fantasmagorie
I once asked a group of dancers over breakfast, “if you could perform anywhere, where would it be?” The answer, “on the water.” Just four years later, I answered their call with Fantasmagorie, a large-scale multimedia production and conservation campaign benefiting the World Wildlife Fund. In partnership with Chicago Park District, the project combined contemporary dance, film, music and projection mapping in a series of live performances set on the water at Chicago’s Humboldt Park Lagoon. In an immersive journey from the Great Lakes watershed to the Coral Reefs and into the heart of the Amazon River Basin, audiences encounter abundant species and discover all that our planet’s diverse ecosystems have to offer.
producer, director, concept design
ROLE
Oversaw the entirety of production from concept design through to execution. Contractor management, studio facility rental, scripting and edit of a 45-minute film, dance auditions and rehearsals (100 ppl, 3-day auditions), musical score composition, floating stage design, custom screen build, lighting and projection mapping design, site scouting and relocation, city contracts and permitting, union labor and police, community engagement and buy-in, fundraising and sponsorship, media/press/marketing, project documentation, safety logistics, payroll and invoicing.
jessica deahr
arlen hart
jeff hancock
brian saffarty, richter studios
chicago projection mapping
kelly statchura
CHOREOGRAPHER
SCORING
COSTUME DESIGN
FILM EDIT
LIGHTING DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
choreography
Over 100 dancers from across Chicagoland came out to a three-day audition for the project. The final group of 15-dancers and the project’s choreographer included the core of Chicago Dance Crash, a dance company based in the Midwest with roots in the hip hop genre.
From start to finish, both choreography and costuming reflected the visual and auditory journey captured in the score and on screen.
film + production design
After developing the film’s storyboard, I worked with the team at Richter Studios, a Chicago based film production studio, to edit together a 45-minute film. I brought on composer Arlen Hart of Brooklyn, NY to craft a 60-minute musical score, later released as an EP. Some early mornings saw us out on the water building the modular floating stage with the help of the Chicago Electric Boat Company, not to mention a custom 60-foot screen and projection mapping to boot!
I first envisioned our site along the Chicago lakefront at Museum Campus Drive, and while we eventually moved inland, these early musings resulted in a relationship with The Field Museum, who kindly provided insight into their work in the Amazon including research and footage.
At each stage, I focused on creating a scientific, yet animating and theatrical narrative that both educated and entertained audiences with a mix of new media and traditional performance.
