Pillow Lab:
dani tirell

dani tirell

Developmental Residency | January 29-February 9, 2025
Invited Showing | February 8, 2025

tirell will use this Pillow Lab residency to develop a new piece titled The Children Were Never Promised a House on Your Plantation. This work will delve into the experiences of queer, trans, and femme individuals within family structures, examining the roles of women in family history to explore shared experiences and the significance of becoming an elder femme or non-binary caretaker. The movement score will utilize improvisational techniques rooted in African diasporic practices, focusing on matriarchy, the transition into elderhood, and the impact of traditional notions of femininity on family dynamics.

tirrell is a Black, trans spectrum, queer choreographer, dancer, and movement guide. Recipient of the 2019 Seattle Mayor Arts Award, tirrell is the curator for Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas in Seattle, as well as the host and co-creator of online talk programs Sunday Dinner, The Living Room, and Intimate Conversations. Formerly the Artistic Director of Dance Place in Washington, D.C., and currently the founder and Artistic Director of the movement/art group The Congregation, tirrell has taught at Northwest Tap Connection and University of Washington’s Seattle and Bothell campuses. tirrell has created work for Dance This (Northwest Tap Connection), Strictly Seattle (advance/professional track), Seattle Repertory Theater, and Nina Simone Four Women (directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton).