Dream Memory of the Future

woman on floor in a dark room, looking through a door toward light

Co-Creators: Jennifer Kayle (director) with Emmalee Hallinan, Mariko Ishikawa, Michael Landez and Juliet Remmers (co-devising and performing)
Poet: Wana Udobang
Video Editing: Michael Landez
Original Music: Justin Comer, with reading by Wana Udobang, and sound editing by Jennifer Kayle

Alegria (Joy)

Wana Udobang

When I see the future, I close my eyes
Tears licking my cheeks
I remember
That once I had trouble sleeping
Trouble dreaming
Trouble surrendering
Even past the world ending
When I see the future now, my eyes are wide open
I have stopped keeping a good memory of bad things
The joy I have waited for is here
Making my heart sing with melodies of laughter
She drags herself to sit inside my stomach
I am full, belly gorged, waist thick
She has fattened me with sweetness
Tells me to be soft and open
Holds my hands
Crumbles the grief to dust
Washes the ash off my fingertips
Joy restores the air in my lungs
I have stopped gasping
Stopped running from sleep
“Breathe” she says
You made it
Even past the world ending

About the Collaborators

Jennifer Kayle // Director
Jennifer Kayle’s “muscular presence” in performance (Dance Source Houston) should not be confused with mere appearance, which may or may not be “muscular” depending on the season. Of her about 60 choreographies shown nationally and internationally, some were seen by people who wrote down words like: “provocative, tight, with wit and stage craft,” (Vox Fringe), “memorable and shockingly poignant,” (City Revealed). Kayle’s best, go-to move, is the one she makes to find extra smart collaborators, including those on this IWP/Dance project. Kayle is a certified Feldenkrais practitioner, Associate Professor and MFA program director in the Department of Dance at the University of Iowa. Her first scholarly article, on improvisation, "Unplanned Coordination: Ensemble Improvisation as Collective Action," co-authored with philosopher Ali Hasan, is forthcoming.

Wana Udobang // Poet
Wana Udobang (poet, performer, journalist, filmmaker; Nigeria) has recorded three spoken word studio albums and has had her poetry film Dear Father screened at BFI’s African Odysseys Festival. Her journalism has appeared in Aljazeera, The Guardian, the BBC, and elsewhere, and has been recognized through a IWMF Great Lakes Reporting fellowship and a Gabriel Garcia Marquez Cultural Journalism fellowship. A contributor to several poetry anthologies, she curates the work of African artists on the archival site Culture Diaries.

Emmalee Hallinan // Co-devising and performing
Emmalee Hallinan is a dance artist and educator from Altoona, Pennsylvania. She trained in local studios until beginning her pre-professional track with the Dance Department at Slippery Rock University, graduating manga cum laude, with a BFA in Dance/Business Administration. She began her teaching career at the Grier School in Tyrone, PA, where she had the pleasure of shaping students from all over the world in their technique and artistry as dance faculty for three years. She has trained at the American Dance Festival, the Paul Taylor Winter Intensive, in studio with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and with a variety of influential artists. Most recently, she is pursuing her MFA in choreography from the University of Iowa as an Iowa Arts Fellow.

Mariko Ishikawa // Co-devising and performing
Mariko Ishikawa is a dancer, collaborator, and educator, originally from the San Francisco Bay Area*. She is a recipient of the Iowa Arts Fellowship and is currently pursuing her MFA in Dance at the University of Iowa. She has danced with Albany Berkshire Ballet, Menlowe Ballet, Imaginatio Arts, eMotion Arts, and New Ground Theatre Dance Company, among others. She has had the pleasure of working with Michael Lowe, Ronn Guidi, Viktor Kabaniev, Reginald Ray-Savage, Alyssa Mitchel. Mariko holds a BA in Performing Arts and Liberal Studies from Saint Mary's College (LEAP).
*written in acknowledgment of the ancestral territory of Ramaytush Ohlone (SF) and the Miwok, Yokuts, Patwin, and other Ohlone (Greater Bay Area).

Michael Landez // Co-devising and performing
Michael Landez is from San Antonio, Texas, where he began his training in ballet and tap. He enjoys performing, making, and teaching about dance through active participation with those that want the experience. He holds a BS in Biology, a certification through the ABT National Teacher Training Curriculum (Pre-Primary-Partnering), and is currently an MFA candidate in Dance at the University of Iowa. He is a founding member of the Dance Farm Collective and Ballet Master for the Alamo City Performing Arts Association.

Juliet Remmers // Co-devising and performing
Hailing from Lawrence, Kansas, Juliet Remmers is a nuanced and expressive performer, dance maker, and teacher. Interested in the power and sensitivity of the body, she develops momentary worlds that coalesce from sweeping, linear, and gestural movements in pursuit of an urgency of presence and integration of body, mind, and spirit into a flexible whole. Juliet discovered her love for movement at a young age through classical ballet; she studies dance pedagogy, modern dance, contemporary forms, somatic methods, and improvisation. A certified yoga teacher, with a BA in Dance from the University of Kansas, Juliet is currently in her second year of MFA in Dance at the University of Iowa, and a creator and performer with Dance Farm Collective.