Photo by John Paul Hennessy
How does a unique and temporary culture appear, evolve, unfold, and expire onstage? In his first evening-length solo, Will Rawls explores the idiosyncratic origins of movement, sound and language to see how these expressions formulate larger patterns of perception, meaning and storytelling. The World Premiere of Census puts physical languages in dialogue, creating new forms of folkloric expression based on nature, identity, playfulness, and misinterpretation. Named as one of the best dancers of 2008 by The New York Times, Will Rawls choreographs from the confluence of letter, body, and culture.
“Tall, long-limbed Rawls gives this kind of fluent-bodied, get-down dancing a dynamic richness and sensuous elegance that just about stops my heart.” — Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice
“Will Rawls, an elegant, captivating dancer, who is worth watching no matter what he is doing…” — Claudia La Rocco, The New York Times
About the Artists
Named as one of the best dancers of 2008 by The New York Times, Will Rawls is an independent choreographer and performer investigating the confluence of the letter, the body and misinterpretation through choreographic means. He is a graduate of the Art History program at Williams College and was a 2008 danceWEB Europe scholarship recipient for ImPulsTanz in Vienna. Since 2006, Rawls has collaborated with Kennis Hawkins as the performance duo, Dance Gang. Rawls is a 2009-2010 Studio Series artist at Dance Theater Workshop and will set a new dance on the Barnard College students for the Barnard Project at DTW, premiering in December in Fall 2010. Rawls is a contributing writer for Movement Research Performance Journal and joined the Movement Research Board of Directors in 2009.