Presented by Baryshnikov Arts this November, Gianna Burright is fundraising for her upcoming performance! This evening-length piece explores the tangled intersections of societal expectations, gender roles, and time, unfolding through a collage of movement that shifts between intimacy, urgency, and quiet rebellion. Rooted in deep collaboration, the creative  team includes Alex Rix, Ariel Clarke, Piper Dye, and Bryaunna Kostelnik, who are bringing the work to life with their phenomenal performance, Original composition by Sio Tepper, with Camille Schiess performing live. This upcoming November 12–13, As if everything was perfect by Gianna Burright will be presented at Baryshnikov Arts (Jerome Robbins Theater) as part of their Fall 2026 Season. An incredible opportunity following her 2024 Fall Artist Residency and a continued investment in the work.

As we prepare through development periods in June & July as well as late October leading into our November performances, we are actively fundraising. Your support directly uplifts these artists and helps sustain the future of Gianna Burright + Artists. Paying dancers and collaborators fairly is a core value of her work.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

While this work has already been in process, it is still in a crucial stage of development. As my first evening-length piece, I’m committed to nurturing it with the time, care, and resources it needs to fully evolve. Your support makes this possible by directly funding rehearsal space, creative development, and fair pay for the artists bringing it to life.

ABOUT THE WORK:
As if everything was perfect, directed and choreographed by Gianna Burright, questions societal expectations of traditional gender roles, tracing the layered emotional experience of historical expectations of women against the inevitable passing of time. 

Through a character-driven lens, the work explores an internalized sense of responsibility shaped by compassion and extreme guilt. Pressures surface from all directions: too young or too old, to marry, to have children, to build a life of perceived value. The choreography reveals fantasies, nightmares, memories, real and imagined utopias. 

Gianna Burright (she/her/hers) is a Choreographer, Dancer, and Educator, who explores emotional extremes: happiness and sadness, grief and euphoria, rage and mindfulness, nightmares and dreams through movement. A self proclaimed late bloomer she has had the opportunity to work with acclaimed organizations such as Baryshnikov Arts Artist Residency, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Create Summer Program, Jacob's Pillow Ann and Westin Hicks Choreography Fellow, Kennesaw State University Choreographic Residency, Carmel Dance Festival Choreography Fellow, Dance Gallery Festival Ardsley Residency. Gianna has presented choreographic work in fifteen countries including at iconic venues such as The Bonnie Byrd Theater, The Place, Turner Contemporary Gallery, Waterloo East Theatre, STEPS, Opendoors North America, the International Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Odyssey Theater, LA Theatre Center, and LA Dance Project. 

Gianna is an educator who works with dancers and movers of all ages and abilities, including working in the K-12 school system and university settings. She aims to create understanding through sensory experiences, articulation & vocabulary (verbally and physically), awareness, joy, sadness, connection, and listening. Burright holds a BFA in Dance from UCSB and an MFA in Choreography from Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance. @giannaburright

For more information about Gianna Burright, visit her website:
https://www.giannaburright.com/