Danielle Russo Performance Project

𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗨𝗗𝗘 is an intimate evening of new solo & duet dances choreographed by 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗼 • featuring 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘀 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗵𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗮𝗱, 𝗜𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗞𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝘆𝗻, 𝗞𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗮 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 & 𝗝𝗶𝗲-𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗮𝘂 • to be performed at on Wed Dec 17 between 7:00–10:00 p.m.

The program will take shape as an open installation in the round; you are welcome to enter and witness the work at will. The solos—each approximately 15–25 minutes—will unfold sequentially, connected by a series of interstitial duets lasting around 10 minutes each.

The dances—at once propulsive and finely detailed—draw on its performers’ genealogies, the work of Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn, and the idea of ancestral memory to sculpt an archive of iconographies collaging poetics, myths, gestures, and sensations based on the experience of Womxn. 

PRELUDE is the first formal showcase of material to be included in a larger installation imagined for Fall 2026. This phase of the work is inspired by creative research supported through the New York State Choreographers Initiative (with and ), under the mentorship of .dance, as well as residencies at and .

Entry is free, but donations of $15-$20 are appreciated.

Reservations are recommended at link in bio.

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Photographs by , .film & Max Thomsen

Ithaca! Please join us this evening for
𝗜𝗦 𝗔 𝗛𝗨𝗠 𝗔 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚? 𝗔 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘-𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘
𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗥𝗢𝗬𝗔 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗦 𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗛𝗡𝗘𝗝𝗔𝗗 taking place at 5:30 pm at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts (SB10 Theatre)

𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘀 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗵𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗮𝗱 shares and reflects on her interdisciplinary work and career shaped by her upbringing as a first-generation Persian and Spanish American. Working at the intersection of dance, writing, film, and visual art, she approaches the body as protest, archive, and mirror.  
 
She moves through improvisation, magic realism, and embodied storytelling to excavate themes of migration, surveillance, femme experience, and collective humanism. Her recovery from cancer has further expanded her research into movement as survival, healing, and futurity, opening new dimensions in her practice around care and resilience.
 
𝗜𝗦 𝗔 𝗛𝗨𝗠 𝗔 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚? is a performance-lecture exploring movement as sound, rupture, and reclamation—fragments of her ongoing work as a Persian artist-researcher
 
As a certified instructor in the American Ballet Theatre Method, Roya will also teach an open level ballet class on Thursday, Oct 16, from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm, in Studio 320 at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. This event is free and open to the public; all dancing bodies welcome and embraced.  

𝗜𝗦 𝗔 𝗛𝗨𝗠 𝗔 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚? is curated by Assistant Professor of the Practice Danielle Russo with the generosity and support of in part with 2025/26 PMA Dance Programming: 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲/𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱.

There is a cellular calm to working in residence at . Our creative research could simultaneously expand, deepen, and dissolve its own limits.

Thank you for having us as part of your June retreat cohort.

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Looking back at rehearsals with and , and revving up for our next stage.

Thank you to and for supporting our creative research with NYSCI, to be continued in NYC and Upstate.

Still basking in the joy of returning to the studio with dearest at , where we steeped ourselves in creative research and development as part of their June retreat cohort. This also granted us the privilege of being in residence alongside an intimate community of artists, writers, and scholars, many of whom were immersed in similar research areas.

Much thanks to Kaatsbaan for their generosity and support of our creative praxis, and for the delicious time and space to dive in and to truly be/stay with the work.

Thank you to and for their support of our creative research in part with NYSCI, to be continued in NYC and Upstate.

Glimpses of Kayla in rehearsal by me