Past Projects

Cross/currents (2019)

CROSS/CURRENTS PERFORMED IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA NOVEMBER 16, 2019.

This newly commissioned site-specific work, which was sponsored by the University of Richmond, was produced and presented at the American Civil War Museum - Historic Tredegar - in downtown Richmond.

Choreographed by Charlotte Boye-Christensen on NOW-ID and select members of University Dancers at the University of Richmond.
Lighting design by Cole Adams
Supported by NOW-ID Executive Director and Architect Nathan Webster

CROSS/CURRENTS was a 50-minute site-specific contemporary dance performance that looked at a powerfully storied place — the James River shoreline in Richmond — reflecting and generating a present-day physical power that is at once grounded in the chosen site and connected to past and future.

Rite of Spring (2019)

Photos courtesy of David Newark and Jeffrey Juip.

NOW-ID PRESENTED OUR SALT LAKE CITY PREMIERE RITE OF SPRING ON JUNE 22ND, 2019. BELOW 600 N ON-RAMP (500 W).

The project was officially announced on 2019's first day of spring and was performed on the summer solstice. The event responded to a very unique Salt Lake City site/context, and climaxed in choreography by Charlotte Boye-Christensen.

Read Brian Kubarycz’s review for Slug Magazine of Rite of Spring here

The Artists of “Rite of Spring”:

Choreography by: Artistic Director Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Score: Igor Stravinsky (1913) conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen on Los Angeles Philharmonic, Concept: Executive Director Nathan Webster, Dancers: Tara McArthur, Jo Blake, Liz Ivkovich and Sydney Sorenson, Opera Singer: Joshua Lindsay, Costume Design: Mallory Prucha, Lighting Design/Technical Director: Cole Adams, Sound: Adam Day and Claudia Escobar, Make up and hair: Stephanie Ericson, Rikki-Lee Thomas, Brittany Botarri, Kevin Truong,Vanessa Alfaro, Interns: Tia Sandman, Bayley Smallwood, Luciana Johnson

PECHA KUCHA (2019)

A Tonal Caress (2018)

Photos courtesy of David Newark and Jeffrey Jump.

In describing the catalyst for A Tonal Caress, artistic director Charlotte Boye-Christensen states, “While we as humans share a symphony of language, touch and fleeting looks that is truly remarkable, it still seems inadequate in the face of the infinite complexities between individuals and societies. Most evident presently, the divisiveness of our sociopolitical climate has created a sense of urgency around the notion that we must find better ways to connect and communicate with each other… The intent of combining choreography with sign language is to investigate how we communicate and alternate between the gross representations of expression and the subtle gesture as fleeting opportunity for connection. In this work, we aim to seek a deep communicative connection for both deaf and hearing audience and communities.”

The Artists of "A Tonal Caress:

CHOREOGRAPHY:CHARLOTTE BOYE-CHRISTENSEN, PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: NATHAN WEBSTER, INSTALLATION OF MEN: GARY VLASIC, POET/PERFORMER: WALTER KADIKI, DANCERS: JO BLAKE, LIZ IVKOVICH, SYDNEY PETITT, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: COLE ADAMS, SOUND ENGINEER: ADAM DAY, VIDEO: JAN ANDREWS, AUSTRALIAN SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS: KAREN CLARE, MARK QUINN

IT'S NOT CRACKER (2016)

Photos courtesy of David Newkirk and Jeffrey Juip.

The title of our contemporary, abbreviated rendition of The Nutcracker, evoked the original in familiarity and seasonality, but was different, contemporary, unique, fun, diverse and serious too. Dynamic contrasts in setting, music and dance were staged within Utah Museum of Contemporary Art's main gallery December 16, 17, 2016. We will be developing this piece further in 2017 and will stage a longer version this coming December.

The Artists of "It's Not Cracker:

CHOREOGRAPHY:
CHARLOTTE BOYE-CHRISTENSEN

DANCERS:
TARA MCARTHUR, BRAD BEAKES
BBOY FEDERATION: JOSHUA PERKINS ("TEXT"), SAMNANG HENG, ALONZO COOPER ("MINI COOPER"), BEN UKOH-EKE ("WESLEY SWIPES"), MAX CREBS ("BABY BLUE"), KAREN ONTIVEROS AND KEIKO GOSHORN. SET AND GENERAL MAYHEM: NATHAN WEBSTER AND GARY VLASIC. DJ/SOUNDS/MOUSEQUEEN:ARTEMIS. LIGHTING DESIGN:COLE ADAMS

EXODUS - A NOW-ID & FIGURA ENSEMBLE CO-PRODUCTION (2016)

Photos courtesy of David Newkirk and Dena Eaton.

NOW-ID’s fourth major site-specific performance of contemporary dance and design took place July 27, 28 & 29th at Marriott Center for Dance, 330 S 1500 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. EXODUS was co-produced by Salt Lake City's NOW-ID and the Figura Ensemble of Copenhagen, Denmark.  This production was performed over several nights in Salt Lake City before touring overseas to Denmark, where it was performed at the Copenhagen Opera Festival August 2 and 3rd, and later at Fyn's Opera in Odense, Denmark August 5, 6th, 2016.

EXODUS focused on the human necessity to move, whether because of persecution, poverty, religious beliefs or opportunity/adventure. EXODUS is a 60-minute long multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural work, involving 15 local and international artists, original choreography, opera, music, design, and contemporary dance. The work explored the implications of "exodus" - a mass movement, a coming together both in spite of and because of diversity—regarding what we may learn in collective experience, in spectacle, about collective identity. The arc of the performance was informed by the trajectory of the experience of EXODUS:

1. Crisis/Hope
2. Home
3. Separation
4. Dream
5. Wave
6. Borders
7. Hope/Crisis

EXODUS, like its collaborators, took both an international and domestic perspective. EXODUS explored human migration and movement, a topical subject nationally in political debate, and globally - most pressingly observed in the exodus from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe.

The Artists of EXODUS:

CHARLOTTE BOYE-CHRISTENSEN (CHOREOGRAPHER), ROLF HEIM (DIRECTOR),PETER BRUUN (COMPOSER), URSULA ANDKJAER OLSEN (WRITER/POET), NATHAN WEBSTER (SET DESIGN) TARA MCARTHUR (DANCER), KATHERINE LAWRENCE (DANCER), ADRIAN FRY (DANCER), JESPER EGELUND (MUSICIAN), ANNA KLETT (MUSICIAN), FRANS HANSEN (MUSICIAN), NANA BUGGE RASMUSSEN (OPERA SINGER), JAKOB BLOCH JESPERSEN (OPERA SINGER) 
COLE ADAMS (LIGHTING DESIGN AND TECHNICAL DIRECTOR)
ADAM DAY (SOUND ENGINEER)

WITHOUT WALLS (2016)

Site-specific film created during NOW-ID's Artist In Residency at Summit Series, Powder Mountain, Utah.

Choreography: Charlotte Boye-Christensen
Dancer: Kate Crews Linsley
Cinematography: Josh Eichenbaum, Marshall Birnbaum
Editing: Chris Howard
Music: Tom Fahy, Jesper Egelund

(Thank You To Summit AIR)

FEAST/KANSAS (2014)

Wichita State University Performing Arts/Dance presents "Feast/Kansas" also featuring the WSU impulse Percussion Ensemble. 

This performance took place at the Kansas Dance Festival over two nights - November 21st and 22nd, 2014. The work was a collaboration between Charlotte Boye-Christensen/NOW-ID dancers, Nick Johnson, director of The Dance Program at Wichita State University as well as Gerald Scholl and the WSU impulse Percussion Ensemble.

39 dancers, 11 percussionists and 3 professional dancers - these were the protagonists in this reinvented FEAST - FEAST/KANSAS.

"Working with Charlotte Boye-Christensen on “Feast/Kansas” was a wonderful and exhilarating experience for my students and for me. As both a professor/arranger and professional performing musician, I really appreciated Charlotte’s focus on the large picture while working together as I shaped the details of the musical composition. The process was very exciting as we all created, in only a few days time, a brilliant production. She showed great savvy by being in tune with my student’s strengths, welcoming their suggestions all of which brought about synergetic performances with extraordinary results. By coupling her imaginative choreographical direction with her collaborative spirit Charlotte brought Wichita a memorable and enriching experience not to mention some of the largest audiences on record." Gerald Scholl, Director:Impulse Percussion Group

"Working with Charlotte Boye-Christensen during her creation of Feast was innovation at its best. This multidisciplinary experience involved the percussion program, the entire dance program and her own, NOW company dancers. Billed as a 'banquet for the senses", Feast exemplified the meaning of contemporary performance. The process was organic, intelligent and exhilarating. The dancers performed their personal best, inspired by the work, the collaboration and the professionalism of sharing the stage with the NOW dancers, themselves extraordinary artists.Charlotte approaches choreography with a specific voice she has developed during her career. Invention, originality and current are the descriptions of her process that immediately come to mind. Collaboration was easy, patient and visionary. We all grew from this remarkable 'dinner date' and look forward to a repeat effort in our near future." Nicholas Johnson, Director of Dance (Wichita State University)

Glimpse (2014)

In September 2014 NOW-ID presented a brief performance at UMOCA in Salt Lake City inspired by UMOCA's "Bikuben" exhibition and the recent collaboration between Charlotte and the Figura Ensemble in Copenhagen. Viewers experienced the powerful movement that draws from the concept of Identity in a landscape of provocative and captivating art by some of the most significant contemporary Danish artists working today.

Feast (2014)

[an invitation to the table]

NOW-ID’s FEAST took place on May 24th, 2014 at Salt Lake’s Great Saltair. The piece explored the surreal, almost alien tabula rasa of our setting at the shoreline of the great Salt Lake, and the historic pleasure palace perched at it’s edge. The piece explored the story of our place, and what it is to be the live ones, consuming, digesting, and making meaning in the present amongst remnants in our uncanny landscape.

This work included a text written by NYC-based writer Troy Deutsch, and showcased the talents of local actors Robert Scott Smith and Alexandra Harbold; dancers Yumelia Garcia, Jenn Freeman and Joseph Blake; Danish composer/musician Jesper Egelund and Icelandic composer Steingrimur Rohloff.

The work included dance, theater, blog, graphic design, salt, original music and a 12 foot x 60 foot table as stage. Presentation of the work in both video and book format are currently in production, and excerpts of the work were developed later in 2014 at Marienlyst Castle in Copenhagen and at Kansas Dance Festival in Wichita. The one night performance was attended by over 400 people.

The Wedding (2013)

[An exploration of the most public of private rituals]

NOW-ID's inaugural performance explored the space of ritual, and was staged July 26 and 27, 2013 in the historic Salt Lake City Masonic Temple. The Wedding showcased the talents of Joffrey Ballet’s Yumelia Garcia, Ballet West’s Katherine Lawrence, Ted Johnson, NY based dancer most recently seen in “Sleep No More” and Ririe-Woodbury’s Joseph Blake, with Danish Installation artist, Sophie Dupont contributing as well as composers Alex Ollo from Australia and Jens Horsving from Denmark, along with local artists Gary Vlasic, Jesse Walker, David Newkirk, Mark Hofeling, Garrick Peters and many more. The performance was a collaborative and context-driven work where the artists and site itself generated many of the fundamental ideas for the project. All together the various elements combined to create a highly charged, intellectually and emotionally transformative experience.

NOW-ID’s inaugural producton: The Wedding took place over two nights, on July 26th and 27th 2013 at Salt Lake City’s Masonic Temple. This venue provided a theater-in-public and private, the contemporary and the historic in cultural ritual. A context driven and collaborative dance-theater piece, The Wedding showcased the talents of Joffrey Ballet’s Yumelia Garcia, Ballet West’s Katherine Lawrence, Ted Johnson – NYC based dancer recently seen in Sleep No More, and local dancer Joseph Blake. We also brought in renowned Danish composer Jens Horsving and Danish installation artist Sophie Dupont - both were underwritten by the Danish Foundation for the Arts. The work included dance, sculpture, graphic design and original music, and was subsequently presented in book and video formats. The live performance was attended by over 700 people.

Amuse Bouche

[we turn towards the salt]

On February 8, 2014 NOW-ID held a low key fundraiser called A MUSE BOUCHE at the fabulous cityhome Collective headquarters. The party was a high-dollar / small-bites culinary event featuring food by Chef Franck Piessel, a short performance and an introduction to the concepts for our May 2014 show FEAST. We couldn’t have been happier with the sold out night and the gracious support we received from our guests.

Menu: La Boue // La Mer // La Saumere // La Chair // Deseret