Histories for an Apocalypse

Inspired by science fiction author, Octavia Butler’s works, Histories for an Apocalypse is a near future dystopia. In response to climate catastrophe and the current administration’s new arms race of nuclear armament, this work explores an imagined post-apocalyptic realm, but one that is not without hope. This work is based on an imagined but not impossible reality. A box city of lost resources becomes a promise for a new generation. Part surrealism, part near-future, part auto-ethnography, the dancers unite their disparate histories to find hope and possibility in a dystopic world.

Feb. 2018, Winterdances: Transit, Jan Serr Studio, Mitchell Hall, Milwaukee


CHOREOGRAPHY + DIRECTION: Maria Gillespie

PERFORMANCE: Amanda Laabs, Rosa Mohan, Tisiphani Mayfield, Haley Moore, Ariana Northway, Annie Peterson, Maddie Prokop, and guest artist Gina Laurenzi

LIGHTING DESIGN: Ellie Rabinowitz

SET DESIGN + CONCEPT: Maria Gillespie, Mischa Premeau, Jay Carlon

MUSIC: Svarte Greiner, Johann Johannsson, DrakhaBrakha, Lakker, Lusine

SOUND DESIGN + EDITING: Maria Gillespie, Andy Miller


COSTUMES: Maria Gillespie, Dana Rochester


TEXT FROM: Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy from University of Virginia Miller Center


INTERVIEWS WITH FAMILY CAST MEMBERS: Henry Hamilton, Harvey John Kowalke, Mildred Wahner



PERFORMANCE DOCUMENTATION/VIDEO: David Overbeck, Korporate Media