this place

this place is a new duet commissioned by Mateo Galindo Torres (Guetcha Guaritcha) for choreographer Karen Kaeja. The 40 minute work is danced by Mateo and Katherine Semchuk.

After several COVID-19 postponements, the hybrid theatre film of this place was created in Fall 2021 and screened by Citadel+ Compagnie. This piece finds coherence in the theory of proximity. How do we make sense of ourselves in relation to the other in real and imaginary reflections that collide and intersect? The work holds the duality of our bodies in space with the need to be close.

this place prose - directed by the choreographer, written by performers:

I built a wall so that there was something to hold together the space that remained

I need to define this place, away from that place.

I need you to define this place, away from my place

I need you to stay in that place,

Until you can invite me in

Without the screen, without the wall

With all parts of you and all the parts of that place

Commissioner’s note: I commissioned Karen Kaeja to create this place because her work pushes the art form into new dimensions. Her process engages the dancer’s realities and agency in creation. During this creation, I was reckoning my process of assimilation as a Latinx immigrant in a new culture drastically different from my roots. Consequently, I subconsciously changed, but how much of that change do I really want and why?

Commissioner and Producer
Guetcha Guaritcha

Choreographer
Karen Kaeja

Created with and performed by
Katherine Semchuk and Mateo Galindo Torres

Film Director
Aria Evans

Original Music Score
Gregory Harrison - Grej

Lighting Design
Noah Feaver

Projection Design
Luke Garwood

DOP and First Camera Operator
Sid Sawant

Second Camera Operator
German Prieto

Stage Manager and Technical Director
A.J. Morra

Costume Design
Robyn Macdonald

Outside Eyes
David Norsworthy, Allen Kaeja, Irma Villafuerte, Aria Evans