Recent Work & Collaborations
San Pedro Festival of the Arts
In my practice, I combine House dance with Tae Kwon Do. Though each form has their own specific vocabulary and context, I have found that these two movement practices share complimentary shapes as well as aspects of choreography (Forms) and improvisation (Sparring). This piece, which was premiered at the San Pedro Festival for the Arts, blends these two forms to create a fused genre. Within this genre fusion I explore the physical, spatial, and momentum based qualities that differentiate and unite the two practices.
Collaborations with Ian Abando
My collaborative relationship began with a message from Ian with sketches he had drawn, inspired by a video I shared on Instagram. I was honored that he had taken the time to watch and analyze the shapes of my improvisation. Weeks later we met for coffee and chatted about the parallel worlds of sketch and dance. Over the years, Ian has sketched and made digital drawings of my movement, he’s even adapted a character whose positions were inspired by my dancing. I’m fascinated by the shapes Ian chooses to draw and I’m grateful at how these sketches have created a lasting record of my movement in ways that value and give shine to moments that I’d otherwise pass over.
Truman
by Maya Kell-Abrams, Sadie Wilking, and Madison Olandt
Photography and Videography by Joy Isabella Brown
At the beginning of the choreographic process for “Truman” Sadie shared a song that had been on her mind that offered a playful framework for our movement. After a couple sessions of choreographing, Sadie, Madison, and I arrived at a quirky themed piece that incorporated the personal vocabulary of each collaborator. In our previous collaborations, we were drawn towards more serious themes. So for this piece we leaned into more lighthearted choreography that traveled throughout the studio and reflected our shared humor.
Myself Through You
By Maya Kell-Abrams, Sadie Wilking, and Madison Olandt
Photography and Videography by Joy Isabella Brown
“Myself Through You” was one of the first collaborations between Madison, Sadie, and I. After quarantine had lifted, the three of us had expressed interest in creating a piece together. Each of us collaborated on a duet while the third person helped facilitate and offer feedback. Although we all related to the piece differently, to me, this piece felt like a reintroduction into intimacy after months of isolation. We explored each of our unique chemistries and found shared choreographic ideas that united our creative tastes.
In the Name of Frank
By Maya Kell-Abrams and Sadie Wilking
Videography by Stefan Wilking
“In the Name of Frank” is a collection of video shorts depicting Floorwork choreography that responds to an overhead shot. Over quarantine, Sadie and I would meet over Zoom every week to collaborate on a short Floorwork phrases. Our meetings soon became “Sadie and Maya Tuesdays” as we found creative motivation with our weekly meetups. When quarantine was lifted we quickly (and social distantly) began to piece our short choreographies together, keeping old vocabulary we had explored and adding in new movement in person. These filmed shorts are a small peek into the movement we made together. Later on (with Sadie’s blessing) I was curious to create a piece, later titled “As Above,” that would fit the large scale canvas of the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco; this collection served as inspiration for the piece.