Directed by Peter Trinh Dance by Tshedzom Tingkhye Music from SHIVA by Aura Ruddell Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auraka.auraka iTunes: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/aura-ruddell/620786322 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4354T9n8Aq52HOPf6vNxuh Special thanks to Creative Dance Center, Seattle WA Copyright © 2023 Aura Ruddell

1134: A STUDY ON LOADBEARING, is Avery's reaction to learning about Ecofeminism and the events at Rana Plaza. On April 23, 2013, a group of factory workers rallied outside of their workplace, refusing to go inside after noticing a crack on the seventh floor. This eight-story high garment manufacturing building located just north of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, was known as Rana Plaza. After receiving threats from employers that those who continued to protest would lose up to a month’s worth of pay, hundreds of factory workers succumbed out of desperation to provide for their families. The next day, on April 24, at 8:57am, the building, holding four factories, several shops, and thousands of workers, collapsed. The death toll is still unknown but remains to be approximately 1,134 people. This physical theatre duet, created on the basis of research by Maria Mies, Vandana Shiva, and Rushmita Alam, 1134: A STUDY ON LOADBEARING is a metaphor that resembles the Rana Plaza tragedy in a more mundane, much less catastrophic way. It is a story that focuses on the relationship between two sisters, Aarya and Mouna, and their experiences with obsessive compulsive disorder. Together they investigate the power of silence, their demand for care, the importance of critique, and the pressure of emotional and physical weight. Performed by Talia Stern and Sonam Tshedzom Tingkhye Music- Arvo Pärt, Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry, Vladimir Martynov Dramaturgical insight- Dylan Contreras Rehearsal direction- Kevin Lau

Choreography: Maya Soto, Nico Tower, and Dancers - Music by Nico Tower - Alhadeff Studio at Cornish Playhouse

Choreography by TJ Canon Premiered at Boston Conservatory at Berklee's Ex-Movere 2020

Director, Producer & Editor: Alwin Szeto DJI Ronin Operator: Jonathan Kim Dancer and Choreographer: Shobha Blossey Dancer and Choreographer: Sonam Tshedzom Tingkhye Set Assistant: David Ruddell Mask Artist: Elijah Evenson at Strongheart Sculpture Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auraka.auraka iTunes: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/aura-ruddell/620786322 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4354T9n8Aq52HOPf6vNxuh Music & Lyrics by Aura Ruddell Drums & Bass by David Testa Recorded & Produced by Aura Ruddell and Martin Feveyear Mixed & Mastered by Martin Feveyear at Jupiter Studios, Seattle WA Special Thanks to Mary Goldman, VRstudios, and Creative Dance Center Copyright © 2019 Aura Ruddell

Commissioned by and performed at Converge Dance Festival (May 2016) Musicians: Sarah Oakley and Josh Orion Dancers: Elizabeth Sugawara, Sarah Oakley, Eric Rapinchuk, Sonam Tshedzom Tingkhye Choreograph/Creative Direction: Xaviera Vandermay Filmed by Jazzy Photo Review from SeattleDances "The relationship between music and dance was given a fun twist in Xaviera Vandermay’s (Retro)Grading Love on a Curve. Dancer Sarah Oakley started out singing and playing guitar as one of the two musicians (joined by Josh Orion on percussion), playing a set for an “audience” of two dancers sitting on stage. She announced that they would be taking a short break, whereupon another dancer barged onto the stage with high kicks and fancy tricks. This prompted a dance battle between her and Oakley, punctuated with fragments of dialogue: “talk?!?” “can we?” Once the interloper was dispatched with, Oakley apologized to her “audience” for the interruption—“she can’t come in and interrupt my work night like that…totally inappropriate…I’m sorry you had to see that.” She returned to her set, and the audience couple moved into a lush duet of full-body movement seasoned by specific gestural detail, their sweetness a contrast to the previous battle. At the end, the interloper returned, sitting quietly and watching. It seemed like a tantalizing glimpse into a larger world—is there perhaps a full length work to come?" - Karena Birk

Sparks of Emptiness premiered April 2017 in Converge Dance Festival at Erickson Theatre Off Broadway, Seattle, WA. Choreographer: Hayley Shannon Dancers: Tyisha Nedd, Eric Rapinchuk, Breanne Schuster, Hayley Shannon, Tshedzom Tingkhye Music: “Canopy” by Lusine, “Domino” by Aphex Twin, “Until Tonight” and “A Quiet Mind Awaits” by Badmixday with audio recordings of the dancers’ voices, arranged by Devin Bews. A contemporary dance work investigating fear of loneliness and intimacy through the window of our personal attachments.