professional work
This page highlights major professional choreographic work. Her group, rogue wave, presents work at the intersection of psychology and movement, often with a comedic twist. Rogue waves are unusually large, unpredictable and suddenly appearing surface waves. To see Katie's teaching highlights, and choreography on students of all ages, visit here.
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major choreographic works
bouquet
Neuroscientists classify individuals as dandelions (resilient & able to thrive in a variety of environments), orchids (highly sensitive & reactive), or tulips, who exist somewhere in between. These outcomes are partially determined by epigenetics, the way in which our upbringing, and the generations before, influences genetic expression.
bouquet challenges the cast to examine the unique cultural & demographic experiences that have played formative roles in our development. Various permutations of dancers are matched with the intention of analyzing how our movement changes based on the similarity, or lack thereof, of our respective “flower profiles.” In this, we ask the audience to consider what their own flower might be, and how it feels to be a part of the greater meadow, your community.
Excerpts Premiere: unKEMpT Dance Festival, Arts on Site, New York, January 2023
Shown: Emerging Artist Showcase, New York, March 2023
Spring for Spring Dance Festival, Metuchen, NJ, June 2023
Dragons Egg Creates
Evening Length: October 6-8, 11th, 2023, The Tank
Work received a residency from Dragon's Egg for further development, summer 2023
FlIP & JIVE
Flip & Jive looks at the origins of Disco Dance while finding trust and fluidity in new physical partnering.
Excerpts Premiere: 30-30-30, Dixon Place, December 2023
Shown: unKEMpT Dance Festival, The Tank, January 2024
Estia Day Festival, PinkFROG Cafe, February 2024
Emerging Artists Theatre, March 2024
Jump on!
During exercise, three chemicals are released in different areas of the brain - dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin. These chemicals affect function and development, causing a potential restructuring of your brain to ward against neurological disorders and diseases. Through embodying physical exercises from dance to jump roping to trampoline, a cast of four works to push our bodies to find these chemical releases. We will also consider what propels us to workout, and what forces us to “stay in the game” versus choosing to exit, finding our own unique characters to explore within the work.
Premiere: Bloom Dance Festival, The Tank, December 2023
Shown:unKEMpT Dance Festival, The Tank, January 2024
Dance Parade NYC, May 2024
gap junction
gap junction looks into the neurological pathways involved in potentially traumatic events. A cast of six finds their similarities and differences in the brain through movement, drawing on their own experiences, particularily Messina's: a Sicilian-American who spent her formative years in a multi-generational household, followed by eight years in the urban south.
Excerpts Premiere: Fertile Ground, Greenspace, Queens, NY, Spring 2022
Shown: The Village, Lower East Side, Spring 2022
Artist After Hours, Brooklyn, Spring 2022
Spring for Spring, Metuchen, NJ Spring 2022
HOT Dance!, Dixon Place, Summer 2022
Evening Length: Sept 25-Oct 1, 2022, The Tank, Manhattan, NY
March 2023, Atlanta Science Festival, Atlanta, GA
bon vivant
Created in collaboration with Emmy Wildermuth
"bon vivant" deconstructs the notion of traditional ballet into weighted, fast floorwork and partnering while maintaining that nostalgic feel and classical music emphasis.
Premiere: unKEMpT Dance Festival, Arts on Site, January 2023
Shown: Movement II Dance Festival, 28th Street Theater, February 2023
Atlanta Science Festival, March 2023
Oklahoma Dance Festival, Norman, OK, July 2023
Work received residency from Everwood Artist Retreat for further development
we let our hair down
This project was supported by a Puffin Foundation Grant
Utilizing highly detailed and physical movement, this duet explores the nature of home. What does home mean when two dancers get together in the studio with backgrounds in very different family structures and cultural regions of the US? Is home always a place or can it be people or times too? Through humorous and introspective conversations and journaling, we work to create duets that are universal in the language of relationships that transcend boundaries.
Premiere: Dixon Place, New York, NY, June 2022
Shown: An-Tre Portugal, Spring 2022
Hottie Bop, Williamsburg, NY, June 2022
Film created with aid from Puffin Foundation
gallery:
retrospect
Created in collaboration with Daniel Ricardo Rocha Cartagena
Looks at shared memories, traumas, and past experiences. Sifting through these experiences how do we create a living, breathing collaboration.
Premiered: Roxey Ballet River Dance Festival
FLesh memories
“Jack of all trades, master of none.” But what if, in this solo, I take this as a positive, and create a dance for myself that is a “flesh memory” of all the dance experiences I have had on a Marley floor, each contributing to the dancer and person I am today?
Premiered: Roxey Ballet Rise Fundraiser, Lambertville, NJ
November 2021
Shown: Koresh Dance Festival, Philadelphia, January 2022
Astoria Dance Festival, July 2022
further west
Looking at unlikely parings that reveal in the most unexpected ways
Premiered: Spring for Spring Dance Festival, April 2021
Shown: KYL/D’s Inhale Performance Series, Philadelphia, October 2021
Decatur City Dance, November 2021
through-line
A cast of six dancers in a work that looks at moments in time - both personally and historically - where strangers connect. Originally meant as a live work to premiere on March 23, 2020, it was converted into a high-quality film premiering Summer 2021
Premiering: Dance Canvas, Summer 2021, Ferst Center for the Performing Arts, Atlanta, GA
Excerpts: Emory University, February 2020
FOR BODIES
A cast of four dancers, investigating each of their personal narratives through film. Emphasizing different camera angles, angles not possible in live performance, and how we move together, alone.
Premiering: femmefest virtual festival, August 2020
Shown: Fall for Fall Dance Festival, Sept 11-13 2020
Modco Dance Company, The Quarantine Chronicles, Fall 2020
Body Language Lab, Culture Mash, Detroit, MI Winter 2020
game.set.match.
A work that examines the relationship between audience and performer, and the range of experiences that this reveals.
Premiered: Immerse ATL, Spring 2019, Emory Performing Arts Studio, Atlanta, GA
Shown: play.risk.research, Fall 2019, Active Space, Atlanta, GA
Yes! Dance Festival, Winter 2019, Firehouse Playhouse, Richmond, VA
hour eleven
Why does the brain only sometimes link confinement to danger? What if the confinement is in an idea or situation, not a place?
Premiered: Immerse ATL, Spring 2019, Emory Performing Arts Studio, Atlanta, GA
OTher choreographic works
aftershock
Emory University 2018
Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts
phase one.
Emory University 2017
Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts