Associate Professor of Dance Charli Brissey directs and performs in this hour-long show created through interrelated experiments in dance, writing, video, and sound. The choreography includes the design of an original surround sound score which will be experienced “in the round” by audience members, as well as lighting by Design and Production faculty Jess Fialko.

While the word “fawn” is most commonly used to refer to a baby deer, another meaning of the word describes a trauma response in which someone tries to appease a threat and/or ensure survival through flattery or cringing. The word “fawn” is also commonly confused with “faun,” a human-animal deity and the protagonist of Nijinsky’s famously controversial ballet “Afternoon of a Faun.” This performance weaves these various etymological and mythological lineages of “fawn” and “faun” into an inherently queer dreamscape that asks questions about grief, survival, desire, power, and vulnerability in a precarious ecosystem. The performance blends methods and practices from both autofiction and science fiction, weaving the artists’ lived experiences with speculative experiments in how to hold immense contradictions and overwhelming emotional states in one body.

Age Recommendation: 12+
Tickets Required (free and donation)

https://www.charliisananimal.com/

This performance is made possible through generous support from the University of Michigan Arts Research: Incubation and Acceleration Grant (ARIA), the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG), the Research, Catalyst, and Innovation Program (RCI), and the Department of Dance.