Each year CHOP SHOP serves up a unique sampling of contemporary dance by leading local and national artists. Drawn from diverse backgrounds and possessing strong individual voices, the presented artists are united through the contemporary language of dance and its power to stir the senses.

For the 2021 festival, CHOP SHOP engaged a cohort of outstanding previous CHOP SHOP artists to co-design this year's programming plan and share their work in this special online iteration of the festival. In 2021 CHOP SHOP proudly presents dance films by:

• Daniel Costa / Daniel Costa Dance (Seattle, WA)

• Eva Stone & Simone Elliott / Root Collective (Seattle, WA & Germany)

• Javier Padilla and The Movement Playground (New York City, NY)

• Lauren Horn//Subira Vs. Movement (Windsor, CT)

• Mark Haim (Seattle, WA)

• Nicole von Arx / NVA & Guests (Brooklyn, NY & Switzerland)

• Omar Román De Jesús / Boca Tuya (New York City, NY)

We’ll premiere dance films created by the participating artists each Thursday in February 2021, with a live Q&A with the week’s artists following each Sunday. The films will be shared via a private YouTube playlist and will remain accessible through 11.59pm on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, so you may view and re-view them as often as you’d like until then!

Meet the 2021 Artists.

Daniel Costa / Daniel Costa Dance
Seattle, WA

Daniel Costa (he/him) has presented work in Seattle for over five years. Daniel’s latest research involves the concept of resonance and the ways in which energy reverberates both in an individual body and in a collective. Daniel has worked with Alex Ketley, Chamber Dance Company, Madboots Dance, Stephanie Liapis, The Three Yells, Wade Madsen, Cherdonna Shinatra, and has performed works by Crystal Pite, Kate Weare, Shen Wei, Larry Keigwin, and Manuel Vignoulle, among others. Daniel Costa holds a BFA in dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

Adrift
“I was reduced to pure concept. My flesh had dissolved; my form had dissipated. I floated in space. Liberated of my corporeal being, but without dispensation to go anywhere else. I was adrift in the void. Somewhere across the fine line separating nightmare from reality.” ― Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance.
Cinematography by Devin Muñoz. Daniel Costa’s Adrift will have its world premiere on Thursday, February 18.

Learn more about Daniel and Daniel Costa Dance at danielcostadance.com.
Instagram: @dancecosta / @dcchoreography

Eva Stone & Simone Elliott / Root Collective
Seattle, WA & Germany

Eva L. Stone (she/her) has been creating dance work for over 30 years. She received a BFA in Performance and Choreography from Arizona State University and has performed professionally with companies in both Boston and Los Angeles. After completing a Master of Arts degree at Trinity Laban in London, England, she formed The Stone Dance Collective. After relocating to Seattle, Eva re-established her company and began an extensive teaching and lecturing career throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Eva has created commissioned works for Pacific Northwest Ballet, Spectrum Dance Theater, Seattle International Dance Festival, and numerous regional ballet companies across the west coast. In 2018, Eva initiated a nationally recognized choreography program “New Voices:  Choreography and Process for Young Women in Dance” for the PNB school. Eva is the founder, producer, and co-curator of CHOP SHOP:  Bodies of Work, one of the longest-running contemporary dance festivals in the Seattle area. 

Freelance performer and choreographer, Simone Elliott (she/her) was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. During fifteen consecutive seasons performing in theaters across Europe, Simone’s career provided her the opportunity to work with well-known choreographers such as Crystal Pite, Mats Ek, Johan Inger, Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, Mauro Bigonzetti, Felix Landerer, Yuki Mori, Marina Mascarell, Fabien Prioville, Ihsan Rustem, Guiseppe Spota, and Stephen Thoss. She attended renowned ballet schools such as Boston Ballet, the Goh Academy in Canada, and the Tanya Pearson Academy in Australia. Simone studied at the Tanz Akademie Zürich and upon completion, accepted her first contract in Austria at Tiroler Landestheater. She then continued on to Die Theater Chemnitz, Staatstheater Nürnberg, and most recently Theater Regensburg where she also created her own works for the company. 

Violet crumble
This film begins at escape. The film is conceived from the point of view of a woman finding a way to cope with the consequences of a traumatic event. From the moment her feet touch the ground, we find ourselves alongside her, entering a place that is safe from damage and pain. We are offered a feeling of sanctuary, yet beneath these still waters are the forces of a riptide of memory, recognition, and unattainable recovery. Cinematography by Péter Dániel Matkaicsek. Eva Stone & Simone Elliott’s Violet crumble makes its world premiere at CHOP SHOP 2021 on Thursday, February 18.  

Learn more about Eva Stone at evastonedance.com and about Simone Elliott at simone-elliott.com.
Instagram: @eva77stone / @simone._.elliott

Javier Padilla and The Movement Playground
New York City, NY

Originally from Puerto Rico, Javier Padilla (he/him/they/them) is a movement-based artist currently working in New York City. Through his choreographic endeavor, The Movement Playground, Javier explores the extremes of our humanity. The soft magic of the every day and the aggressive moments in between. Javier Padilla and The Movement Playground have shared work at Judson Memorial Church, Socrates Sculpture Park, GreenSpace, Peridance Capezio Theater, The Theater at Gibney Dance, Dixon Place, Jack Crystal Theater at NYU Tisch, TaDa Youth Theater, and MANA Contemporary Jersey City.

how to become an escape artist
how to become an escape artist is a dreamscape. It exhibits the subconscious of a person in constant flux. It shows us where we run to physically and emotionally, the things that we carry as we continuously escape, and the words that we keep hidden. Cinematography by Elyse Mertz. Javier Padilla’s dance film how to become an escape artist will have its world premiere at CHOP SHOP 2021 on Thursday, February 25.

Learn more about Javier Padilla and The Movement Playground at jpmovementplayground.me.
Instagram: @javipadilla26

Lauren Horn//Subira Vs. Movement
Windsor, CT

Lauren Horn (she/her) is a movement and text-based artist from Windsor, CT. She graduated from Amherst College with degrees in Psychology and Theatre and Dance. Lauren’s work explores identity and the ways it can be uncovered, marginalized, highlighted, and erased. By utilizing movement and text as a means of fostering a more welcoming form of vulnerability, the work creates a space for self-reflection and conversation for both the performer and viewer. Lauren’s choreographic work has been showcased at The BAM Fisher Theatre in Brooklyn, NY, Hibernian Hall in Boston, MA, Meydenbauer Center Theatre in Bellevue, WA, and more. 

@Me 
@Me is a digital biography of the life of digital native Lauren Horn. Cascading through different lenses, it looks at online expression. From learning dance videos online to making a vlog to crafting the perfect Instagram post, it plays with the sense of isolation that comes with using the internet as your main mode of connecting with others and providing entertainment. Inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic, it explores the ways that many of us have delved deeper into our online lives during the quarantine. Cinematography by Lauren Horn. CHOP SHOP 2021 is proud to share the world premiere of Lauren Horn’s dance film @Me on Thursday, February 4.

Learn more about Lauren Horn and Subira Vs. Movement at subiravsmovement.com.
Instagram: @subiravsmovement

Mark Haim
Seattle, WA

Based in Seattle, Mark Haim (he/him) has been making dances for 35 years. He has created works for companies like the Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballett Frankfurt, Joffrey Ballet, and Limon Dance Company. He toured his full-evening solo, The Goldberg Variations, from 1997 to 2006 around the U.S. and Czechia, Korea, and Russia. His work, This Land Is Your Land, created in 2009 in Seattle, was seen at the Joyce Theater, the American Dance Festival (ADF), the ArtDansThe Festival in Paris, and the National Performing Arts Center in Beijing. His most recent solo, Parts To A Sum, incorporated movements from 370 people from around the world, ages 2 to 95, performed in reverse chronological order. He is a recipient of two NEA Fellowships and grants from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

WALDO:  2020
Mark Haim writes of his dance film WALDO: 2020, “In lockdown, quarantine, and self-imposed isolation during the 2020 pandemic, I found solace and company in plant life. Learning that trees communicate with each other, that they help each other out when things get tough, that they share resources instead of hoarding them, inspired me to envision my body holding a different sort of space in the world, in nature -- far less important or significant than what humanity has taught me to imagine. From there, I came up with the idea of re-creating the child's game called Find Waldo: find me hidden, folded in, blended with life.” Mark Haim’s WALDO:  2020 was filmed in the forests along the I-90 corridor, the lands of the Muckleshoot, Coast Samish, Duwamish, and Tulalip people, and will have its world premiere at CHOP SHOP 2021 on Thursday, February 25.

Learn more about Mark Haim at markhaimart.com.

Nicole von Arx / NVA & Guests
Brooklyn, NY & Switzerland

Born in England, Nicole von Arx (she/her) grew up in both Hong Kong and Switzerland. Her career led her to become a soloist at the Royal Opera House & Lyric Opera while dancing for Jasmin Vardimon. She’s worked for Carte Blanche, Company XIV, Loni Landon, Romeo Castellucci, and Bryan Arias. She is a 2021 Dance Initiative artist in resident, 2018 Stuffed Artists in Residence, 2020 Jacob’s Pillow Choreography Fellow, and 2017 Dance Gallery Level UP artist. She has taught at Juilliard, Rutgers, Gibney, NYU Tisch, Sam Houston State University, and Dance Italia. Now based in Brooklyn, Nicole creates under NVA & Guests, and teaches online and outdoor classes. 

Bright Night
Sometimes good, sometimes great, and sometimes not well at all. How do you feel these days? Bright Night is a short film created so that maybe you, me, us can think about those darker days. And more importantly, make them feel more real. So that the conversation around them can start. Cinematography by Dan Gross. CHOP SHOP is proud to present the world premiere of Nicole von Arx’s dance film Bright Night on Thursday, February 4.

Learn more about Nicole von Arx at nvonarx.com.
Instagram: @nicolevarx / @nva.and.guests

Omar Román De Jesús / Boca Tuya
New York City, NY

Omar Román De Jesús (he/him), originally from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, is a recipient of the 2020 Jacob's Pillow Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship. He has been commissioned twice by Instituto de Cultura de Puerto Rico to create work for the International Dance Festival of Puerto Rico, where he was awarded the Ambassador of Dance medal. Omar has won choreographic competitions including the Joffrey Academy of Dance's Winning Works Choreographic Competition and Whim W’Him’s Choreographic Shindig, and received awards including the Audience Award at The Dance Gallery Festival, 1st place prize at the Reverb Dance Festival, and the Parsons Dance GenerationNOW Commission for their 2017 Joyce Season. He has also created work for Jacob Jonas The Company and educational institutions such as The Ailey School, James Madison University, and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. His work was recently presented at the 2020 CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work Contemporary Dance Festival and will be presented, online and live, at the upcoming PRISMA International Dance Festival in Panama, the Jerusalem International Choreographic Competition, and the Palm Desert Choreography Festival.

Los Perros del Barrio Colosal
Through the exaggerated mannerisms of daytime television, the six characters of Los Perros del Barrio Colosal take us on a wild romp through the challenges of creative decision making. Diving dramatically into the adventure of an imagination yet to be physicalized, they ask us to consider the far side of the moments when our ideas threaten, with disjointed urgency, to swallow us whole. Cinematography by Drew L. Brown. CHOP SHOP proudly presents the world premiere of Omar Román De Jesús’ Los Perros del Barrio Colosal on Thursday, February 11.

Learn more about Omar Román De Jesús and Boca Tuya at bocatuya.com. 
Instagram: @bocatuya____

Banner Photo: Members of NVA & Guests perform Nicole von Arx’s RIVE at CHOP SHOP 2020, photo by JIm Coleman.