to be near you.

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Join us for the world premiere of Ali Kenner Brodsky’s new dance film, to be near you. Opening the evening will be an improvisation exercise and performance with MorganEve Swain (The Huntress and Holder of Hands, Brown Bird) to discuss how Brodsky and Swain develop their musical/performance collaborations.

The performance and screening will be followed by a Q&A with the artists.

About the film

to be near you. is a dance film that pushes at the boundaries of time to create a feeling of reconnecting with something, or someone, who is gone. 

Based on a live duet between Ali Kenner Brodsky and Jenna Pollack, to be near you. honors the memory of those that we have lost, collapses distance by energizing the spaces between, and demonstrates how people can find connection through physical separation.

to be near you. is made in collaboration with filmmakers Jarret Blinkhorn and Rich Ferri.

Choreography and Director: Ali Kenner Brodsky

Performed by:  Ali Kenner Brodsky and Jenna Pollack

Director of Photography and Editor: Rich Ferri

Co-Director: Jarrett Blinkhorn

Composer: MorganEve Swain

Costumes: Meg by meghankinney

to be near you. has been made possible with support from the New England Foundation for the Arts.

About the artist

Ali Kenner Brodsky (she/her) makes gesturally rich and emotionally driven dance-theater works and dance films that ask the viewer to indulge in a world of reflection, remembering, and connection. Ali was recently accepted into NEFA’S Regional Dance Development Initiative, and was a 2019 artist-in-residence (Croft: Ground for Art), 2018/19 Catalysts artist (Dance Complex), 2016 Emerging Choreographer in Residence (Bates Dance Festival), 2014 recipient of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellowship, and a 2003/04 artist-in-residence at Joyce SoHo. She has received support from NEFA’s New England States Touring and Dance Fund, and from the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County. 

With David Henry, Lila Hurwitz and Andy Russ, Ali co-founded Motion State Arts, which presents innovative dance-films and live performances from local, national and international artists. She is on the Board of New England Presenters, and works as a dance advisor to the Zeiterion Theater in New Bedford, MA. Ali has designed award-winning choreography for The Wilbury Theater Group (Providence), and has worked as a rehearsal director/dancer with Lostwax Multimedia Dance (2012–15). A Rhode Island native, AKB makes her home in Dartmouth, MA (Mashpee Wampanoag lands) with her husband, two children and five chickens.