Beautiful Human Lies: Chapter 4

Overview

A new, evening-length solo dance performance conjures a dissonant dialogue around identity, transformation, and privilege.

In 1999, rising hip-hop artist Rennie Harris created a 7-minute solo dance for Megan Bridge’s student thesis concert at SUNY Purchase. A mashup of street dance and modern dance, including a recorded conversation between the two artists, the work had its professional debut in 2000’s Philadelphia Fringe Festival. 

Using the original solo as a seed, Beautiful Human Lies: Chapter 4  takes one white woman’s story and embeds it in layers of media images, unfolding a spectacle that lives in the tension between personal and community healing and a violent, oppressive culture. 

This project explores the many ways that artistic collaboration can profoundly mark the passage of time, and how we break and remake ourselves to cobble together a coherent self.

Project scholar and writer: Brenda Dixon Gottschild

Additional Opportunities:

September 6th: Join Brenda Dixon Gottschild and Rennie Harris for a pre-show talk at 6 PM.

September 8th: Join Noel Price-Bracey and others from thINKingDANCE, Philadelphia’s independent dance criticism journal, after the performance for “Write Back Atcha!” a post-show talk-back and mini-writing workshop. Our facilitators will guide you through a discussion of the performance and exploration of language you can use to describe dance. You’ll have an opportunity to see your words published in a crowd-sourced review on www.thinkingdance.net

SUPPORT
A project of Fidget, made possible by the generosity of Fidget’s donors with additional support from University of Colorado, Boulder, Ensemble Arts Philly at The Kimmel Center, FringeArts, and two creative residencies with American Dance Asylum.

Co-producers
Judith Tannenbaum
Karol M. Wasylyshyn
Rosanne Sarkissian

Pho

About the Artist

In the last twenty-five years, the world has seen profound changes in economies, societies, and political landscapes. These artists, too, have transformed: At age 61 and with two new hips, two honorary doctorates and a Guggenheim, Rennie’s work has shaped an entire genre. Megan, 46 and a mother of two, performs and teaches in universities and around the world, advocating for dance as a powerful healer.

Brenda Dixon Gottschild, an American cultural historian, performer, choreographer, and anti-racist cultural worker, is the project’s embedded scholar and writer. Professor Emerita at Temple University, Gottschild has published four books and countless essays and articles.

About Noel Price-Bracey: I am foremost a student. I am an artist, advocate, and educator as well. Born and raised in Detroit, MI, I am proud to have lived and learned in the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest and–as of the fall of 2024– the East Coast. I have collaborated, and performed across the U.S., including Kalamazoo, MI, Detroit, MI, Chicago, IL, Seattle, WA, Spokane, WA, Bellingham, WA, Missoula, MT, and Portland, OR as well as internationally, Canada and Italy. Expression: physical, written and oral are the primary mediums I use to engage others, investigate phenomena, and illuminate public discourse.

Credits