soapbox

Overview

soapbox* is a dance theater trio which satirizes lectures as a physicalized form of communication. The work incorporates live rhythmic text, improvised movement modes, large dynamic dance phrases, and intricate partnering. Inspired (in part) by working within academia and the performative nature of teaching, the piece questions what it means to be the orator on any given subject. There are comedic compositional explorations of the word “soapbox”  as a miniature platform for speaking about issues or ideas. There are also abstractions of more sinister rhetoric and the authority given to those standing atop any sort of platform. 

*This unfinished work has been developed through a 2023 Croft Residency and is an attempt to share my process and gather feedback in a semi-formal performance space. I aim to develop the piece further and want to hear from viewers. Did you like parts of the piece? Great- please let me know. Was anything confusing? Awesome! I would like to hear about those parts too.

Cannonball, produced by Almanac Dance Circus Theatre, is the first and largest independent festival hub of the Philadelphia Fringe that presents risk-taking independent artists in back-to-back performances next to delicious lounge spaces, fostering creative collisions and community conversation.

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About the Artist

Megan Mazarick (she/her) is a Philadelphia choreographer, performer, teacher, and mom. Her current interests are text, improvisation, and in the intersection of entertainment with abstraction inside performance. Her work has been presented internationally (Singapore, Bulgaria, Egypt, Poland, Australia, Hungary, and Mexico) and throughout the USA. Her recent solo, old swan, won an Audience Award at the 2022 Gdansk Solo Dance Contest in Poland. As a performer she has worked with David Gordon, Susan Rethorst, Keith Thompson, Marianela Boan, Merian Soto, Anonymous Bodies, and Black Box Dance Theater. She is an Assistant Professor at Georgian Court University in New Jersey.

Alonzo Magsino (he/him) is a dancer/maker from NJ with a background in mulitiple movement modalities (ballroom, improvisation, contemporary, popping, etc), voice acting, and theater. As a young dancer he won multiple ballroom competitions and placed nationally in in the DanceSport Championships. He has a BA in Dance from Georgian Court University where he studied with Silvana Cardell, Will Robinson, Micheala Mann, Dr. Ras Mikey. In addition to teaching and studying dance, he hosted a radio show at Middlesex College and will be premiering his first evening length work at Cannonball 2023.

Tyler Rivera (they/he) is a movement artist and choreographer based in Philadelphia, PA. Their work “valIDity” was selected by the American College Dance Association to be performed at ACDA’s National Festival, and they received the emerging scholar award for the piece in 2020 from the New Jersey Women and Gender Studies Consortium. Their work has also been presented in the Festival for Latin American Contemporary Choreographers in San Francisco and Cardell Dance Studio. As a performer Tyler has worked for Jesse Obremski, Silvana Cardell, AThomasProject, Hassan Syed, Emily Mayer, and as alter ego, Oktober Third.

Credits