choreographic works by /
Beau Hancock
PHOTO: Bill Hebert / 2010
In the companye of sondry folk (2010):
Premiered at Conwell Dance Theater, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(2015): Drexel University Dance Ensemble, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. *Developed as a part of the Ellen Forman Memorial Award.
(2017): Temple University Alumni Concert, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with support from the Temple University Dance Department.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is the underlying structure for In the companye of sondry folk. The work’s musical score weaves pop hits from The Who, Bruce Springsteen, and New Order with original compositions by Philadelphia-based sound designer Jason Carr. With a stage set littered with discarded furniture from grandma’s attic and kaleidoscopic video projections, In the companye offers a romping, stomping, lifting view of universal narratives and the drama of the human body.
PHOTO: Lindsay Browning / 2012
Poor Lost Sometime Boys (2012):
Premiered at Painted Bride Arts Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Part of the nEW Festival Artist-in-Residence series. Presented at Dance Conversations at the Flea, Flea Theater, NY (2013). Performed in Point of Departure series at Christ Church Neighborhood House (2013). Excerpt presented at theEvening of Duets concert (2014).
Poor Lost Sometime Boys drew inspiration from a variety of sources: Allen Ginsberg’s epic poem Howl, contemporary queer culture, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, choreographer Trisha Brown, Jack Kerouac, classic modern dance, and the woodland trails surrounding the Silo Residency site in rural Pennsylvania. The half-hour duet featured Hancock and Scott McPheeters, with new music composed specifically for the work by Cicada Brokaw. Costumes constructed from Hancock and McPheeters’ own cast-offs (clothes that would have gone to a thrift store) were magically transformed by dancer and designer Patricia Dominquez. From this somewhat queer and complex amalgam of material came a crystalline construction, a dance that offered audiences a peek inside the fantastic world of the sometime boys.
PHOTO: JJ Tiziou / 2015
Mooring Field (2015):
Premiered at the Performance Garage, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as part of Necessary Effort, an evening of dance produced by the Naked Stark for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
Presented in the Iron Factory Presents series 2016. Performed in the show Invited at the Performance Garage in 2017.
The creation of Mooring Field was possible by a space residency from Stockton University. This project was also supported in part by the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts program of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support provided by PECO. This program is administered regionally by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.
Hancock found inspiration for his work Mooring Field in the drifting rhythms of boats moored in Maine harbors. The repetitive, delicate choreography for Marie Brown and Melissa Chisena tethers the dancers to a single spot. The work pairs sound by the Swedish singer-songwriter Robyn’s collaboration with Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp with chic, cool costumes from designer and dancer Patricia Dominguez. According to Kirsten Kaschock of thINKingDance.net, the work is a “study of the three esses: syntax, specificity, and stamina.”
Young Americans (2017):
Premiered at the Mandell Theater, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This work, set to music by David Bowie, was originally created on students of the Drexel University FreshDance ensemble. A revised version was staged on the Stockton Dance Company in 2018.
PHOTO: Michael Ein / 2017
Which divinity breathed (2018):
Premiered at the Stockton Performing Arts Center, Galloway, New Jersey. First part of a trilogy inspired by the life and music of Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th Century nun and mystic.
PHOTO: Michael Ein / 2018