MORE ABOUT THE WORK

About the work:

in collaboration with performers: Alethea Alexander, Leah Crosby, Leo Othón, Ben Swenson-Klatt , The Pile-Up residency maps the space taken by car culture in the landscapes of cities and the psyches of its citizens. Within Freeway Park, a wildlife crossing for humans bridging the arteries of I-5, we will personify the Motordom and become infected by road rage, congestion, and car-brain; the symptoms that drive us Car Sick. 

About Heap Troupe: 

Heap Troupe is a Seattle-based interdisciplinary performance troupe that has been creating site-specific and interactive performances since 2019. Heap uses play and experimental theatrics to celebrate abundance, while critiquing overconsumption. Inside the fantasy worlds they build, Heap queers reductive ideas on bodily autonomy by drawing parallels between humans and objects; bicycles, ladders, oranges, etc. This collaborative project is directed by movement artist Kara Beadle, in collaboration with musician and handyman extraordinaire Andy Zacek, and several rotating artists. Kara’s choreographic process uses character building tools from role-playing games and structured improvisation, gearing their aesthetic to be easily approachable to non-dancers, using humor and props to stimulate empathy. Andy uses parts, hardware, trash and junk to create the sets and costuming to further develop the fantasy worlds that these characters inhabit.

Heap has performed in On The Boards Spectacle Spectacular, Next Fest Northwest: Rupture/Reverence, Texas Dance Improvisation Festival, Co’s Show 5, Space Station Dance Residency in St. Lewis, the Walk Don’t Run Art Marathon, Georgetown’s Art Attack, The Shed’s Freeform Residency Showing, The Flight Deck Residency Showing, 18th and Union’s Portable Performance Festival, Velocity Dance Center’s Fall Kick-off: Portals, Launch, TakePause, and The Seattle International Dance Festival.