FOLK is the movement of the present that binds us.
A working class anthem, ballad, lullaby..
archival + future-making.
A quilt in progress / a group effort
Unifying in cacophony
Mobilizing, effortful and true.
Four dancers, two musicians and an audience study themselves and each other to identify what's working, what's not, and where we all go from here.
movement research + performance
tuli bera, isabella limosnero, ali lorenz, chrissy martin, kara brody (2024)
sound development + performance
haruhi kobayashi, scott rubin
composition + direction
amanda maraist
vocal contributions from all collaborators, michael macdonald, and the Dixon Wetlands frogs at Skokie River Nature Preserve
text lovingly collaged from the brilliant minds of Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Woody Guthrie, Ted Lucas, Randy Martin, Chaepter Negro, Rising Appalachia, and Florence Shaw.
supported by a 2024 Links Hall Co-MISSION Residency, a 2025 residency at the Ragdale Foundation, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, a 2025 Synapse Arts New Works residency, and a 2027 residency at Moulin Belle in Perigord, France.
performances >
June 29, 2025 | Co-MISSION Festival of New Works at Links Hall (Chicago)
June 18, 2025 | Co-MISSION Festival of New Works at Links Hall (Chicago)
June 7, 2025 | Synapse New Works at Lincoln Park Cultural Center (Chicago)
May 5, 2025 | work-in-progress at Ragdale Foundation (Lake Forest, IL)
December 13, 2024 | Co-MISSION work-in-progress at Links Hall (Chicago)
related press >
NewCity, Last Dance : An Elegy for Links Hall by Sharon Hoyer
NewCity, Dance Top 5 : June 2025 by Sharon Hoyer
WBEZ Chicago, Where will Chicago dance go now that Links Hall is closing? by Courtney Kueppers
See Chicago Dance, Shows You Gotta See… and more by Tristan Bruns
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tuli bera
Tuli Bera is a Chicago-based performer, choreographer, producer, and dance educator. Their artistic voice is an emulsion of their technical prowess and honest expression of identity. Since moving to Chicago in 2016, they have committed to creating public experiences that foster authentic self-exploration. Bera is informed by various styles of dance, which have led them to feel most comfortable as an improviser. They lead with curiosity and lean into transforming as they navigate through, collaborate, and create within the Chicago arts landscape. To learn more about Tuli, you can visit their website: www.tuli.space
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haruhi kobayashi
Haruhi Kobayashi is a Chicago-based sound artist and vocal performer from Tokyo. Originally a J-pop singer-songwriter, she now explores the themes of identity, tradition, love, fear, and humanity while seeking to liberate sound from its fixed meanings. Her work intersects experimental pop, classical composition and avant-garde songwriting through voice, bass, and electronics. She invites audiences to engage with both familiar and unexpected sonic textures. She is currently a High Concept Labs Artist in Residence.
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isabella limosnero
From Ohlone land known as Gilroy, CA, Isabella Limosnero (they/them) works as a GYROTONIC® instructor and freelance multidisciplinary artist, using dance as their primary medium. Since moving to Potawatomi; Kickapoo; Myaamia; Očhéthi Šakówiŋ; and Peoria land, known as Chicago in 2021, Limosnero has had the privilege to work with Project Bound, Momentum Sensorium, LittleFire Artist Collective, House of Dov and was Khecari’s Resource Share Resident in 2023.
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ali lorenz
Ali Lorenz (they/she) is a transdisciplinary artist person based in Chicago. Originally from the PNW, their experimental + task-based work has been presented by Queer Spectra Arts Festival, Short Stack Film Festival, We Are Collective, and Deseret Experimental Opera. Ali works as a company member with Project Bound Dance in addition to being an independent/freelance artist. They hold a BFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah and have almost 50 houseplants.
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chrissy martin
Chrissy Martin is a transdisciplinary performance artist and educator with roots in contemporary dance forms, contact improvisation, Afro-Caribbean dance, postmodern experimental music, vocal jazz, and physical theater. Chrissy blends these forms to rigorously examine her intersecting queer and neurodivergent identities. Martin is an avid member of the global contact improvisation community and has facilitated and taught workshops across the Midwest. Chrissy’s integrated movement style is deeply informed by a lifelong somatic practice. She has taught dance and somatics at Cleveland State University, Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University, and is currently an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University.
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scott rubin
Scott Rubin is Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and improvising violist whose work interrogates relationships between sound and movement through analog and digital means. His recent projects have involved collaborations with musicians and dancers, often incorporating interactive acoustic/electronic improvisation, expanded performance practices, motion-sensing data, and live video. In these projects, he engages themes of intimacy, control, and the sublime.
special thanks to Kioto Aoki, Kara Brody, Crystle Dino, Fabulous Freddie, Sharon Hoyer, Ysaye McKeever, and Kinnari Vora for their generous contributions to the research; to Meida McNeal and La Mar Brown for their thoughtful mentorship; to Links Hall, Synapse Arts, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and Ragdale Foundation for their meaningful support; to Ali Lorenz, Chrissy Martin, Sharon Udoh and Chien-An Yuan for their fundraising labor, the 75 friends who energized this work with their dollars; and to the late Randy Martin for his work articulating the deep connection between dance and politics.
