• AUSTIN DANCE IMPROVISATION FESTIVAL - FEB 2019

    The 2nd Austin Dance Improvisation Festival (ADIF) is happening February 21st-23rd (Thursday-Saturday) at The High Road on Dawson. Inspired by the Texas Dance Improvisation Festival (TDIF) and the desire to bring our diverse community of AUSTIN dancers together to explore, share and celebrate, ADIF is about developing our definition, awareness and skills of IMPROVISATION in the field of dance as art, dance as personal practice, dance as healing and dance as community/relational development.

    Lower Left's Nina Martin and Margaret Paek along with composers Loren Kiyoshi Dempster and Paul Hunt will be leading the centerpiece to the festival on Friday night and Saturday.

    Pre-registration here for the entire ADIF 2019
    from Thursday - Sunday, Feb 21- 24th
    $200
    More info here.

  • PERENNIAL LABORS - FEB 2019

    Dr. Nina Martin and Shelley Senter are pioneering dance artists that will be in Appleton as part of Lawrence University's Dance Series! LU dance professor, Margaret Paek, will join them. All three are Lower Left artists.
    Nina Martin, Margaret Paek, and Shelley Senter periodically come
    together to move, shape, and share their combined experiences.
    This work is one iteration of their collaborative process.

    We are the materials at hand and our different streams of knowledge intertwine to create new visions. Documenting a moment in our twenty-plus year collaboration, we excavate, reflect, refract, and recollect our individual and collective histories.

    Monday, Feb 18th 2019
    6:00pm *note the early time
    free
    Esch dance studio
    Warch Campus Center
    Lawrence University
    Appleton, WI
    More info here.

  • DANCE RANCH MARFA by LOWER LEFT & MARFA LIVE ARTS - JULY 2018

    DANCE RANCH MARFA is a rigorous investigation of the relationship between the self and the group in an art-making context. The workshop is intended to provide dedicated spaces for collective/individual learning and exploration. We use this time in Marfa to work, investigate, and collectively widen compositional, sensorial, and performance skills. Dance Ranch is a program of Lower Left, presented by Marfa Live Arts.
    Using Ensemble Thinking, Re:Wire-Dancing States, and Contact Improvisation as points of departure, we will investigate the intra-relationships of the solo body, the weighted body and the ensemble. The days consist of two 3-hour blocks of time in the studio and the theater. There will be a day off midway through the intensive to enjoy the town and the sky. Towards the end of the week there will be a performance in the Crowley Theater, open to the Marfa community.
    Lower Left Performance Collective is known for collaboratively working across multiple time zones, multiple genres and media. In current times, we find much importance in fostering our cooperative and individual powers for self-determination.
    This year’s facilitators in Marfa: Nina Martin, Andrew Wass, Margaret Paek, and Kelly Dalrymple-Wass
    July 17-26, 2018
    $500 Registration – $450 if paid in full by April 1st. (no foolin’!)
    $100 deposit
    remainder due by July 17th
    more details here
    or here
    Marfa, TX

  • DANCE RANCH MARFA by LOWER LEFT & MARFA LIVE ARTS - AUG 2017

    DANCE RANCH MARFA is a five day workshop, created and led by Lower Left, intended to provide dedicated spaces, performances, and practice periods for collective and individual learning and exploration. We integrate Ensemble Thinking, ReWire-Dancing States, and other dance making techniques, including Contact Improvisation, during DANCE RANCH MARFA. We use this time in Marfa to work, play, wonder, and collectively widen compositional and performative skills. During the intensive, we workshop together several hours a day, rest as needed, enjoy down time and the sky, and end the week with a performance offering to the Marfa community.
    Lower Left is known for collaboratively working across muliple time zones and communities to reach lots of different kinds of goals we find to be important. In current times, we find much importance in fostering our cooperative and individual power to move.
    This year's facilitators in Marfa: Nina Martin, Andrew Wass, Leslie Scates and Margaret Paek
    more info here or here
    Aug 3-7, 2017
    Cost - $300 Registration -
    $100 deposit
    $200 remainder due by Aug 3
    Crowley Theater
    Marfa, TX

  • LOWER LEFT INTENSIVE at TANZFABRIK in BERLIN, GERMANY - JULY 2017

    Lower Left will be facilitating this workshop in Berlin, Germany. Accessing the body’s deep intelligence, we learn to intuit the body’s desires while developing a facile brain, releasing us from habitual patterns. We will work consciously along a continuum that encompasses a kinetic body state and neuro brain state. The kinetic enhances our emergent desires for movement and the neuro allows us to dance the brain and bypass the “Mind”. By mixing the kinetic and neuro states with Contact Improvisation, we will achieve clarity, speed, and precision allowing us to intentionally operate between flow and suspension.
    more info about the Tanzfabrik summer schedule here
    Including a performance at Uferstudios. more info here
    July 17-21, 2017
    Tanzfabrik
    Berlin, Germany

  • LINKS HALL RESIDENCY with DAHLIA NAYAR & LOREN KIYOSHI DEMPSTER, CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 2017

    Links Hall generously providing a creative residency for Dahlia Nayar, Loren Kiyoshi Dempster, and Margaret to begin work on their next collaboration.

  • MODERN DANCE SERIES at VALLEY ACADEMY FOR THE ARTS in NEENAH, WI - JUNE 2017

    Looking for diverse modern dance experience, or simply a chance to take (post) modern dance? This is a class of an 8-week series (June 16-August 4). Take a class from a different local dance professional each week, and explore the various techniques of modern dance. This is the adult series for ages 16-95 years old.
    Margaret teaches the second class in the series.
    more info here
    Friday, June 23, 2017
    5:00-6:30pm
    $8 drop in
    Valley Academy for the Arts
    Neenah, WI

  • ROUND ROBIN at THE RABBIT - JUNE 2017

    In The Rabbit, Lawrence University's pop-up art gallery, several student groups will bring dance to College Avenue. This year, students will perform a Contact Improvisation "Round Robin" alongside the artworks. Directed by Margaret Paek.
    more info here or here
    Saturday, June 3, 2017
    4:00-5:30pm
    free
    The Rabbit Gallery 2017
    downtown Appleton, WI

  • HYPERLOCAL #13 at LYNDEN SCULPTURE GARDEN in MILWAUKEE, WI - MAY 2017

    HYPERLOCAL is Milwaukee’s hothouse for improvisation and interdisciplinary performance. Formed and presented by dance artist, Maria Gillespie and musician/composer, Tim Russell, Hyperlocal and the collaborating artists share the mission to create an active environment for local performing artists to research, to experiment, to invent, and to share moving and music with their community. Interdisciplinary and experimental at heart, the artist gather to promote local performance as a vital centrifuge for cultural individuation that is in conversation with the world.
    The prompt “Easement” leads the performers through an investigation that examines how we enter, inhabit, and occupy a landscape (micro and macro) without possessing it. The inquiry where habitat, nature, and memory interupt each other is ushered in by the work of artist Cecelia Condit whose exhibition, Women, Nature, Science: Tales of a Future Past is showing in the Lynden gallery.
    more info here or here
    Sunday, May 14, 2017
    3:00pm
    Lynden Sculpture Garden
    Milwaukee, WI

  • OPEN MOVEMENT & MUSIC JAMS at LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY - WINTER 2017

    Come play, dance, and make music!
    This improvisational movement and music jam is open to everyone. A participatory event. To start, there will be a brief physical warm up to the space and each other led by Margaret Paek and/or guest artists.
    You decide how you participate in a jam space. You may make sound/music, you may dance, you may bring an instrument, you may watch... but don't be surprised if you get pulled in to dance/sound. You can come and go as you please.
    Sunday, Jan 29, 2017 - 6:15-8:00pm info here
    Sunday, Feb 26, 2017 - 6:00-7:30pm info here
    Sunday, April 2, 2017 - 6:00-7:30pm info here
    Sunday, April 30, 2017 - 6:00-7:30pm - info here
    free
    in Esch Studio
    Warch Campus Center
    Lawrence University
    Appleton, WI

  • "RESIDENT ARTISTS: RE-ASSEMBLED" in FOOD FOR THOUGHT at DANSPACE PROJECT AT ST. MARK'S CHURCH, NYC - MARCH 2017

    Food for Thought is a program of Danspace at St. Mark's Church in New York City. Food for Thought is three nights of performance selected by a different guest artist curator each night. Canned goods collected through Food for Thought are donated to St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery food distribution programs.
    March 25th is curated by Nami Yamamoto with the theme: "growing, blooming, aging, decaying and going back to the earth, then where are we going now…"
    "Resident Artists: Re-Assembled" - a iteration of "Resident Artists: Assembled" five years after the first version will be included in the night. Performers who were originally toddlers are now children, parents are a little bit wiser, and there is one new addition to the cast. Current cast: Margaret Paek, Loren Kiyoshi Dempster, Eleanor Dempster-Paek, Dahlia Nayar, Ruth and Thomas Butler, Roz LeBlanc Loo, Matteo Loo, Tami Stronach, Maya Steinbrunner Stronach, Lanette Costas Stampley, Ayana and Isaiah Stampley.
    more info here
    Saturday, March 25, 2017
    8:00pm
    $10 or $5 and 2 cans of food
    Danspace Project
    at St. Mark's Church
    10th and 2nd
    NYC, NY

  • HYPERLOCAL #12 at VILLA TERRA DECORATIVE ART MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE, WI - FEB 2017

    HYPERLOCAL is Milwaukee’s hothouse for improvisation and interdisciplinary performance. Formed and presented by dance artist, Maria Gillespie and musician/composer, Tim Russell, Hyperlocal and the collaborating artists share the mission to create an active environment for local performing artists to research, to experiment, to invent, and to share moving and music with their community. Interdisciplinary and experimental at heart, the artist gather to promote local performance as a vital centrifuge for cultural individuation that is in conversation with the world.
    HYPERLOCAL #12, in the Villa Terra Decorative Arts Museum, holds special significance because the Milwaukee based artists are working with and alongside the exhibition at Villa Terrace, Ornate Activate, organized by South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC) and curated by Alexander Campos. Additionally, they have included some new performers, extending our collaborations with guest performers from UW Whitewater (Nick Zoulek), Lawrence University (Margaret Paek, Loren Dempter), UW Madison (Liz Sexe), and UWM Peck School students (Emily Bartsch, Chanteé Kelly, Kayla Flentje, Olivia Valenza, Talli Moss) and our local dance heroines Joelle Worm (UWM dance and Arts Eco) and Maggie Smith (UWM alumna). Different performers will work in specific galleries in the museum and engage with the artists’ work; aligning with, conversing with, holding space, and echoing the patterns and practices in embodied, time-based methods of inquiry. Each collaborative pair or team has created their own score based on the work in the gallery.
    more info here
    Sunday, Feb 26, 2017
    6:00 pm
    Villa Terra Decorative Arts Museum
    Milwaukee, WI

  • "2125 STANLEY STREET" PERFORMANCE at REDFERN ARTS CENTER at KEENE STATE COLLEGE, KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE - FEB 2017

    A collaboration with Margaret, choreographer Dahlia Nayar, and composer Loren Dempster, "2125 Stanley Street", will be performed in the Redfern Arts Center. The installation version of "2125 Stanley Street" will also be presented in this gallery. Margaret, Dahlia, and Loren will also be teaching workshops for Keene State College students while in residency here.
    The presentation of 2125 Stanley Street was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
    more info here
    Feb 9-11, 2017
    7:00pm on 9th & 10th, 2pm on 11th
    $10-8, $5 KSC students
    Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery
    Redfern Arts Center
    Keene State College
    Keene, NH

  • MAZOPALOOZA - JAN 2017

    Mazopalooza is a Contact Improvisation weekend in Mazomanie, WI held every January. This year, Margaret will teach "Let's Dance: Improvising with Contact" on Saturday. K.J. Holmes will be the featured artist.
    more details and registration here
    Jan 6-8, 2017
    Mazomanie, WI

  • LOWER LEFT in AVAILABLE SPACE at LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY - Oct 2016

    Lower Left artists converge in Appleton, Wisconsin to teach and perform at Lawrence University. Formed in 1994 in San Diego, Lower Left is a collaborative group of dance artists, educators, creators, and performers. For this special performance, members from Berlin, Texas, and New York re-assemble with Margaret Paek, Lawrence dance professor. Utilizing signature improvisational, compositional, and ensemble techniques, Available Space will be an evening of spontaneously create dances. Surprise guest artists from the community will join them for part of the performance. Lower Left will offer the audience ways to view and appreciate bodies in motion crafting the space. Don’t miss this extraordinary performance of dance-making in action.
    Friday, Oct 28, 2016
    5:00 pm
    free
    Esch Studio
    Warch Campus Center
    Lawrence University
    Appleton, WI

  • GLACIER - OCT 2016

    GLACIER (Great Lakes Area Contact Improvisation Enthusiasts Retreat) is an annual Contact Improvisation retreat organized and taught by local practitioners. GLACIER welcomes a group of about 50 participants to the Christine Center. We sink into the joy of dancing together with other members of our far-flung contact improvisation tribe. It is a time to rejuvenate our creative spirits and relax into our bodies. While dancers of all levels are welcome to attend the event, participants should have a basic CI skill set. Our time together encourages connections and re-connections. Margaret will teach a session during the retreat.
    Oct 7-12, 2016
    more details here
    The Christine Center
    Willard, WI


  • "2125 STANLEY STREET" PERFORMANCE at LINKS HALL, CHICAGO, IL - Oct 20 & 21, 2016

    A collaboration with Margaret, choreographer Dahlia Nayar, and composer Loren Dempster, "2125 Stanley Street", is featured in the A-Squared Festival at Links Hall in Chicago. Curated by Hope Kim, Cary Shoda, and Giau Truong and presented by Links Hall and The A-Squared Theatre, The A-Squared Asian American Performing Arts Festival features four evenings of contemporary dance, music, performance art, puppetry, sound art, spoken word, and theatre by American artists of Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese descent.
    The presentation of 2125 Stanley Street was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
    Tickets here.
    Thurs Oct 20 & Fri Oct 21, 2016
    7:00 pm
    $15 students/seniors, $20 general, $40 for festival pass
    Links Hall
    3111 N. Western Ave
    Chicago, IL

  • HYPERLOCAL #10 at MILWAUKEE FRINGE FESTIVAL - Aug 2016

    HYPERLOCAL is Milwaukee’s hothouse for improvisation and interdisciplinary performance. For #10, musicians Allen Russell, Pat Reinholtz, David Collins, and Tim Russell come together with dancers Margaret Paek, Dan Schuchart, Maria Gillespie, and Dani Kuepper to perform as part of the first Milwaukee Fringe Festival.
    Formed and presented by Gillespie and Russell, Hyperlocal and the collaborating artists share the mission to create an active environment for local performing artists to research, to experiment, to invent, and to share moving and music with their community. Interdisciplinary and experimental at heart, the artist gather to promote local performance as a vital centrifuge for cultural individuation that is in conversation with the world.
    Tickets for the Milwaukee Fringe Festival are now available! You can purchase single show tickets, one day passes for Saturday and/or Sunday, or a two-day all inclusive pass.
    Tickets are here.
    More info here.
    Sunday, Aug 28, 2016
    6:30 pm
    Todd Wehr Theater at The Marcus Center
    Milwaukee, WI

  • P.O.R.C.H. SUMMER INTENSIVE at PONDEROSA GERMANY - Aug 2016

    Lower Left artists teach "The Big Picture: Dance Improvisation in Performance." Ponderosa Movement & Discovery hosts this workshop as part of it's Performance Module of P.O.R.C.H. (Ponderosa Ongoing Research Collaborative Happenings) Taught by Nina Martin, Andrew Wass, and Margaret Paek, we focus on Articulating the Solo Body, Contact Improvisation, and Ensemble Thinking. Join us in Germany for a week of intensive dance training.
    Registration and more info here.
    Aug 13-17, 2016
    Ponderosa Movement & Discovery
    Gutshof 3
    16248 Lunow-Stolzenhagen
    Germany

  • EARTHDANCE JULY 4TH JAM - July 2016

    Earthdance's annual event is co-facilitated by Rythea Lee and Margaret this year. Summer is on high during this family-oriented Contact Improvisation Jam. Enjoy brilliant sunshine, grassy fields, fun and games, and dances of all shapes ans sizes. Revel in the bounty and beauty of 30 years of Earthdance community collaboration!
    Options for half week or full week attendance.
    Registration and more info here.
    June 28-July 4, 2016
    Earthdance
    Plainfield, MA

  • BUFFALO CONTACT IMPROVISATION CLASS - June 26, 2016

    At Nancy Hughes' invitation, Margaret will be teaching the regular Buffalo Contact Improvisation community class. Class leads directly into an open jam.
    Sunday, June 26, 2016
    5:00 pm - 6:30 pm class
    6:30 pm - 8:00 pm jam
    $5 for class
    $5 for jam
    $8 for class and jam
    Wasteland Studios
    700 Main St. 6th floor
    Buffalo, NY

  • DANCING RABBIT - May 2016

    In The Rabbit, Lawrence University's pop-up art gallery, several student groups will bring dance to College Avenue.
    Performances will include:
    "After Construction" composition by Loren Kiyoshi Dempster, performed by Musicians in Movement (Albert Marshall, Cameron Murdock, Camille Dozier, Irene Durbak, Jon Hanrahan, Tierra Masupha.)
    "low solo" by Camille Dozier and special guests
    "You Come, We'll Show You What We Do... Redo" by More Contact Improvisation class (some or more of the following dancers - Sophie Penniman, Micayla Hutton, Abigail Hindson, Laetitia Lehman-Pearsall, Caleb Rosenthal, Yossi Lipton, Kenneth Herrera, Cansu Cabucak, Hannah Jeruc, Gillian Etherington, Paul Gutmann, Sam Stone, Stephon Berry, Madeleine Moran)
    Directed by Margaret Paek
    More info here.
    Saturday, May 28, 2016
    12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
    free
    The Rabbit Gallery 2016
    215 E College Ave
    Appleton, WI

  • UNCUCUMBERED in "WEATHER SYSTEMS MAKE NO MISTAKES" - April 2016

    Uncucumbered is a dance collective consisting of Bradley Teal Ellis, Melissa Guerrero, Elise Knudson, Margaret Paek, Paul Singh, with musician, Loren Kiyoshi Dempster. Though we have known each other for over one hundred years, we come together in this formation for the first time. With a range of limitations that support our connections and our physical conversations, we will navigate the unknown together in this performance of "Weather Systems Make No Mistakes."
    More info here.
    Thursday, April 14, 2016
    7:30 pm
    free
    Esch Studio
    Warch Campus Center
    Lawrence University
    Appleton, WI

  • "ATRIA: A FEELING OF LIGHT AND SPACE" - March 2016

    Gabriel Forestieri (projectLIMB) visits Lawrence University to work with Margaret, Loren Dempster, Matt Turner, other special guest artist LU students in the new work, "Atria." Atria are designed to connect inside and out. Giving views of the exterior environment while providing shelter from the elements. This work is a celebration of the desire to bring the outside inside and allow the inside to live outside.
    More info here.
    Tues, March 29, 2016
    6:00 pm
    free
    Science Hall Atrium
    Lawrence University
    Appleton, WI

  • "SECONDARY SURFACE: RENDERED" PERFORMED BY LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS - March 2016

    "Secondary Surface: Rendered" is a performance installation that moves the audience through space, leaving traces of the ephemeral in charcoal and paper. Originally conceived by Lower Left performance collective, Margaret directs these Lawrence students in kinetic explorations of physical scores traveling through the Wriston Art Galleries.
    Performed by: Kenneth Herrera, Becca Tapia, Camille Dozier, Abigail Hindson, Gil Etherington, Laetitia Lehman-Pearsall, and Micayla Hutton.
    Music created and performed by: Loren Kiyoshi Dempster
    Friday, March 4, 2016
    8:00 pm
    free
    Wriston Galleries
    Lawrence University
    Appleton, WI

  • IGLU MUSICIANS IN MOVEMENT - Feb 24, 2016

    IGLU (Improvisation Group Lawrence University) crafts sound and movement into ensemble pieces in this concert, directed by Matt Turner and Margaret Paek.
    Wednesday, February 24, 2016
    7:00 pm
    free
    Wriston Gallery
    Lawrence University
    Appleton, WI

  • FORM IN QUESTION: ENSEMBLE - IMPROVISATION - PERFORMANCE - Jan 2016

    This symposium hosted by NYU Tisch School of the Arts will bring together diverse disciplinary perspectives to examine concepts of ensemble, improvisation and choreography; to generate new thinking and language around collective performance; and to initiate conversation across the spectrum of ensemble practices. Margaret is on the planning committee as well as will participate in Form in Question.
    More info here.
    Jan 14-17, 2016
    free with registration
    111 2nd Ave,
    NYC, NY

  • MICRO-OPERAS "EXPRESSIONS OF ACCEPTANCE" - Nov 2, 2015

    Lawrence University groups IGLU and Opera studies collaborate on these improvisational micro-operas based on text gathered from the Appleton community. An evening of all-inclusive, interactive performances celebrating unity. Expressions of Acceptance will be dispersed throughout spaces of the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. Created by the performers; coached by Copeland Woodruff, Matt Turner, and Margaret Paek.
    Monday, November 2, 2015
    7:00 pm - Journey for Community - a pre-show community promenade from Lawrence University to the PAC.
    7:30 pm - show starts at PAC
    free
    Fox Cities Performing Arts Center
    Appleton, WI

  • NOW HERE FESTIVAL in PHILADELPHIA - Oct 2015

    Margaret will perform in The Impermanent Society of Philadelphia (ISOP) NowHere Festival of Free Improvisation in Sound and Movement at Mascher Space, Philadelphia. Dedicated to promoting the Free Improvisation art forms, the festival includes world-class movement and sound artists from across the US.
    More info here.
    Oct 19-25, 2015
    Mascher Space
    155 Cecil B Moore Ave
    Philadelphia, PA

  • VERMONT PERFORMANCE LAB PROGRESSIVE PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL - Sept 4-6, 2015

    Margaret, Dahlia Nayar, and Loren Dempster are in residence with the Vermont Performance Lab, adapting "2125 Stanley Street" for the Dianich Gallery. VPL's Progressive Performance Festival is made possible with funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Vermont Arts Council, the Samara Fund, and VPL's Creation Fund donors, and media sponsorship from The Commons. Also part of the festival are The Round by Projet In Situ and Schwanze-Beast by Carmelita Tropicana & Ela Troyano.
    More information here.
    Sept 4-6, 2015
    Fri 5:30-6:30pm
    Sat & Sun 12:00-5:00pm
    free
    Dianich Gallery
    139 Main Street
    Brattleboro, VT

  • "SECONDARY SURFACE: RENDERED" BY LOWER LEFT at THE CROWLEY THEATER - Aug 14 & 15, 2015

    Presented by Marfa Live Arts with support from the Crowley Theater and the Permian Basin Area Foundation, Lower Left performs its newest work throughout the theater. Secondary Surface: Rendered juxtaposes the human form with materials traditionally used in the visual arts, blurring the boundaries between dance and static art forms. Moving away from the constraints of the standard proscenium setting, Lower Left invites the audience to curate its own experience as it follows the action of the performance installations. In collaboration with composer Loren Dempster and visual artist Gretchen Lee Coles.
    Fri & Sat, Aug. 14 & 15, 2015
    7:30 pm
    free, donations accepted
    Crowley Theater
    Marfa, TX

  • WORKS IN PROGRESS at THE CROWLEY THEATER, MARFA, TX - Aug 9, 2015

    Lower Left shares works in progress with the Marfa community. Collaborative works by Leslie Scates, Andrew Wass, and Clara Diesen included. Supported by Marfa Live Arts, the Crowley Theater, and the Permian Basin Area Foundation.
    Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015
    7:00 pm
    free
    Crowley Theater
    Marfa, TX

  • FARMER'S MARKET in MIDLAND, TX - Aug 1, 2015

    Presented by the Midland Library and Marfa Live Arts, Lower Left performs for the Midland community at the Farmer's Market at the Museum of the Southwest. In collaboration with Loren Dempster.
    Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015
    10:30 am - 12:30 pm
    free
    Museum of the Southwest
    1705 W Missouri Ave
    Midland, TX

  • "SECONDARY SURFACE RENDERED" BY LOWER LEFT at KAMIPOSI GALLERY - July 31, 2015

    Presented by the Midland Library and Marfa Live Arts, Lower Left performs its newest work through the Kamiposi Gallery. Secondary Surface Rendered juxtaposes the human form with materials traditionally used in the visual arts, blurring the boundaries between dance and static art forms. Moving away from the constraints of the standard proscenium setting, Lower Left invites the audience to curate its own experience as it follows the action of the performance installations. In collaboration with Loren Dempster.
    Friday, July 31, 2015
    7:30 pm
    $10 cash or check at door
    Kamiposi Gallery
    510 S Big Spring St
    Midland, TX

  • LOWER LEFT CLASS at HISPANIC CULTURAL CENTER IN MIDLAND, TX - July 30, 2015

    Lower Left teaches an Ensemble Thinking class for teens and community members at the Hispanic Cultural Center.
    Thursday, July 30, 2015
    6:00 pm
    free
    Hispanic Cultural Center
    1311 E Wadley and Sibley Circle
    Midland, TX

  • MOVEMENT CLASS & PERFORMANCE FOR POLO PARK RESIDENTS - July 30, 2015

    Lower Left teaches and performs for the senior citizens living at the Polo Park Estates in Midland, TX.
    Thursday, July 30, 2015
    10:30 am
    Midland, TX

  • DANCE RESEARCH RESIDENCY WITH FABULOUS PEOPLE - June 2015

    At Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island, several experienced movers gather for dance research in collaborative, performative, improvisational movement. Fabulous people include: Elise Knudson, Shura Baryshnikov, Sarah Konner, Keira Mason-Hill, Marion Ramirez, JungWoong Kim, Olase Freeman, and Stephanie Turner.

  • UPDATE on "2125 STANLEY STREET"

    "2125 Stanley Street" was selected by Down East Magazine for its 2015 Best of Stage and Screen category: "In April, The Dance Hall in Kittery hosted Maine’s most compelling recent dance performance. Dancers in Dahlia Nayar’s 2125 Stanley Street gorgeously explore domesticity and notions of home using mops, laundry, and other domestic props in beautiful and unexpected ways..." Our thanks again to Drika Overton and The Dance Hall for hosting us.

  • "2125 STANLEY STREET" PERFORMANCE AT TOPAZ ARTS, QUEENS, NY - June 6, 2015

    A collaboration with Margaret, choreographer Dahlia Nayar, and composer Loren Dempster, "2125 Stanley Street", comes to home to Woodside, Queens, NY. This performance is made possible, in part, by TOPAZ ARTS, Inc. with support from NYS DanceForce with funds from NYSCA Dance Program.
    more info here.
    Saturday, June 6, 2015
    6:30 pm
    free
    Topaz Arts, Inc.
    55-03 39th Ave
    Woodside, NY

  • CONTACT IMPROVISATION CLASS THROUGH MOVEMENT RESEARCH - May 2015

    Margaret teaching Movement Research's on-going contact improvisation class during the month of May.
    Wednesdays- May 6, ,13, 20 & 27th
    6:30-8:30pm
    $14 or class card
    Movement Research at Eden's Expressway
    537 Broadway, 4th floor, NYC

  • "2125 STANLEY STREET" PERFORMANCE AT THE DANCE HALL, KITTERY, ME - April 11, 2015

    A collaboration with Margaret, choreographer Dahlia Nayar, and composer Loren Dempster, "2125 Stanley Street", performance at the Dance Hall in Kittery, Maine. Reserve tickets here. Funded in part by New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.
    Saturday, April 11, 2015
    7:30pm
    $16 in advance, $20 at the door
    7 Walker St
    Kittery, ME

  • "2125 STANLEY STREET" PERFORMANCE AT AMHERST COLLEGE - April 7, 2015

    A collaboration with Margaret, choreographer Dahlia Nayar, and composer Loren Dempster, "2125 Stanley Street", comes to Amherst College. Presented by Copeland Colloqium.
    Tuesday, April 7, 2015
    8:00 pm
    Webster Hall Studio 2
    Free and open to the public
    Limited seating.
    UPDATE - This event has sold out.

  • WORKSHOP FOR NYU's SECOND AVE DANCE COMPANY - Feb 10, 2015

    Lower Left artists, Margaret, Nina Martin, Shelley Senter, Andrew Wass, Kelly Dalrymple-Wass, and Leslie Scates teach a special workshop on Ensemble Thinking for Tisch NYU senior students in the Second Avenue Dance Company.
    Tues, Feb 10, 2015
    for NYU Tisch students only

  • PHYSICAL INQUIRY & SOMATIC PRACTICES SERIES - CONTACT IMPROVISATION "THE BASICS" - Feb 2015

    As part of the Physical Inquiry & Somatic Practices series, Margaret teaching Movement Research's on-going contact improvisation foundational class during the month of Oct. Feb 19 co-taught with Sarah Konner; Feb 26 taught by Sarah Konner.
    Thursdays - Feb 5, 12, 19 & 26
    6:00-8:30pm $14
    MR class cards not applicable.
    Movement Research at Gibney Dance downtown
    280 Broadway, NYC

  • MOVEMENT RESEARCH'S OPEN PERFORMANCE - Feb 10, 2015

    Margaret moderates Movement Research's work-in-process performance series. Artists this week include: Dance To The People, Sarah Weber Gallo, Marsha Parrilla/Danza Orgánica.
    Tuesday, February 10, 2015
    7:00pm
    free
    Eden's Expressway
    537 Broadway, 4th Floor, NYC

  • THROW at the CHOCOLATE FACTORY - Dec 16, 2014

    THROW is a performance-development series curated and moderated by Sarah Maxfield. Margaret is performing work-in-progress with Dahlia Nayar; other featured artists are - Malcolm Low, Tiny Little Band, Emily Wexler, Katie Rose McLaughlin, Billy Mullaney and Emily Gastineau.
    Tuesday, December 16th, 2014
    7pm, free
    Chocolate Factory
    5-49 49th Avenue
    Long Island City, NY

  • BAX FALL SPACE GRANT SHOWCASE - Dec 6 & 7, 2014

    Margaret will perform with Shelley Senter and guests, including music by Russ Alderson. As a BAX Fall Space Grant recipient, Shelley Senter's new work will be presented, along with work from Rebecca Patek, Kirya Traber, and Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble.
    Saturday, December 6th, 2014 at 8pm
    and
    Sunday, December 7th, 2014 at 6pm
    General $16, low income $10
    BAX (Brooklyn Arts eXchange)
    421 Fifth Ave
    Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY

  • FRIDAYS AT NOON at THE 92ND STREET Y - Nov 21, 2014

    Margaret and Shelley Senter dance together in "An Adaptation of Matter." Fridays at Noon is a program of dance performances with post-show discussions, this series curated by Joanna Kotze. Also performing - Leah Cox and Sarah Lifson.
    Friday, Nov 21st, 2014
    noon, free
    92nd Street Y
    1395 Lexington Ave, NYC

  • MOVEMENT RESEARCH'S OPEN PERFORMANCE - Nov 18, 2014

    Margaret and Elise Knudson research a new duet. Come see this works in progress showing with audience feedback, moderated by Jeanine Durning. Also showing work - Laura Lamp.
    Movement Research's Open Performance
    Tuesday, November 18th, 2014
    7pm
    suggested $3 donation
    at Eden's Expressway
    537 Broadway, NYC

  • CONTACT IMPROVISATION CLASS THROUGH MOVEMENT RESEARCH - Nov 2014

    Margaret teaching Movement Research's on-going contact improvisation class during the month of November.
    Wednesdays- Nov 5th, 12th & 19th. (no class Nov 26th)
    6:00-8:30pm $14 or class card
    Movement Research at Eden's Expressway
    537 Broadway, 4th floor, NYC

  • PHYSICAL INQUIRY & SOMATIC PRACTICES SERIES - CONTACT IMPROVISATION "THE BASICS" - Oct 2014

    As part of the Physical Inquiry & Somatic Practices series, Margaret teaching Movement Research's on-going contact improvisation foundational class during the month of Oct.
    Thursdays - Oct 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th.
    6:00-8:30pm $14
    MR class cards not applicable.
    Movement Research at Gibney Dance downtown
    280 Broadway, NYC
    UPDATE - due to family emergency, Charlie Mosey will be subbing for Margaret on the 16th, 23rd & 30th.

  • The H-O-T SERIES OF PHILADELPHIA - Sept 2014

    Margaret performs in the H-O-T Series of Philadelphia, a monthly series curated by dance artist Loren Groenendaal and experimental percussionist flandrew fleisenberg that features improvisational dance, music, and other experimental performance from local and touring artists. This episode of the series is also part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
    Musicians:
    -Jack Wright,
    -Bhob Rainey,
    -Andrea Pensado,
    -Morgan Evans-Weiler,
    and flandrew fleisenberg
    Dancers/Movers:
    -Jung-Woong Kim,
    -Marion Ramírez,
    -Margaret Paek,
    -Asimina Chremos,
    -Loren Groenendaal
    Wednesday, September 17th, 2014
    Doors at 7:30, Performance starts at 8:00pm
    |mascher space co-op
    155 Cecil B. Moore Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19122
    $10 at the door, $7 with DancePass|Mascher space co-op|

  • WEST COAST TOUR PREVIEW of "2125 STANLEY STREET" - August 2014

    Preview tour of Margaret's collaboration with choreographer, Dahlia Nayar, and composer, Loren Kiyoshi Dempster, on this evening length work.
    tour dates -
    Tuesday, August 12th, afternoon at the Hammer Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
    Saturday, August 16th at Nichiren Hokke Buddhist Church, San Francisco, CA
    Tuesday, August 19th at Linda Austin's Performance Works NW, Portland, OR
    Wednesday, August 20th at The Chapel, Seattle, WA
    more details HERE
    watch trailer HERE
    Reserve yours seats in advance by emailing dahlia.nayar@gmail.com

  • THE BIG PICTURE at TANZFABRIK, BERLIN, GERMANY - July 2014

    The Big Picture is an intensive performance lab for the experienced performer facilitated by Lower Left. This is an all day performance intensive designed for individuals who are interested in solo body techniques; exploring how that body relates to an ensemble; and unearthing a range of un/conscious potential. It consists of two workshops, a lab, and a workshop showing. The two workshops are available individually. Participation in the lab requires participation in the two workshops also.
    Workshop 1 - Articulating the Solo Body - led by Nina Martin and assisted by Kelly Dalrymple-Wass
    Workshop 2 - Ensemble Thinking: Compositional Kinetics - led by Leslie Scates and Andrew Wass
    Lab 3 - Performance Research Lab (only available for participants of the full intensive) – led by Shelley Senter and Margaret Paek
    Monday-Friday, July 21-25th, 20114
    10:00 – 12:00 Articulating the Solo Body
    12:30 – 15:00 Ensemble Thinking
    17:00 – 20:00 Performance Research
    Tanzfabrik Berlin
    Mockernstr. 68
    D-10965 Berlin
    Germany
    details & prices on Tanzfabrik website

  • CONTACT IMPROVISATION CLASS THROUGH MOVEMENT RESEARCH - May 2014

    Margaret teaching Movement Research's on-going contact improvisation class during the month of May.
    Wednesdays- May 7th, 14th, 21st & 28th
    6:00-8:30pm $14 or class card
    Movement Research at Eden's Expressway
    537 Broadway, 4th floor, NYC

  • THE H-O-T SERIES OF PHILADELPHIA - May 2014

    Margaret performs in the first anniversary performance in the H-O-T Series of Philadelphia, a monthly series curated by dance artist Loren Groenendaal and experimental percussionist flandrew fleisenberg that features improvisational dance, music, and other experimental performance from local and touring artists.
    Musicians:
    -Michael Evans, percussion, NYC
    -Neil Feather, invented instruments, BMore
    -Rosie Langabeer, multi-instrumentalist, PHL
    -Adam Vidiksis, PHL
    and, more TBA!
    Dancers/Movers:
    -Joy Davis, MA
    -Lee Fogel, PHL
    -Susan Hefner, NYC
    -Margaret Paek, NYC
    -Emile Sorger, PHL
    -The Telephone Dance Project (Katie Sopoci Drake, Eliza Larson, Rachel Rugh, Barbara Allie Tait of Mountain Empire)
    Saturday, May 10th, 2014
    Doors at 7:30, Performance starts at 8:00pm
    10:00-11:30 dance, drinks, hang, Color FULL preview
    |mascher space co-op
    155 Cecil B. Moore Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19122
    $10 at the door, $5 with DancePass|Mascher space co-op|
    155 Cecil B. Moore Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19122
    $10 at the door, $5 with DancePass

  • WORKBENCH IN NORTHAMPTON, MA - Feb 2014

    An excerpt of "2125 Staneley Street," choreography by Dahlia Nayar in collaboration with Margaret and Loren Kiyoshi Dempster in this monthly Pioneer Valley dance work-in-progress series. Workbench performances will be followed by a Q&A lead by local artists, and scholars.
    also featuring work by-
    Kelly Silliman/the tinydance project
    Safi Harriott
    Anna Wotring
    Saturday, February 15, 2014
    8:00pm
    Wild Life Sanctuary Studio
    221 Pine St., Florence, MA

  • CONTACT IMPROVISATION CLASS THROUGH MOVEMENT RESEARCH - Sept 2013

    Margaret teaching Movement Research's on-going contact improvisation class during the month of September.
    Wednesdays- Sept 4th, 11th, 18th & 25th
    6:00-8:30pm $14 or class card
    Movement Research at Eden's Expressway
    537 Broadway, 4th floor, NYC

  • 20th SEATTLE FESTIVAL OF DANCE IMPROVISATION - August 2013

    Margaret will be performing in two shows for the 20th SFDI -
    Dance Innovators in Performance
    Thursday, August 1st, 2013, 8 pm, $12
    with Lower Left artists- Shelley Senter, Andrew Wass, Kelly Dalrymple Wass, Nina Martin, and Leslie Scates
    and
    the Closing Night Performance
    Saturday, August 3rd, 2013, 7 pm, free
    with Julie Lebel, June & Leonie, Miriam Colvin, Stuart & Renko Dempster, Loren Dempster & Eleanor Dempster-Paek, Andrew Wass, Kelly Dalrymple Wass & Magdalena Wass, Shelley Senter & Luca Cristo, Nina Martin, Leslie Scates, John, Anna, Ayla & Dakota Dixon.

  • BAX PARENT/CHOREOGRAPHER SPACE GRANT - April to June 2013

    Margaret was awarded a space grant from BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange with support from the Dance Rehearsal Program of the New York State Council on the ARts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Margaret was one of three recipients this year for this pilot program.

  • "MIRRORING PIECE" BY ANNA HALPRIN in CUT/LOG - May 2013

    Margaret will be performing in Anna Halprin's "Mirroring Piece" in the Cut/Log NY art fair 2013 at the Clemente, 107 Suffolk St, NYC.

  • VERMONT PERFORMANCE LAB SHOWING/SHARING - May 18, 2013

    A sharing of "2125 Staneley Street," choreography by Dahlia Nayar in collaboration with Margaret and Loren Kiyoshi Dempster.
    Performance is free!
    Reservations required:
    http://vermontperformancelab.org/events
    Optional post-performance dinner catered by Vermonter Cai's Dim Sum Teahouse, details on the website.
    Saturday, May 18, 2013
    7:00pm
    Broad Brook Grange
    Guilford Center Road
    Guilford, VT

  • MOVEMENT RESEARCH'S OPEN PERFORMANCE - April 17, 2013

    Margaret moderates Movement Research's work-in-process performance series. Artists this week include: Karen Harvey, Kate Kernochan & Lindsay Reuter, Merisha Mesihovic & circuitdebris, and Aya Shibahara.
    Wednesday, April 17, 2013
    8:00pm
    free
    ART/NY South Oxford Space, in the "Great Room"
    138 Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY
    between Atlantic Ave and Fulton St

  • CONTACT IMPROVISATION CLASS THROUGH MOVEMENT RESEARCH - March 2013

    Margaret teaching Movement Research's on-going contact improvisation class during the month of March.
    *new day and time:
    Wednesdays- March 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th
    6:00-8:30pm $14
    Movement Research at Eden's Expressway
    537 Broadway, 4th floor, NYC

  • "RESIDENT ARTISTS: DANCING/FAMILIAR" in FALLS BRIDGE - January 20th, 2013

    A piece created and performed by Margaret Paek, Loren Dempster, Eleanor Dempster-Paek, Marion Ramirez, Jung Woong Kim, Ari Ramirez-Kim & Minkyong Ji
    in this new movement, improvisation, and performance festival presented by Nicole Bindler, Curt Haworth, Mascher Space Coop, Philly PARD, and University of the Arts.
    Sunday Jan 20th 6pm
    $10/ $8
    at Philly PARD
    Philadelphia, PA
    the evening also includes work by:
    -Rebecca Byrant
    -Bethany Formica & Megan Mazarick
    -Curt Haworth, Maxfield Gast, Zach Svoboda, Leanne Grieger & Mike Pietrusko
    -Jenny Sawyer & Lee Fogel
    -Jaamil Kosoko

  • "AVAILABLE SPACE" at FALLS BRIDGE IN PHILADELPHIA - January 19th, 2013

    Real-time choreography by Margaret Paek, Rebecca Bryant, Marion Ramirez, Megan Mazarick, Mason Rosenthal, & Loren Dempster (cello)
    in this new movement, improvisation, and performance festival presented by Nicole Bindler, Curt Haworth, Mascher Space Coop, Philly PARD, and University of the Arts.
    Saturday Jan 19th 8pm
    $10/ $8
    at Mascher Space Coop
    Philadelphia, PA
    the evening also includes work by:
    -Andy Hayleck & Harmonica Semis
    -Bhob Rainey, Curt Haworth & Nicole Bindler
    -Katherine Stark & Marion Ramirez
    -Manfred Fischbeck and Group Motion Company members (Lindsay Browning, Ellie Goudie-Averill, David Konyk and Hedy Wyland)
    -Christina Gesualdi, Annie Wilson & Julius Masri

  • FALLS BRIDGE IN PHILADELPHIA - January 14-20th, 2013

    Featured guest artist, teaching and performing with Rebecca Bryant for this new movement, improvisation, and performance festival presented by Nicole Bindler, Curt Haworth, Mascher Space Coop, Philly PARD, and University of the Arts.
    Solo Improvisation in Contact
    Mon-Fri, Jan 14-18th
    taught by either Paek or Bryant
    1-3pm free
    Ensemble Thinking
    Mon-Fri, Jan 14-18th
    co-taught by Paek and Bryant
    4-7pm free with showing Friday 6-7pm
    both workshops at University of the Arts
    1401 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA

  • CONTACT IMPROVISATION CLASS THROUGH MOVEMENT RESEARCH - December 2012

    Margaret teaching Movement Research's on-going contact improvisation class during the month of December. Jam following class.
    Sundays- Dec 2nd, 9th, 16th
    2:30-4:45pm $14
    Movement Research at Eden's Expressway
    537 Broadway, 4th floor, NYC

  • THE VERMONT PERFORMANCE LAB RESIDENCY - 2012-2013

    Beginning in the fall of 2012, the Vermont Performance Lab will support the development of Dahlia Nayar's new project "2125 Stanley Street." Margaret will collaborate with Dahlia and cellist/composer Loren Kiyoshi Dempster.

  • MODERN GUEST ARTIST SERIES at DNA - Nov 17, 24 & Dec 1, 2012

    As part of Dance New Amsterdam's Modern Guest Artist Series, Margaret will be teaching these three classes.
    Saturdays, Nov 17, 24 & Dec 1
    3:30-5:30pm $17.50/class
    DNA
    280 Broadway (entrance on Chambers St.) NYC

  • "BLUES" CHOREOGRAPHY BY DEBORAH HAY AT MOMA- November 2012

    Margaret will be performing in Deborah Hay's newest piece - "Blues" at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC.

  • DANCE FAMILY GET-TOGETHER at BAX - Sept 30 & Oct 28, 2012

    Dance artists (who happen to also be parents) and their children (any age) are invited to attend either or both of these sessions. Join us for discussion, diversion, and dancing. Let’s foster community, find more ways to support each other, and just spend time together.
    Facilitated by Margaret Paek, Adrienne Westwood (Sept 30) & Anna Azrieli (Oct 28)
    Hosted by BAX.
    Free. Contributions are welcome.

  • "LEVIATHAN" - Sept 23, 2012

    projectLIMB
    A dance journey directed and performed by Gabriel Forestieri from dawn to dusk throughout the length of Manhattan.
    Loren Dempster, Margaret & Eleanor Dempster-Paek perform with Gabriel at 9:30am on the Highline, beginning at the 14th Street entrance.

  • KONTAKT BUDAPEST - July 2012

    The 11th annual international improvisation festival with Lower Left as the guest artists, teaching workshops, labs, and projects in contact improvisation, Ensemble Thinking, and creative research throughout the week.

    "AECORIS" AT KONTAKT BUDAPEST - July 2012
    Lower Left evening-length collaborative choreography with Andrew Wass, Don Nichols (music,) Kelly Dalrymple-Wass, Nina Martin, Rebecca Bryant, Roma Flowers (video) presented in the 11th annual international improvisation festival, Kontakt Budapest.

  • "BLEED: CO/MOTION" AT WHITNEY MUSEUM BIENNIAL - May 2012

    At the invitation of singer Alicia Hall Moran and musician/composer Jason Moran to be a part of their residency, Margaret directed this all-star collaboration with performers and their progeny for the 2012 Whitney Museum Biennial.
    co/motion performers:
    Alicia Hall Moran, Jason Moran, Malcolm and Jonas Moran
    Chisa Hidaka
    Dahlia Nayar and Ruth Susheela
    Emily Moore
    Lanette Costas, Nathaniel Stampley, Ayana and Isaiah Stampley
    Margaret Paek, Loren Dempster and Eleanor Dempster-Paek
    Rosalynde LeBlanc Loo, Rio and Matteo Loo
    Rebecca Bryant
    Stacy Spence and Alexis Argilla-Spence
    Tami Stronach and Maya Steinbruner Stronach
    Tracy Nuñez

  • LOBBY TALKS: DANCING PARENTS - April 2012

    New York Live Arts presents this series of talks. On a panel with Anna Azrieli, Wendy Blum, Marin Sander-Holzman, co-moderated by Chase Granoff and Marya Warshaw for a conversation about creative families.
    April 17th, 7:30pm free
    219 W. 19th Street, NYC