WINTER ’25

CAMERON FRASER-MONROE
ROBYN MINEKO WILLIAMS
OLIVIER WEVERS

 

Jan 17-25, 2025
CORNISH PLAYHOUSE

Founder & Artistic Director: Olivier Wevers
Company Manager/Director of Education: Karl Watson
Production Stage Manager: Becca Blackwell
Lighting Designer: Michael Mazzola
HR & Administrative consultant: Amanda Eaker
Audience Services Manager: Hedy Davis

Unconditional

Choreography: Olivier Wevers
Dancers: Jacob Beasley, Owen Fulton, Stella Jacobs, Aliya Janov, Daeyana Moss, Ashley Rivette, Kyle Sangil
Original Composition: Philip Daniel
Costumes: Patricia Barker

Ito

Choreography: Robyn Mineko Williams
Dancers: Jacob Beasley, Owen Fulton, Stella Jacobs, Aliya Janov, Daeyana Moss, Ashley Rivette
Original Composition: Nate Kinsella
Costumes: Melina Ausikaitis and Robyn Mineko Williams

SCRAP

Choreography: Cameron Fraser-Monroe
Dancers: Jacob Beasley, Owen Fulton, Stella Jacobs, Aliya Janov, Daeyana Moss, Ashley Rivette, Kyle Sangil
Music: Delbert Anderson Trio
Costumes: Asa Benally

A heartfelt thank you to Tulalip Cares for their support of Cameron Fraser-Monroe’s powerful creation.

RUNNING TIMES

(in minutes)

Program 83 min

Unconditional

 20 min
INTERMISSION 15 min

Ito

 16 min
INTERMISSION 15 min

SCRAP

 17 min
Program 83

Unconditional

 20
INTERMISSION 15

Ito

 16
INTERMISSION 15

SCRAP

 

 17

CHOREOGRAPHERS NOTES

Unconditional

Inspired by Jeff Foster’s poem “Forget unconditional love” from his book You Were Never Broken, this work delves into the essence of water—the lifeblood of our existence.

The poem poignantly underscore how nothing human is perfect or unconditional. But in recognizing, even embracing, the conditional in life and love, as we so often do today, we run the risk of descending into selfish egotism, of turning every action into a transaction, for some profit or benefit. Water by contrast holds the echoes of our ancestors, the imprint of every memory since the beginning of life on this planet, and flows as a physical embodiment of the unconditional, turning us towards one another, reminding us of what we have in common.

With an original composition by Philip Daniel, the soundscape mirrors the rhythms of water. Rising and receding, brimming with tension and release, water gives us life unconditionally. A poetic exploration of connection and resilience, “Unconditional” invites each of us to dive deep and discover what connects us all as humans.

Forget unconditional love
Jeff Foster (You were never broken)

Forget unconditional love. Forget loving perfectly.

Forget having a permanently open heart.

You can’t do it.

It’s an impossible goal that, paradoxically,

makes you violent inside.

Your inner child rebels against any spiritual ideal.

You cannot do unconditional love.

But you can embrace your imperfect attempts to love,

your failure to reach the goals,

your disappointment,

your exquisite shame,

your ecstasy and your agony too.

You can bless your inherited conditional ideas of love.

You can celebrate your messy, deeply human,

totally conditioned attempts to love,

in unconditional present awareness.

Friend, even your failure to love unconditionally

is welcome here,

Unconditionally.

That is the true meaning of unconditional love:

the love that smiles at our trying too.

Ito

Robyn Mineko Williams is drawn to embodiments of memory, time, lineage and our relationships with the traces left in us of the people we encounter. This piece is called Ito, the word for thread, after the idea in Japanese folklore of a red string tied between the little fingers of those who will find each other in life, perhaps again and again, in different times, places or circumstances. 
 

SCRAP

This work is about all the ways we as humans have tried to organize ourselves in an effort to live cohesively since the dawn of time—etiquette, tradition, decorum—and it follows our successes and catastrophic failures along the way. Despite our best intentions, we will always make missteps, and hopefully, we are gentle with each other when we do. After all, it’s so hard to be a person in the world.

 

POST SHOW
Q & A

Be curious!

Stay after the performance for a Q&A session with the artists of Whim W’Him!

JOIN WHIM W’HIM TODAY, BECOME A REAL RENTER! 

Real Rent calls on people who live and work in Seattle to make rent payments to the Duwamish Tribe. Though the city named for the Duwamish leader Chief Seattle thrives, the Tribe has yet to be justly compensated for their land, resources, and livelihood.

You can do something today to stand in solidarity with
First Peoples of this land by paying Real Rent.

All funds go directly to Duwamish Tribal Services (DTS) to support the cultural, economic and political survival of the Duwamish Tribe. Visit the webiste to learn more about this grassroots movement to support Duwamish sovereignty

REALRENTDUWAMISH.ORG

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