Our goal is to raise $10,000 to continue our research and preparations for our upcoming production in Fall 2024. 

This funding will directly support:

All of our work has started with a solo process. This initial step allows me to explore the ideas of the work before bringing in additional collaborators. 

Butoh challenges morality and beliefs via words, breath, imagination, and movements into the creation of visceral theatrical work that peels back the layers of human complexity and social power in order to recognize the core of one another’s humanity. 

IN PROGRESS is a refined piece exploring the question of spirituality; a belief in something that is beyond the self but is also internal. We are the problem, but we are also the solution.  

Spirituality is often linked to pain, at least in our Judeo-Christian culture which demands pain to be better “Men”. Our intellectual beliefs idealize a separation of the body and mind. We are often asked to go through pain to get closer to the divine, to work hard to be successful and happy. It is a theme that has been discussed at length by female Christian Mystics like Therese d’Avila and Marguerite Porete. Can we heal without pain? Could pleasure replace pain in that journey, and if so what does it imply in the body and ideologically? This piece explores the deep connection between the body and mind. What does this partnership look like?

IN PROGRESS solo will be performed at IN PROGRESS EVENT. More importantly it will be the starting point to work with an ensemble in April for our second residency at the Mercury Store, followed by a workshop this Summer with an ensemble to engage concretely in the next phase towards our production in Fall 2024. 

Our campaign culminates in an exciting event on March 15th at A.R.T. New York, South Oxford Space. We will welcome guests to witness an exclusive premiere of our new solo piece, IN PROGRESS performed by Sophie Amieva, followed by a conversation and Q&A with Vangeline, Butoh Artist and Mark Bankin, the choreographer of the piece. We will enjoy delicious goodies and libations offered by Night Kitchen and NY Distillery. 

notAmuse Milestones Since Our Founding in 2016:

notAmuse Theater’s mission is to teach classes and create visceral theatrical work that peels back the layers of human complexity and social power in order to recognize the true core of one another’s humanity. 

As the founder and Artistic Director of notAmuse, I work from the core understanding that while theater isn’t always outwardly political, it is always inherently political. As audience members and artists we arrive in a theatrical space as a product of the world around us. We are steeped in its power dynamics, traumas, and resulting fears. My goal is to create spaces where I can deconstruct and transcend that fear to foster connections on a deeper level.  

I draw upon ancient mythologies and narratives that have historically been used to control marginalized people. I deconstruct these narratives through extensive research into social history, art history, and sociology. 

Stylistically, I often utilize and blend the contrasting yet complimentary performance forms of Bouffon and Butoh. Popularized in 1950’s France, and derived from ancient Carnival traditions, Bouffon/Grotesque is a form of physical street theater that uses satire to expose the mechanism of power in our society and break taboos. Popularized globally at around the same time, Butoh is a Japanese movement form created in dialogue with mime, Dada, and surrealism. Butoh shifts the energy of the performance space and moves the body into microscopic concentration, shattering the labels we place upon one another and exposing the underlying essence of our core humanity. 

Thank you for your support!