At the intersection of community, inquiry, and choreographic invention lies Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup’s Moving Memory Project—a model for process-driven performance with social resonance. The project returns to NYC with two back-to-back evenings: DEA x DEA (June 6) and Moving Memory: NEXT GENERATION (June 7) at Broadway Presbyterian Church. Tickets are “pay as you wish” and available through RSVP.
A Decade of Research in Motion
Led by founder Stefanie Nelson, whose curatorial efforts span Lincoln Center to Motore 592 in Italy, SNDG has cultivated a global conversation on movement as memory. With DEA x DEA, co-created with internationally acclaimed choreographer Maya Orchin, the group channels years of solo, duet, and ensemble development into an evening-length piece that critiques societal coding of identity through dance. Using Bontempelli’s Nostra Dea as conceptual anchor, Nelson and Orchin interrogate the fluidity of identity and the constraints of image through symbolism and stagecraft.
The piece features dancers Tricia Dietrick, Paige Doku, and Noah Meteau, with a moody, genre-defying score by Sky White Tiger and costuming by scenographer Ting Huang. Every element—from the pendulum motif to the cyclical choreography—works in concert to explore the instability of form and gendered expectation.
Mentorship Meets Momentum: NEXT GENERATION
The following evening shifts focus to emerging creators mentored through the Dance Italia network and curated by Nelson. Moving Memory: NEXT GENERATION is a proving ground for future leaders in dance innovation. Among them:
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Idea Reid, a Barnard College graduate, performs in collaboration with Marjani Forté-Saunders, bridging generational insight in a piece inspired by Kara Walker and Frantz Fanon.
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Nunzia Picciallo, recipient of multiple international dance awards, challenges structural embodiment in WAMI, pushing the solo form into powerful new territory.
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Anna Rice, an Indiana University-trained artist, premieres smeard, an ensemble-driven work exploring the subconscious through sound and gesture.
For aspiring artists and educators, this series exemplifies what’s possible when performance is approached not just as a product, but as a platform—for mentorship, experimentation, and storytelling. The Moving Memory Project doesn’t just present work. It cultivates voices, deepens practices, and keeps choreography alive as a cultural document of our time.