Second Work (Remastered)
Choreography: Bennett Cullen
Music: Burr, Michael Wall
Costume Design: Bennett Cullen
Videographer: Abigail Cullen
Performers: MacKenzee Albert, Kara Bouck, Danica Clayton, Sidney Cowles, Bennett Cullen, Allison DeMaree, Leigh Durian, Kristin Lowe, Sarah Skilling, Jensen Steinbronn, Andi Wahl
“You never want to lose control. Losing control is losing freedom, awareness, range, volume; but you never want to be conventional or conservative either… what you have to do is… let go.” (Ohad Naharin)
To my beautiful dancers, I have no way of repaying you for all of your hard work, dedication to the process, and willingness to be vulnerable and let go, however our work together will always hold a special place in my heart. To my academic advisor, artistic consultant, Alexander technique guru, épaulement goddess KMarrs, thank you for being so supportive in my visions and aiding me in my journey as a dancer, creator, and explorer. No matter where I’m at in the world I’ll feel my feet on the floor.
To my fellow BFAs, not enough words can describe how I feel about this moment in time; we have finally made it. From the freshmen piece to now, and everything in between, I couldn’t be more grateful for everything we’ve experienced together. The sweat, the blood, and the tears were all worth it just to have this moment that we can all share the spotlight one last time. Thank you for the shoulders to cry on, the support, the honesty, and the bravery. We are badasses that can literally survive anything that we put our minds to, so let’s get out there and kick some booty and change the world!
'Second Work (Remastered)' is about discovery when one's lost and finding a foothold in uncharted territories. This work is about finding closure in the closeness, and intimacy in the integrated; falling in order to float and experiencing pain as there is also pleasure. 'Second Work (Remastered)' is a rendition of a solo, previously set to 'Für Alina,' composed by Arvo Pärt, that is being recreated to test the limits of movement and form on film. This work also features footage of a previously choreographed group section called 'Remember Me as a Time of Day.'
Bennett John Cullen is a dancer, choreographer, and performance artist based out of Chicago. He has spent the past four years investigating moving and making by combining sensation based practices and classical forms. He has had the privilege to perform works choreographed by Eloy Barragán, Jeremy Cline, Armando Duarte, Ramon Flowers, Jennifer Kayle, Marc Macaranas, Christopher-Rasheem McMillan, Sarah Olson, and Meredith Stapleton. Additional training includes GagaLab* in Tel Aviv (facilitated by Ohad Naharin and the Batsheva Company), Hubbard Street Dance Chicago summer intensive, Gibney and Bates Dance Festival Connect winter intensive, Threads Dance Project summer intensive, DanceWorks Chicago summer intensive, and The Cambrians summer intensive. Bennett has collaborated and choreographed a number of projects with fellow dancers and artists in the Iowa City area, and hopes to continue building rapport with other dancers and artists in St. Louis, MO, where he will be dancing the ‘20-21 season with The Big Muddy Dance Company.
*For the past year Bennett has been researching Gaga technique, the movement language of Ohad Naharin and movement vocabulary of the Batsheva Dance Company. As a part of his training, Bennett spent three weeks in Israel with Batsheva and Ohad Naharin learning repertory, and deepening his exploration of Gaga. Learned repertory includes but is not limited to: Minus 16, George and Zalman, Mabruk, Sadeh 21, Last Work, Virus, Venezuela, and others as part of learning Gaga in practice. His daily practice in GagaLab included 4 hours of Gaga training, 2 hours of repertory, and another hour of Gaga methodics and theory. Currently Bennett has been taking daily Gaga classes to continue with the practice and research of this movement vocabulary, as well as attending classes and workshops by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, and furthering his training with choreographer and artist Shahar Binyamini.