SOLD OUT: Tristan Koepke – There’s Only One Bed

This event is sold out, standing room tickets will be available on a limited basis at the door once ticketed guests are seated.

Choreographer and director Tristan Koepke shares an evening of works exploring gay ghosts, gentle camp, soft butch energy, and thirst trap fabulation.

This program features two piece premieres. The evening features performances by Koepke with Emilia Bruno, Ryan A. MacDonald (sound), Benny Olk, Rebecca Steinberg, and Curtis Thomas.

The creation and development of these works has been supported by New England Foundation for the Arts, McGinty Fund for the Humanities (Bates College), Roger C. Schmutz Fund for Faculty Research (Bates College), Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant and the University of Maryland, College Park.

Tristan Koepke (he/him) is a dancer, educator, choreographer, and Rolfer®. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Bates College, and is Associate Director of the Young Dancers Intensive at the Bates Dance Festival. He has performed in contemporary and experimental dance works by Chris Schlichting, Vanessa Anspaugh, luciana achugar, Cally Spooner, Doug Varone, Emily Johnson, Mathew Janczewski, Kendra Portier, Heidi Henderson, Annie Kloppenberg, and was a member of Zenon Dance Company from 2011-2019. His work has been presented by Patrick’s Cabaret, Bryant Lake Bowl, Bates College, the 1419 Collective, and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. He holds an M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Emilia Bruno (she/they) is an Italian-American, queer mover currently based in College Park, MD. After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Emilia had the opportunity to work and perform with Twin Cities-based dance organizations Zenon Dance Company and Shapiro & Smith Dance. They are currently a collaborator with Slo Dance Company, Tristan Koepke, and Falcon Dance. Emilia is interested in embodied practices of honest choice making as a way of being present with our ever-changing selves. In her free time, Emilia enjoys weight training, cooking, and practicing yoga.

Ryan A. MacDonald (he/him) is a multimedia artist and author. He was a 2017 Bessie Award Nominee in “Outstanding Composition and Sound Design” for his work in Vanessa Anspaugh’s The End of Men. He is the author of the story collection The Observable Characteristics of Organisms (FC2) and the winner of the 2012 American Short(er) Fiction Award. His work, in collaboration with choreographer Aretha Aoki, has been performed most recently at Motion State Dance Festival in RI, The ICA in Boston, Roger Williams University (RI), La Mama La Galeria (NYC), Kansas City Art Institute’s Crossroads Gallery, The Kraine Theater (NYC), School for Contemporary Dance and Thought (Northampton MA), the Powell St. Festival (Canada), Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church (NYC), and Studio 303 in Montreal. He has worked in sound for dance and theater with choreographers such as Devynn Emory and Sara Juli. He has an MFA in Studio Art and an MFA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Benny Olk (he/him) is a performing artist and teacher based in Minneapolis with an interest in contemporizing and contextualizing American modern and post-modern dance. As a member of Lucinda Childs Dance Company, he performed reconstructions of pieces such as Dance and Available Light. He performed in reconstructions of Crises and Suite for Five among others by Merce Cunningham, and has premiered works by Moriah Evans and Anthea Hamilton. He has taught Cunningham technique at the University of Minnesota, Balettakademien (Stockholm), and Stockholm University of the Arts. Benny holds a BFA in Dance from NYU and an MA in New Performative Practices from Stockholm University of the Arts. 

Rebecca Steinberg (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, educator, and researcher. She received her B.F.A. in dance and her B.A. in psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Rebecca was a freelance artist in New York before joining New Dialect 2015-2021. She is currently a choreographic associate and education liaison for the company. Rebecca is a 2021 Tennessee Individual Artists Fellow as well as a 2019 Jacob’s Pillow Choreography Fellow. She has most recently been commissioned to create new work for Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, And Artists, Room to Room, OZ Arts Nashville, New Dialect, and Nashville Ballet. She is a collaborator alongside visual artist Jana Harper on a multidisciplinary performance and community engagement project titled This Holding. Rebecca leads workshops and master classes for young dancers, adults of all abilities, and professionals worldwide. She works for Vanderbilt University as a curriculum design consultant, currently on a National Science Foundation research grant exploring the educational potential of dance for mathematics learning. Rebecca is an M.F.A. candidate at the University of Maryland in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.

Curtis Thomas (he/him) is a multidisciplinary performer originally from New Orleans. He has performed in the Broadway and National Tours of the musical Waitress, where he was also the assistant choreographer. He has also performed in dance companies across the country such as David Dorfman Dance (NYC) and New Dialect (TN). He believes in the transformative power of the performing arts and dance as a vehicle for the healing and empowerment of all people.