REVIEW: MARTHAGANY@PHILADELPHIA'S KYLD INHALE PERFORMANCE SERIES by Jesse Factor

Closing out the evening was Jesse Factor’s Marthagany: The Spectre-Acle which left me speechless in the way it not only subverted my expectations but then subverted the expectations set by the initial subversion. It rode the line between tribute for and a parody of the late Martha Graham, beginning as a nearly identical recreation of her Lamentation before morphing into a bombastic lip sync performance, and again into a striptease. However, through all the insanity, Factor’s physique and technique shone through making it not only an effective piece of theatrical comedy but also a kinesthetically enrapturing work of dance. It left the audience in an uproar and was the perfect finale to the evening.

Copyright - The Dance Journal: An Eclectic Array of Works at KYLD’s InHale Performance Series https://philadelphiadance.org/dancejournal/2019/03/03/an-eclectic-array-of-works-at-kylds-inhale-performance-series/

Marthagany @ PHILADELPHIA’s KYLD INHALE PERFORMANCE SERIES (image: Mike Hurwitz)

Marthagany @ PHILADELPHIA’s KYLD INHALE PERFORMANCE SERIES (image: Mike Hurwitz)


Factor’s physique and technique shone through making it not only an effective piece of theatrical comedy but also a kinesthetically enrapturing work of dance. It left the audience in an uproar and was the perfect finale to the evening.
— Winfield Maben, philadelpjhiadance.org

SPRING 2019 by Jesse Factor

MAY 2019

“Marthagany” Headlines Fierce Queer Arts Festival in Columbus, OH

APRIL 2019

“Celebration” Joyce Theatre, Martha Graham University Partners Showcase

“Mommie Queerest” 2.0 at Kaleidscope Arts Festival, Slippery Rock, PA

MARCH 2019

“RELIC” 3.0 Premiere at Midwest RADFEST

Guest Artist, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA

Guest Artist, Western Michigan University, Kalamazzo MI

“Marthagany” at InHale Performance Series Philadelphia, PA

FEBRUARY 2019

“Celebration” (Martha Graham, Regissuer) at Slippery Rock University Dance Theater Winter Concert

JANUARY 2019

Winter Intensive: Technique and Repertory, Martha Graham School

FALL 2018 by Jesse Factor

DECEMBER 2018

Winter Intensive: Technique and Repertory, Martha Graham School

NOVEMBER 2018

Restaging: Martha Graham’s “Celebration” at Slippery Rock University

OCTOBER 2018

Dancing Through College and Beyond-Hunter College

RELIC 2.0 premiere at the Slippery Rock University Faculty/Guest Artist Concert

MOMMIE QUEEREST ACCOLADES by Jesse Factor

MOMMIE QUEEREST was honored by the ACDA NORTH-CENTRAL CONFERENCE as 1st Alternate for the 2018 Kennedy Center Concert. Adjudicators Melonie Buchanan Murray, Gus Solomons, Jr., and Tanya Calamoneri remarked on the unique strangeness of the the piece, choreographic skill, and exceptional performance. Solomons commented that the piece "maintains dramatic tension without histrionics" and praised the performance as "amazing." 

For the Gala selection, the adjudicators described the piece as such:

Stunning, gender-bending performance that embodies iconic modern dance and film personas with an acid tongue in cheek (to humorously profound effect).

SUMMER 2018 by Jesse Factor

JUNE/JULY 2018

Martha Graham School: Teaching Composition and Technique

ELEGIES with Lauren Newman and Xiao Chuan Xie at St. Marks Church in the Bowery Sunday Special Series

MARTHAGANY at Blunderland Variety Show/House of Yes

 

MAY/JUNE 2018

CAMELOT (Choreographer) at New London Barn Playhouse

 

SPRING 2018 by Jesse Factor

MAY 2018

MARTHAGANY at Fierce Queer Burlesque, Toronto, CA

APRIL 2018

MARTHAGANY: ALL YOU CAN EAT at Flyover Festival

MARCH 2018

MOMMIE QUEEREST at ACDA North Central (Gala Selection) UW-Madison, WI

REVENANT MFA THESIS, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

FEBRUARY 2018

MARTHAGANY: THE SPECTRE-ACLE, OUTsider Festival, Austin TX

JANUARY 2018

Teaching Repertory, Martha Graham School

FALL/WINTER 2017 by Jesse Factor

DECEMBER 2017

Teaching Beginning Technique and Repertory, Martha Graham School, NYC

Marthagany 2.0 Work-In-Progress Showing, Iowa City

NOVEMBER 2017

Guest Teacher, The University of Iowa Youth Ballet

Dance Studies Association Conference, University of Ohio, Columbus, OH

OCTOBER 2017

Guest Choreographer, Maidenhead, Harvard Ballet Company, Cambridge, MA

SEPTEMBER 2017

Kween Kong at Harvest Contemporary Dance Festival, Ruth Page Center, Chicago, IL

AUGUST 2017

Marthagany at the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Boston MA

Teaching Beginning Technique at the Martha Graham School, NYC

 

FORGE SUMMER DANCE INTENSIVE AT SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY by Jesse Factor

Delighted to be invited to teach at the FORGE Summer Dance Intensive by Lindsay Fisher Viatori. Held at Slippery Rock University, I introduced undergraduate and pre-college dancers to the Graham technique, restaged selections from CATS, and collaborated on a new group piece, Tracing 1.0.

Read an article about my involvement here: http://www.sru.edu/news/072517b-x28724

Technique Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWV_aGn_Drw&feature=youtu.be

CATS restaging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR3qkxKWNrc&feature=youtu.be

Tracing 1.0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsHaqru2fCI&feature=youtu.be

(ACDA) American College Dance Association @ Wichita State University by Jesse Factor

Marthagany: The Spectre-Acle garnered a standing ovation at the ACDA informal concert on Friday, March 31st, to my delight. I love continuing to perform this work and learning more about what I made and how viewers experience it. 

I also taught a class on Graham's fall on 10 counts, in which I incorporated Ellen Graff's When your Heart Falls: The Drama of Descent in the Martha Graham's technique and theater. A packed class quickly learned the sitting fall, standing fall, and a short phrase from 1936's "Celebration" incorporating elements of this particular fall. The students in the class were so phenomenal, committing fully to big dancing and taking risks. I left inspired and renewed.

(ISTA) International Schools Theatre Association Festival @ Atlanta International School by Jesse Factor

I served as a teaching artist for four days of ensemble-based learning around the theme of civil rights for High School students from Atlanta International Schoo (GA)l, Santa Margarita High School (CA), Hillel Academy (Jamaica), and WAM theater (MA). A visit to the stunning civil rights museum helped us hold current events against history, and allowed for profound and moving reflection. I worked with my ensemble on simple mirror and unison techniques, which we developed into more complex variations. I see the value of this work as creating physical learning opportunities for leading and following within the group, as well as maintaining one's agency. We devised two short studies, built from material we created in response to our museum visit. I learned so much from working with my ensemble and the wonderful teachers and guest artists ISTA brings together. The beautiful work generated by the students gives me hope for the future of this planet. 

2016 YEAR IN REVIEW by Jesse Factor

2016

Mommie Queerest Creative Research on the Aesthetics of Camp

Re-staging Martha Graham's Ritual to the Sun for the University of Iowa Dance Gala 2017

Duet/Phasing with Lauren Newman and XiaoChuan Xie at Socrates Sculpture Garden

Brigadoon at New London Barn Playhouse (Best Choreography Nomination: New Hampshire Theater Awards)

Ent/Her

International Beauty Secrets with Waedao Sirisook

No/Body Any/Body

Marthagany: The Spectre-Acle

Pret A Acheter 

 

Dance Gala 2016: University of Iowa by Jesse Factor

Serving as Regisseur for the Martha Graham Center, I worked with University of Iowa undergraduate and graduate dance students on Helios: Ritual to the Sun from Martha Graham's Acts of Light. This process involved training the dancers in the Graham technique, contextualizing the work within the broader scope of the Graham canon and American modern dance, as well as coaching the dancers on the unique demands required to perform this work. It was an honor to serve both the Graham Center and the University of Iowa and to bring this dance back to life in new bodies! 

Photo: Bill Adams // Dancers: Benton Happel and Lauren Vasilakos, University of Iowa Undergraduates // Venue: Hancher Auditorium

Photo: Bill Adams // Dancers: Benton Happel and Lauren Vasilakos, University of Iowa Undergraduates // Venue: Hancher Auditorium