Providence Community Invited to Auditions for “The Encounter: Providence”

Professional, pre-professional and non-professional performers are invited to be part of choreographer Kimberly Bartosik/daela’s The Encounter: Providence, a physical-theater performance work developed in partnership with Motion State Arts. The workshop takes place on Saturday, January 27, 2024 from 11 am – 1 pm, followed by an audition from 2-3 pm. It will be at Southside Cultural Center of RI, 393 Broad St, Providence, and is free to attend!

If interested, you will need to register in advance by Wednesday, January 24, using this form or visit: https://motionstatearts.org/call-for-performers-the-encounter-providence.  

Performances of The Encounter will be presented at the fourth annual Motion State Dance Festival, March 1–2, 2024, at The Wilbury Theatre Group, Providence.

The Encounter is an expansive performance project created by choreographer/director Kimberly Bartosik. Working with communities worldwide and merging professional, pre-professional, and non-professional performers, she has been creating unique Encounter projects, exploring intergenerational cross-geographic, global conversation about the ferocious power of the body as a form of communication. The work is an encounter with oneself, pulling from what people currently carry in their bodies—hope, fear, desire, grief, newfound power—pulsing through and between generations.

Bartosik’s past Encounter projects include communities in Akron, Buffalo, Maine and NYC. For more information on Kimberly and the work, visit daela.org/the-encounter.

Motion State Arts is thrilled to be bringing this expansive performance project to Providence, and encourages professional and non-professional dance/theater folks to join in!

“The Encounter is exactly what its title suggests: an encounter between distinct people, and one that could only happen between these people in this place in the way that it does the specific time it happens. The Encounter is a chance made alive.” —Cast member, The Encounter: Buffalo 

Participants do not need formal dance training or performance experience but should be prepared to engage in physical and athletic activity. The process will also require collaborative engagement from the performers. All participants will receive a stipend for their participation.

Participants ages 12 and up of all body types, gender identities, races, ethnicities, and abilities are encouraged and welcome. Southside Cultural Center and Wilbury Theatre Group are ADA-compliant and we will make all reasonable accommodations in order to cast performers.

Participants must be available for all rehearsals and performances, including:

• February 19–25 (evenings & weekends, ~4 hours/day): Creative Development, Ballet RI
• February 27 (evening, ~4 hours): Development, Wilbury Theatre Group
• February 28 (daytime, ~3 hours): Tech, Wilbury Theatre Group
• March 1–2 (evenings, ~3 hours): Performances, Motion State Dance Festival, Wilbury Theatre Group

Motion State Arts will work with participants’ schedules; full-time students and employees are encouraged to apply. Transportation assistance may be available.

Kimberly Bartosik is an NYC-based choreographer, performer, educator, and essayist who creates viscerally provocative, ferociously intimate choreographic projects that dramatically illuminate the ephemeral nature of performance while critically, tenderly, and violently etching away at deeply distressing threads of our society. 

A member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for nine years, Bartosik received a “Bessie” Award for Exceptional Artistry in his work. For more information on Kimberly’s work, visit daela.org or follow @kimberlybartosik_daela.