Pillow Lab:
Sonya Tayeh and Jenn Freeman

Pillow Lab:
Sonya Tayeh and Jenn Freeman

Residency: November 2-13, 2022
Showing: November 12, 2022

Is It Thursday Yet? is a stimulating hybrid of theatricality and clinical analysis, a solo dance work with live musical accompaniment exploring autistic choreographer and dancer Jenn Freeman’s neurodivergent brain in motion. Diagnosed in her adulthood at age 33, Freeman’s work seeks to foster the understanding of autism for herself and others. Directed by Tony Award® winner Sonya Tayeh, Is It Thursday Yet? will be scored with original live music from renowned U.S. musician Holland Andrews and utilizes recordings from Freeman’s autism diagnosis sessions, with accompanying vocals, clarinet, drums and electronic music elements. Embracing child-like surrealism, the work in development will include vibrant, colorful, and tactile scenic design by Tony Award® winner Rachel Hauck is inspired by Freeman’s sensory sensitivities to texture, color, light, and sound. Projected footage from her childhood along with clinical information will undergo digital re-imaging and will be woven into the story serving as a narrative.

Freeman is an American choreographer, dance performer, and educator based in New York City. Most recently Freeman premiered a new work at The Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur. This year she was commissioned to create a new work for the Martha Graham Dance Company. In 2018 Freeman self-produced and choreographed/directed Freemove Dance’s debut evening-length work, …it’s time… at the Theater at The 14th St Y. After a sold-out run the show was invited back for a second run in 2019. Freeman’s choreography has been commissioned by Marymount Manhattan College, Wayne State University, BYU, and The University of Texas at Austin. Her work has also been presented at The Kaatsbaan Summer Festival, The Reverb Dance Festival, and The McCallum Theater Choreography Festival (Finalist). For over a decade Jenn has worked as Sonya Tayeh’s associate and resident choreographer in the development of pieces for The Gibney Company, American Ballet Theatre, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Guggenheim Works & Process, LA Ballet, The Juilliard School, and Cirque du Soleil. Professionally, Jenn has danced in works by choreographers Sonya Tayeh, Kyle Abraham, Larry Keigwin, Charlotte Boye-Christensen (NOW-ID), and many others.

Tayeh is a New York City based Tony® Award-winning choreographer and director. Since paving her professional career, her work has been characterized as a blend of powerful versatility and theatrical range. Selected credits include: Moulin Rouge! Broadway, Australia, UK, Tour (Hirschfeld Theatre/Dir Alex Timbers), Sing Street Broadway (Lyceum Theatre/Dir Rebecca Taichman), Martha Graham Dance Company (Joyce Theatre/Tour), American Ballet Theatre/What Becomes of Love Film, Unveiling with Moses and dancers (Fall For Dance/City Center), Rent Live! (Fox Network/Dir Michael Grief and Alex Rudzinski), The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova/Dir. Anne Kauffman), Face the Torrent for Malpaso Dance Co. (commissioned by The Music Center/LA), You’ll Still Call Me By Name (commissioned by New York Live Arts and Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival), Martha Graham Dance Company’s Lamentation Variation Series (Joyce Theatre), Hundred Days (New York Theatre Workshop/Dir. Anne Kauffman), The Skin Of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience/Dir. Arin Arbus), Andrew Lippas’ The Wild Party (City Center Encores!/Dir. Leigh Silverman), and Kung Fu (Signature Theatre/Dir. Leigh Silverman).

Watch Sonya Tayeh on Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive:

• you’ll still call me by name from 2018