ABOUT

Mission

Mich-Mash is a dance production company presenting the work of Micheline Heal and her collaborators. The company strives to examine the human experience through the lens of dance, resulting in works whose flavors range from theatrical to experimental. To bring these artistic visions to life, the company works collectively to generate choreography, collaborates regularly with artists in other mediums, and integrates projected multimedia into the final presentation. The end result is technologically-augmented dance theater.

History

In the short time since its inception in 2011, Mich-Mash Productions has produced two evening length dance concerts in addition to performances at venues in the DC Metro Area. Following its inaugural performances at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, produced by the Taffety Punk Theatre Company, the company received an Artist Grant furnished by Ford Motors from the Pink Line Project for a multimedia installation at Arena Stage for the DC WEEK Closing Party, the culminating event for a city-wide technology conference. The installation, titled “Spectroscopy”, was selected by Art Soiree to be featured in Winter Wonderland, an event honoring women in the arts. Shortly afterwards Mich-Mash took the stage at the Jack Guidone Theater with their evening length concert “YC2″, featuring choreography by Artistic Director Micheline Heal, Matina Phillips, and Elizabeth Odell. Their following concert, “Open Rehearsal”, at Studio 1469 featured choreography by Margaret Allen, Kathy Gordon, Micheline Heal, Elizabeth Odell, Ryan Tumulty, & Katie Vaught.  This past summer the company was presented at Stages of Healing, a performance series at the Walter Reed National Naval Medical Center, in a season that includes the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.

Mich-Mash relocated to Brooklyn, NY in September 2012.

Structure

Mich-Mash currently functions on a project-by-project basis. This company structure was developed in response to increasing fiscal constraints in the dance world. Because many dancers working at the professional level can no longer be paid a full-time wage, they must seek other work, often cobbling together multiple jobs to make ends meet. Until the company can offer full-time positions, the structure addresses this issue by developing work over an extended period of time and focusing attention on one project at a time.

The company is currently moving towards offering regular part-time employment. If you are interested in contributing to the Dancer’s Fund please click here.

About Micheline Heal

Micheline Heal is a contemporary dance choreographer & multimedia artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work falls into two categories: abstract vocabulary (explorations of movement with physical constraints or augmentation) and choreoplays (dance-theater pieces with a strong central narrative arc). Her rehearsal process is extremely collaborative and she works regularly with artists in other mediums to bring her artistic visions to life. Having trained with a traditional Chinese dance troupe for ten years, her unique movement vocabulary seamlessly blends the contemporary and the traditional. She received a 2011 Young Artist Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and in 2010 was a resident artist at the Firkin Crane in Cork, Ireland (selected alongside Kyle Abraham). For more information and additional work samples, please visit www.michelineheal.com.