Place Without a Name | Name Without A Place (2022)

Choreographed in collaboration with the advanced senior modern dance class at Radford University, and set to haunting music by local Blacksburg band Eight Point Star, this work explored queer/femme Appalachian identities and the tension between being held safe by the rich history and tradition within a community and feeling othered by that same community.

 

Look at Me When I’m Talking to You (2019)

This work, developed in collaboration with Radford University undergraduate students, dealt with dancers’ #metoo experiences of crossed physical boundaries woven together with Greek choral imagery and text from Anne Carson’s An Oresteia. I collaborated with Virginia Tech percussion faculty Annie Stevens to create an original musical score, and later presented an expanded version of the work at the VT Gender, Bodies and Technology conference in Roanoke, VA. I also used the process as an opportunity for reflection on trauma-informed pedagogy, and presented my findings at the National Dance Education Organization annual conference. 

What Bends (2017)

What Bends, my MFA thesis concert, was a collaborative performance incorporating 360° video projection, live spatial audio musical performance, multiple dancers, motion sensing technology, and live processed spoken poetry.  The piece premiered at Virginia Tech's Moss Center, and was made possible through the university's Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology, as well as a Graduate Research Grant through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  I collaborated with Virginia Tech faculty Charles Nichols (music composition, electric violin, spatialized audio); Erika Meitner (text, vocal performance); and Zach Duer (immersive environment specialist, motion capture, projection mapping). Dancers were myself, Katy Gaines, Eric Mullis and Barbara Tait. 

Rapid Eye Movement (2016)

Premiered in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's summer Dancemakers concert.  This piece was created over a period of roughly six weeks during my summer MFA residency in Milwaukee.  The dancers and I engaged in dream journaling over the course of the process to create movement phrasework and an original soundscore.  *This piece was chosen to appear in the 2016 adjudicated concert of the American College Dance Association North-Central Conference. It was ultimately selected by the adjudicators to appear in the conference's final gala performance.  

Salt Marsh Suite (2014-2015)

Since 2014, I have been a collaborative partner in the Virginia Tech Institute of Creativity, Arts and Technology's Salt Marsh Suite, a multimedia installation/performance piece highlighting the beauty and complexity of coastal wetlands in eastern North Carolina. This unique project blends quantitative data with creative process and brings an innovative team of Virginia Tech scientists, researchers and artists together to inspire the public to learn more about protecting fragile ecosystems.  Since its premiere at Virginia Tech in 2014, the work has toured to Roanoke’s Taubman Art Museum, the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, and most recently was performed at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. Collaborators include: 

The cross college and multidisciplinary team includes: Carol Burch Brown (project director), Ann Kilkelly (performance), Joan Grossman (video editing), Thomas Tucker (laser scanning and animation), Tohm Judson (original music composition), Rachel Grant Rugh (choreography), Danah Bella (choreography), and Dongsoo Choi (photography and laser scanning). 

The Marshmallow Test (2013)

Read the Stance interview with the HOT MESS choreographers here: http://velocitydancecenter.org/stance/2013/hot-mess-the-interview/

I found this show to be an opportunity to synthesize a lot of the themes that I’ve been marinating on throughout the duration of my time in Seattle: I have been working as a Montessori teacher for several years, and wanted to make a dance that physically explored early childhood development and sourced movement from the dancers’ memories and experiences but was NOT a dance where adults pretend to be children.  I’ve also been very interested in creating sound/music for dance, and this piece gave me an opportunity to create my most complex soundscore to date.

Choreography: Rachel Grant Original Sound Score: Rachel Grant Additional Music: Tennessee Ernie Ford, Woody Guthrie Dancers: Jacqueline-Louise Brock, Rachel Grant, Ryan Mather, Annie McGhee, Lylli Srygley-Meredith, Dallas Williams Lighting: Amiya Brown Performed at STITCH Friday June 1st, 2012 Recorded by Joseph Lambert - JazzyPhoto.com

Hail Mary for the Millennials (2012)

First performed at Velocity Dance Center, Seattle WA, January 2012.  This piece was made possible through the Bridge Project space residency at Velocity, presented to four local emerging choreographers each year.  Hail Mary was also shown as part of the Seattle International Dance Festival's adjudicated showcase of local artists, Spotlight on Seattle.

In its initial form, the dance began as a meditation on the themes of occupation and demonstration.  Over the course of the residency, it evolved into a good luck prayer (a "Hail Mary" of sorts) for those in my generation who've faced joblessness, debt and general uncertainty about the future.  We played with the juxtapositions of frustration and delight; powerlessness and lightheartedness, the absolute necessity of actively pursuing beauty in difficult times.

Sanctuary Choreography: Rachel Grant & Annie McGhee Music: John Feith's Bird Song Ear Training Guide; Digable Planets Sound editing/arrangement: Rachel Grant Costumes: Stefanie Karlin Carpentry Support: Jonathan Rugh Dancers: Alicia Pugh, Amy Ross, Dallas Williams, Kaitlin McCarthy, Laura Aschoff, Lylli Srygley-Meredith, Sarah Nelson Filmed by Joseph Lambert & Chris Stow Edited by Joseph Lambert / JazzyPhoto.com Performed at Full Tilt 2012 in Velocity Dance Center

Sanctuary (2012)

A collaborative project with Annie McGhee, premiered as part of Full Tilt 2012, an annual local choreographer's showcase commissioned by Evoke Productions in Seattle.  Part physical comedy, part bird behavior study, this is a blending of Annie's and my current interests.  I created the original sound score using a birdwatching CD.