PROJECTS
Including multi-media, collaborative, site-specific, performance/installation events....and other experimental situations
...in the space between (2018)
a new site-specific contemporary dance film project, embodying the poetic and environmentally intimate spaces of
in-betweenness.
Concept, direction, performance and edit by Winona dance/visual artist Sharon Mansur.
Videography by Minneapolis based dance/film artists Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad of BodyCartography Project,
with Winona dance/film artist Sydney Swanson.
Music by Winona musician Mike Munson.
Open studio/lab in Winona State University's Watkins Gallery, February 19-28, 2018
SHIFT~ performance salon, with guest artist Sarah Johnson, April 7, 2018
Film Premiere, Outpost Winona, November 9-10, 2018
Engagement Activities: October 9 - November 10, 2018
Space is limited, reservations required, email: isbdancefilm@gmail.com to RSVP
See ...in the space between mansurdance Projects page for more information!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Cedar Tree Project (2018-2019)
Throughout the 2018-2019 season, The Cedar Tree Project explores cultural heritage, perceptions, and identity through the lens of Arab and Arab-American artists. Curated by Winona dance/visual artist Sharon Mansur, events include performances, exhibitions, workshops and community gatherings with Sharon and visiting artists Fadi BouKaram (Lebanon), Leyya Mona Tawil (Oakland, CA), and Leila Awadallah (Minneapolis, MN).
See the Cedar Tree Project mansurdance Projects page and this link below for more information!
http://page.smumn.edu/the-cedar-tree-project/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dreaming Under a Cedar Tree (2017)
A dance performance/visual art installation with food and conversation
Inspired, in part by my Lebanese heritage and experience of being 'off-white'
Supported by an Individual Artist Grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC)
Presented at the Inverse Performance Art Festivals in Fayetteville, Arkansas and San Luis Obispo, California
www.inverseperformanceartfestival.org
Full premiere at Outpost, 119 E. 3rd Street, Winona, MN, September 9-October, 7, 2017
www.outpostwinona.org/portfolio/cedar-tree/
SHIFT ~ a performance salon (2016-present)
A cozy evening of art, lively conversation and snacks
Infinity Yoga Studio, 119 W. 3rd Street, Winona, MN
shift~perceptions...shift~imagination...shift~possibilities
*salon: informal gathering for a creative exchange of ideas, originally flourishing in 17th & 18th c. France
where women played a vital role
guest artists: Sarah Johnson (March: visual art), Mike Munson (April: music), Monta May (June: visual art),
Mai'a Williams (August: poetry), Andrea Vazquez & Mike Munson (November: dance & music),
Daniel Burkholder (January: dance), Nicolle Jensen (May: music).
Nicholle Ramsey (October: poetry), Sydney Swanson (November: dance)
Sarah Johnson (April: visual art) *TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY* co-hosted by Outpost Winona
www.infinitywinona.com/special-events.html
INSERT [coda] HERE (2015)
Credits:
Original concept for INSERT[ ]HERE project Nick Bryson & Sharon Mansur
Creation/performance of INSERT[coda]HERE Sharon Mansur
Director of photography, edit Brian Harris
Music Tara Rodgers
Description: INSERT [coda] HERE is a companion piece and continuation of the performance/installation project
INSERT [ ] HERE, [vimeo.com/98989816], a performative experiment in presence employing imaginative
notions of insertion of via kinetic, spatial, aural and visual realms.
Screenings: Light Moves Festival of Screendance, Ireland, November 2015; RADFest Alternative Dance Festival, MI, March
2016; Tiny Dance Film Festival, San Francisco, March 2016; DanceBARN Screendance Festival, MN, July 2016; Detroit City
Dance Festival, August 2016; Project 1612 Film Festival, IL, September and November 2016; Artcroft Film & Video Festival,
KY, September 2016; Greensboro Dance Film Festival, NC, September 2016; Citizen Jane Film Festival, MO, November 2016;
Film Festival Rakyat, Indonesia, November2016; Mirror Mountain Film Festival, Canada, December2016 Frozen River Film
Festival, Winona, MN, February 2017, Tipperary Dance Platform International Festival TDP'17, October 2017; Balkan Can Kino
Athens, Greece, May 2018; Oregon Cinema Arts Film Festival, August 2018.
now/again (2015)
Latest improvisational duet with long-time collaborator Daniel Burkholder.
Performed in Manta, Ecuador, April 2015; DanceWorks, Milwuakee, WI, October 2015
Cocoon (2014-2017)
Collaborative duet with Seattle based dance artist Christy Fisher
Music by Garrett Fisher, costume design by Deb Shannon, videography by Caterina De Re
Including a Creative Centrum Residency, Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, WA
Chapel Performance Space, Seattle, WA 2014
*Cocoon dance film...in progress 2016-2017, draft screening at Frozen River Film Festival, MN, February 2017
Placeholders (2013-14)
Co-directed and created with Ronit Eisenbach
Original music by Curt Seiss, with Alexandra Vrebalov
Performers: Meredith Bove, Jessie Laurita-Spanglet, Sarah Oppenheim, Lynne Price
Costumes: Stephanie Miracle & Sharon Mansur
Supported by a University of Maryland ADVANCE Interdisciplinary and Engaged Research Seed Grant
A new collaborative project with architect/artist Ronit Eisenbach, exploring the fertile tension in the relationships
of action and place, function and expression, permanence and impermanence.
Initial performance/installation event Spring 2014 in the Long Branch neighborhood, Silver Spring, MD
as part of the Unity Festival at the Long Branch Community Center, including UMD dance students
Premiere: site performance/installation: September 2014, with companion performance May 2015.
Project Anywhere 2014 program selection via peer review: http://projectanywhere.net/
variation on residue (2014)
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/87110173
Credits:
Director, Set Designer, Performer Sharon Mansur
Video Realization Brian Harris
Music Alexa Cantalupo, in collaboration with Brian Harris
Costume Design Aryna Petrashenko, with Sharon Mansur
Description: Inspired in part by pentimento, an underlying trace image in a painting that has been covered over reflecting an
artist’s change of mind, "variation on residue" marks the passage of time and remnants of memories past and future, through
a spare and fragile, yet richly visual and kinetic landscape.
*Best Performance Award winner at the Mirror Mountain Film Festival 2015, Ottawa, Canada.
Screenings: Cultivate Contemporary Dance Festival, NH, August 2014; Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, November
2014; RADFest Alternative Dance Festival, MI, March 2015; Underground FilmFest, Museum Lichtspiele, Munich, Germany,
June 2015; Movies by Movers Dance Film Festival, NC, September 2015; Mirror Mountain Film Festival, Canada, December
2015; Opine Dance Film Festival, Georgia, March 2016; Harrisburg Dance Festival, PA, June 2016; Lucciche: A Video Art
Symposium, Italy, June 2016; Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, June 2016; Detroit City Dance Festival, August
2016; Project 1612 Film Festival, IL, September and November 2016; Third Coast Dance Film Festival, TX, October 2016; RIFF
International Film Festival/dance-art-cinema, Norway, July 2017, Cefalu Film Festival, Palermo, Italy, April 2018; SLC Dance
Film Festival, Sarah Lawrence College, April 2018
leveling (2014-2015)
Companion piece to topology duet, directed & performed with Brooklyn based dance artist Maré Hieronimus
Mascher Space Cooperative, Philadelphia, PA; Never Before/Never Again Festival, Triskelion
Arts, New York.
INSERT [ ] HERE (2013-15)
Supported, in part, by a University of Maryland Creative and Performing Arts Award, a new collaborative project
with Irish contemporary dance artist Nick Bryson, co-director of the Legitimate Bodies Dance Company.
Inspired by multiple interpretations on the theme of 'insertion' in relation to time, place, culture and process.
Costume design by Aryna Petrashenko, sound by Tara Rodgers, lighting by Alberto Segarra & Ben Levine
Duet, Solo & Group incarnations performed: Birr Theatre & Arts Centre, Ireland; Sonic Circuits Festival of
Experimental Music, Film, Dance, DC; Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland; RADFest Alternative
Dance Festival, MI; International Conference on Somatics-Based Dance
Education, Dean College, MA; Texas Dance Improvisation Festival.
*Full performance/installation premiere: Dance Place, Washington, DC, June 21-22, 2014
residue (2012-14)
Solo directed and performed by Sharon Mansur, inspired in part by pentimento, an underlying trace image in a painting
that has been covered over, reflecting an artist’s change of mind. Through a spare and fragile, yet richly visual and
kinetic landscape, residue marks the passage of time and remnants of memories past and future. residue unfolds in
subtle layers, offering a meditative space and unique experience with each viewing. Costume design by Aryna
Petrashenko, sound design by Curt Seiss. Premiered at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland.
Also presented by Mobius experimental gallery/performance space, Cambridge, MA;
Shepherdstown On Site Dance Festival, WV; and SUPERNOVA Performance Art Festival, VA.
*2013 Metro DC Dance Awards: Excellence in Costume Design, & Excellence in Sound Design/Composition.
topology (2012-13)
Companion duets created and performed with Maré Hieronimus, a subtly shifting and evolving performative
experiment rooted in their personal and artistic history, approaching the in-between moments where past memories and
present perceptions meet, and public/private realities blur. Sound by Maré Hieronimus, costumes by Maré Hieronimus
and Sharon Mansur. Presented by the Dance Conversations Festival at the Flea Theater, New York City;
Performática International Festival of Contemporary Dance and Movement Arts, Puebla, Mexico; Raving Jaynes
Theater & Dance Improvisation Festival at Triskelion Arts, New York; RADFest Alternative Dance Festival,
Michigan.
Out of Place (2012)
Site-specific outdoor performance/installation at Lake Anne Plaza, Reston, VA, co-created with architect/installation
artist Ronit Eisenbach, performed with Daniel Burkholder, sound by Myo, costumes by Sharon Mansur. Inspired by the
history, art, and architecture of the unique planned community of Reston, VA, commissioned/presented by the Reston
Community Arts Center/CenterStage Professional Artist Series, and the Initiative for Public Art-Reston, with support from
the Friends of Lake Anne, and the Reston Museum.
sightlines (2010-12)
Site-situated duet created and performed in collaboration with longtime dance partner Daniel Burkholder, challenging
ideas of space, proximity and physical relationships, as well as examining light/dark and public/private themes.
Original sound by Curt Seiss and Seth Warren-Crow with David Dupuis, lighting design by Andrew Dorman, live video feed
by Brian Harris, costumes by Burkholder & Mansur. Premiered at University of Maryland; performed at Falls Bridge New
Movement, Improvisation & Performance Festival, Philadelphia; Dance Place, Washington, DC celebrating 20 years of
collaboration with Daniel; RADFest Alternative Dance Festival, Michigan.
*2013 Metro DC Dance Award: Excellence in Lighting Design
Underneath (2011)
Two hour gallery/café/theater durational solo performance/installation with movement, objects, architecture, sound,
in collaboration with architect/installation artist Ronit Eisenbach, sound by Rebecca C. Adams, costume by Sharon Mansur.
Presented in Places in Space, curated by Next Reflex Dance Collective, Dance Place, Washington, DC.
cimmerian light (2010-11)
Solo embodying literal and metaphorical ideas concerning darkness and light, and the concept of wabi-sabi, inspired
also, in part, by the work of visual artists Eva Hesse and Ana Mendieta. With collaborators: Bruce Carter (sound), Andrew
Dorman (light), Felicia Glidden (scenic design), Tzveta Kassabova (costume) and Boris Willis (video). Performed at
Movement Research at Judson Church, New York City; full premiere at University of Maryland; and performed at the
RADFest Alternative Dance Festival, Michigan.
semblance & (re)semblance (2009-11)
A site-specific multi-media performance/installation exhibit examining the mysterious nature of feminine identity
through movement, sound, photography and video, located outside theater buildings, in lobbies and through the audience
aisles. Created in collaboration with mansurdance artists Maré Hieronimus, Erica Rebollar, Marcy Schlissel and
Ginger Wagg, with sound/visual artist Rebecca C. Adams, video artist Boris Willis, and costumes by Sue Chiang with
Tzveta Kassabova. Supported by a University of Maryland Creative and Performing Arts Award, 2009. Performed in
the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Grand Pavilion, University of Maryland; Dance Place, Washington, DC.
here/there (2007-11)
A movement, photography and film series reflecting on the nature of presence and absence, comprised of solo, trio,
and group performances and a series of five short dance films. Contributions from mansurdance artists Maré
Hieronimus, Marcy Schlissel, and Ginger Wagg, sound by Myo, video editing by Boris Willis, photography by Sharon
Mansur, Matthew Park, and Ginger Wagg, and costumes by Sharon Mansur. here/there…(for several) was created and
performed during the 2007-08 season at Winona State University, MN. Development continued in 2008-09 with
the here/there…(for one) solo and 2009-2010 with here/there…(for three), and performances at the University of
Maryland; Atlas Performing Arts Center, Washington, DC; Solar Powered Dance Series/Green Energy Arts Festival, New
York City; White Wave's DUMBO Dance Festival, New York City; RADFest Alternative Dance Festival, Michigan; and Harvest
Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival.
Off White (2003-2006)
In respond to 9-11 and her own growing curiosity about her cultural and familial identity aspects, Off White is a solo and
group dance project that examined Sharon's sense of feeling not quite White as a 3rd generation Lebanese American.
Performed by Kitty Clark, Sharon Mansur, Marcy Schlissel, and Ginger Wagg. With text contributions from family members,
voice recordings by Ali Herischi and Boris Willis, music by Lucas Zarwell. Performed in Washington, DC at: Dance Place, the
first Capital Fringe Festival, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Warehouse Theater Arts Festival, Flashpoint,
Art-o-matic, as well as at the Goose Route Dance Festival, WV, the Kinetic Kitchen Series at Mounds Theatre, St. Paul, MN
and Winona State University, MN.