Support a New Dance Work by Emma Lutz-Higgins

My Friends, Family and Community,

I am raising funds for the premiere of FLOOR, my first evening-length dance work which will be presented at Performance Works NorthWest (PWNW) March 21-23rd, 2025. My talented team has been rehearsing iterations of this show for two-and-a-half years. This work is self-produced and has been supported by a six-month residency at PWNW which culminated in a three-show run in March 2024. I am thrilled to share its transformations with you.

FLOOR looks at who we can be to each other when our circumstances suddenly, dramatically change. It’s about running out of time and trying to locate a present that is so fleeting, so elusive, so singular. Dancers Allie Hankins, Emily Jones, and John Niekrasz move through this piece locating themselves in relationship to each other. They speak about an “end" in imminent terms and, as we follow them in unexpected partnerships, we wonder who will be left on the dance floor? Who will find what they are looking for?

I am raising $5000 to support the creation of this performance. Rehearsals for this version of the work started up again in September 2024 with dancers Allie Hankins, Emily Jones, and John Niekrasz. Funds raised will go directly toward paying collaborator fees which include the performers, lighting designer, and sound designer, in addition to studio space rental, costuming, documentation (photography and videography), and promotion. I am incredibly lucky to be working with such phenomenal people. The performers have donated so much of their time to this project and to achieve my goal of compensating them for their work is hugely important to me.

The $5000 will go to:

-Paying my collaborators (performers, lighting designer, sound designer, dramaturg, photographer, videographer)

-6 months of studio space rental

-Costume and props

-Promotional materials

-Show week costs

There are so many people and causes that need our resources and crossing the threshold of doubt to ask for funds to support my art has required some tricky mental gymnastics. Please know your support means so much to me. Any amount is deeply appreciated.

Stay tuned for ticketing information closer to the show date. I will be posting updates about the performance and will let you all know when ticket sales go live.

Lastly, I would not be here if not for the generosity of the dance community in Portland. I am constantly inspired by the performers and organizers who live here and it is their devotion that has given me the courage to make this piece. I am so excited to share this work with you and to be part of Portland’s rich dance and performance scene.

Thank you endlessly,

Emma

Learn more about what I've been doing <33

emmalutzhiggins.com

Bios:

Emma Lutz-Higgins (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher born and raised in Montpelier, VT and currently residing in Portland, OR. After completing her undergraduate degree at Bard College (2016) she moved to New York City where she worked as a freelance dancer and had the opportunity to perform at Danspace Project, Movement Research, Live Arts, SLAM, Triskelian Arts and Gibney Dance. Since moving to Portland (2021) Emma’s performed for Danielle Ross (PICA, 2023) and is currently in collaboration with Tahni Holt. The two of them have performed inside of large-scale installations at Building 5 for artist Kimberly Smith Claudel and AUXART and are working with visual artist Jess Perlitz and composer Luke Wyland on a cross disciplinary project to be presented in 2025. Emma was an Alembic Resident through PWNW (2023-24) and in August 2024 was invited to the University of Austin to consult on Leah Cox’s workshop Intelligent Bodies, Creative Minds. Learn more about Emma here.

John Niekrasz is an American artist working in sound, language, performance, and movement. Trained in poetry at The Iowa Writers’ Workshop and percussion in India and Cuba, John composes for and performs in ensembles Methods Body, Ixnay, Orchestra Becomes Radicalized, and others. Improvisation and syllabic notation are at the heart of his music. He also creates sound for dance and film. John publishes poetry, fiction, and essays and is currently finishing his third novel. @Johnniekrasz www.Johnniekrasz.com

Emily Jones (she/they) is a dancer, choreographer, movement teacher and bodyworker based in Portland, OR. Emily’s work emerges from sensitivity and intuition, she considers herself a researcher, forever seeking nuance and varied perspectives. Emily often works in artistic collaboration with Hannah Krafcik. Their work together has taken on a variety of forms including dance, video, sound, sculpture, and writing. Emily and Hannah’s work has been presented at New Expressive Works (Portland, OR), Art Klub NOLA (New Orleans, LA), Pieter Performance Space (Los Angeles, CA), Performance Works NW (Portland, OR), Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (Portland, OR), KH Fresh Festival (San Francisco, CA) and Paragon Arts Gallery (Portland, OR). Emily enjoys being in collaboration and community with other artists, admiring the ways their sensibilities disrupt the late-stage capitalist structures we must navigate.

Allie Hankins is a dancer, choreographer, and sound artist who has been producing and performing experimental works in Portland since 2013. Her work centers on deconstruction and the destabilization of persona through uncanny physicality, labyrinthine logic, and a razor-sharp wit. She has self-produced eight original works and toured her productions to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Berlin, Minneapolis, Albuquerque, and Cork. In the Pacific Northwest, her works have been commissioned by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art and On the Boards in Seattle. In 2013, Allie co-initiated the ongoing Queer performance cooperative Physical Education (PE) with keyon gaskin, Takahiro Yamamoto, and Lu Yim. PE produces festivals, hosts reading groups, and teaches workshops nationally. Most recently, Allie has danced for Milka Djordjevich (LA), Morgan Thorson (Minneapolis), and Portland choreographers Linda Austin, Danielle Ross, claire barrera, and Emma Lutz-Higgins. Her five-part performance series By My Own Hand, will conclude with Part 4: MELODY in the fall of 2025, and Part 5: INVISIBLE TOUCH in the fall of 2026.