/yoga classes for people with Parkinson’s. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her daughter.

‍eileenthomas.net

Darrin Michael Wright, a Brooklyn- based collaboration artist, is a native of Los Angeles, California, where he started tap dancing at the age of six. His early trainings were taking tap classes, which led to jazz with Ian Gary; learning about choreography and performance in high school with Janet Roston; taking post-modern dance with Rudy Perez. In 1997, Darrin joined The Bella Lewitzky Dance Company as part of their farewell tour. He received his BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2002. Since graduation, Darrin has had the pleasure of working with The METopera, Susan Marshall, Terry Creach, Jane Comfort, Bill Young/Colleen Thomas, Yanira Castro, Keely Garfield, Jack Ferver, Tami Stronach, Antonio Ramos, Leslie Cuyjet, Ivy Baldwin, Doug Varone, Laura Peterson, Amber Sloan, Katie Workum, David Gordon, Pioneers Go East, Nancy Bannon, Linsey Bostwick, Nina Winthrop, Linsday and Jason Dietz Marchant. Darrin teaches master classes in technique, composition and improvisation throughout the country. In 2009, he received a “Bessie” Award for his work with A Canary Torsi's Dark Horse/Black Forest. Darrin is a founding member of Duvet, an Authentic Movement based group working on achieving a true sense of being human through performance and collective gatherings.

@nirrad27

‍facebook.com/darrin.wright.524

Headshot credit: Darrin Michael Wright