SPLICE Festival VII 2026 Concert 3 Program
Friday March 6, 2026
7:00pm EDT
Bright Theater, Colby College
Produced by Colby College Department of Music with the Department of Performance, Theater, and Dance, Colby Arts Office
All times are Eastern Time and various events will be streamed live.
BEEP : SHIFT
BEEP
Daniil Zakirzyanov, dancer
Nora Gibson, visualist
Molly W. Schenck : Embodied Disbelief
Molly W. Schenck, dance
Butch Rovan : of the survival of images
Butch Rovan, instrument design, video and sound
Ami Shulman, movement
Robin Oxley-Luyster : Little Things That Happen
April Levy, Esme Erdos, Lulu Damon Dong, Halle Puchalski, dance
Sangeeth Kumaski : ALL BORN THE TIDE
Hannah Kumaski, dance
Jaehoon Choi : Brushing Improvisation – N°2
Jaehoon Choi, tablet
Summer Dregs : What You Want
Ariel Rivka Dance:
Ariel Grossman, choreographer
Abriona Cherry, Asia Bonilla, Casie Marie O'Kane, Hana Ginsburg Tirosh,
Sienna Hamilton-Thibert, Kristin Licata, Gabrielle Marino, Kalyan Sayre, dance
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Notes
BEEP : SHIFT
SHIFT consists of layered projections of human-programmed visuals to accompany live movement and sound. This process involves volumetric motion capture of the dancer. A point cloud representing every x,y,z coordinate of the surface of the dancer’s body in space is rendered through custom programming. AI-generated visuals are integrated to complete the contextual world for the dancer and his point cloud likeness, representing the shift from real, to representation, to abstraction.
This project was funded by a Vice Provost for the Arts Grant and Dean’s grant from the Center for Performing and Cinematic Arts, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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Molly W. Schenck : Embodied Disbelief
Embodied Disbelief is a solo performance investigating the body’s struggle to reconcile what it knows with what it feels. The work traces the moments when reality becomes too much or too good, when the body refuses to believe its own sensations.
Through movement and live sound interaction using a Makey Makey system, each step activates fragments of sound that echo, distort, or fall silent, reflecting the body’s uncertain grasp on the present. The piece unfolds as a negotiation between numbness and awe, stillness and surrender.
Embodied Disbelief invites audiences into the fragile space between knowing and feeling, a space where integration becomes both an act of courage and an act of grace.
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Butch Rovan : of the survival of images
for custom GLOBE controller, video and sound
We shall never reach the past unless we place ourselves within it. Essentially virtual, it cannot be known as something past unless we follow and adopt the movement by which it expands into a present image, thus emerging from obscurity into the light of day.
–Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory.
of the survival of images belongs to a larger ongoing work for music, video, and the moving body, called Studies in Movement. It draws inspiration from Henri Bergson, whose meditations on time, matter, and memory offer a philosophical framework for the multimedia experience. The piece features the GLOBE, my custom wireless music controller, an instrument I designed to capture performance gestures in order to control real-time synthesis and video. The video footage presents the image of my longtime collaborator, the South African dancer Ami Shulman. Together, my performance onstage and her performance onscreen form a visual counterpoint that draws out, in sensory form, the ideas contained in Bergson’s text.
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Robin Oxley-Luyster : Little Things That Happen
This piece is about finding community through the hardships of life. It centers specifically around the choreographers' more recent lived experiences, which the performers embody. There is a wide range of events that the piece covers, but within it are allusions to a car accident, a concussion, friendship, and spilled tea. Though the work is about adversity, there is an emphasis on connection between the performers. Through physically leaning on and sharing weight with each other, they are demonstrating the importance of having a community to turn to for support. The process was highly collaborative, with much of the movement generated by the performers, creating an open environment that fostered the development of true connection.
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Sangeeth Kumaski : ALL BORN THE TIDE
Choreography and Performance by Hannah Kumaski. Original Music by Sangeeth Kumaski.
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Jaehoon Choi : *Brushing Improvisation – N°2
Brushing Improvisation – N°2 is a semi-composed improvisation that translates the brush’s material subtleties into sound and explores its cultural perception as a foundation for musical form. The piece utilizes the Brushing Interface, a self-made musical instrument that captures the sound and movements of brushing gestures in real-time. The formulation of the piece came from my deep inter-relation with the instrument as a maker and performer, which my body acts as a central role in this creative process.
This piece emphasizes the translation of the brush’s material subtleties and gestures into sonic expression through specific mediated technologies. Also, it explores the cultural perception of the brush, employing it as a structural element for musical improvisation. This dual focus fosters a seamless integration of theatricality, gestural performance, and the interplay between composition and improvisation. This piece was commissioned by and premiered at La Biennale di Venezia 2023 - 67th International Festival of Contemporary Music.
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Summer Dregs : What You Want
When we are left alone with our truth, what is it that we want? What is stopping us from going after those goals? Emerging from isolation, we have started to uncover the layered identities and imposed vs. chosen selves that have been informing our lives.
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Bios
BEEP, the Boyer College Electroacoustic Ensemble Project at Temple University, was founded in 2013 by Dr. Adam Vidiksis. As a trailblazing group specializing in electroacoustic music creation, BEEP thrives in a collaborative environment, embracing diverse musical aesthetics from electronic dance music to abstract classical compositions. The ensemble exhibits versatility—functioning as a laptop orchestra, merging computers with traditional instruments, and performing as an electronic music band. BEEP's primary mission is to forge new paths in music and technology, bringing together individuals with diverse talents to explore novel sound creation possibilities. Featured at prestigious venues like the International Computer Music Conference in Daegu, South Korea, the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States National Conferences in Georgia and Boston, and the New York Electronic Arts Festival, the Electroacoustic Barn Dance in Virginia, and headlining at the Andy Warhol exhibition in Beijing's M WOODS contemporary art gallery, BEEP has established itself as a notable force in the international music scene. Their collaborations with esteemed artists such as DM Hotep, Tara Middleton, Toshimaru Nakamura, Nicholas Isherwood, Dan Blacksberg, Julius Masri, and Susan Alcorn, alongside regular performances in Philadelphia, underscore their commitment to evolving and expanding the landscape of electroacoustic music.
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Asia Bonilla graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program with a major in Dance and a minor in Mathematics. She has performed internationally at the Sydney Opera House in Australia and the Rudolfinum Concert Hall in the Czech Republic and danced with Awaken Dance Theater, VISIONS Contemporary Ballet, BHdos (the second company of Ballet Hispánico), and Alison Cook-Beatty Dance. She has performed works by choreographers Alvin Ailey, Robert Battle, Michelle Manzanales, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Jacqulyn Buglisi among others. Asia is also a personal trainer and dance teacher for ARD at institutions such as West Village Nursery School, Barrow Street Nursery School, and The Dalton School.
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Abriona Cherry is a native of Southern Maryland. She trained at a variety of local studios as well as the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC and the Dance Theatre of Harlem Pre Professional Residency at Duke Ellington. Abriona graduated from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program with majors in Dance and International Humanitarian Studies. She has performed works by Alvin Ailey and Arthur Mitchell and worked with choreographers such as Robert Battle, Virginia Johnson, Amy Hall Garner, Adam Baruch, Tanya Chianese, and Chuck Wilt. She has performed and taught dance outreach both nationally and internationally through the JUNTOS Collective. She currently dances professionally in New York with Vashti Dance Theatre and Ariel Rivka Dance.
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Jaehoon Choi is a New York City based sound artist, computer musician, and a scholar. His practice centers on creating novel musical instruments using DIY software, hardware, and diverse materials. This process entails creating the instrument from scratch while exploring its functionality, operation, and the unique artistic affordance and/or musicality it embodies—blurring the line between the luthiery and the artistic creation. In this context, the instrument transcends its role as a mere functional device, becoming a complex assemblage of epistemological and cultural dynamics expressed through materiality.
He has been selected for various residencies and awards including Djerassi Resident Artists Program, NEW INC, Squeaky Wheel Workspace Residency, Biennale College Musica, Zer01ne and etc. His works were presented at La Biennale di Venezia 2023 - 67th International Festival of Contemporary Music, NEW INC DEMODAY, Fabrica, MATA Festival, SEAMUS, San Francisco Tape Music Festival, Routledge, NIME, ICMC, ECHO Journal, ZER01NE Day, and etc.
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Lulu Damon Dong
Lulu is a first year at Colby College, and is a dancer and performer.
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Summer Dregs is an Emmy-nominated, Image-Award Winning engineer, composer and producer. From scoring films and ballets, to producing and mixing pop artists, Summer Dregs works with collaborators to make art only they together could make.
Little kid Summer Dregs fell in love with music playing organ in jazz and gospel bands. But soon his drive to blend beats, classical, and experimental pop could no longer be contained. So he started producing and writing songs with artists all over the map. His penchant for reckless ecstasy, neon synths and collaboration has led him to work with many musicians, choreographers, and film makers across the country. These include Nick Lutsko, Ariel Rivka Dance, Ben Crump (How to Sue The Klan), Mon Rovia, and Sunny War. SummerDregs.com
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Esme Erdos
Esme is a first year at Colby College, and is a performer, dancer, and choreographer.
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Nora Gibson is a dance technologist with a research focus on consciousness, embodiment, and artificial intelligence. Her materials are the body and its physiological data, merging scientific and philosophical inquiry with poetic use of technology. Her choreography has been presented by institutions including Joyce SOHO, Dance Place, Performance Garage, and Kaatsbaan, while her interactive and installation works have appeared at international venues such as MUTEK, Ars Electronica, The Istanbul Digital Art Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, and The Society for Arts and Technology (SAT). Gibson holds a BFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA in Intermedia from Concordia University. Her work has further been supported through an internship with the BIAPT neuroscience lab at McGill University. Gibson teaches ballet, composition, research-creation practices, and dance & technology.
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Hana Ginsburg Tirosh holds a BA in Education Policy from Princeton University and an MFA in Dance Performance and Teaching from Purchase College, SUNY. Currently a member of Ariel Rivka Dance, Matthew Westerby Company and Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre, she has also performed with Mark Dendy Dancetheater, Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theater, Valerie Green/Dance Entropy, Riedel Dance Theater, Yuka Kawazu/Danse En L’air, Tamara Saari Dance, Lane & Co, KDNY and Amy Marshall among others. She was a founding member of 360° Dance Company, serving as a dancer, General Manager, Board Member and Rehearsal Director from 2006-2014. Hana is the New York City Director for the New York Institute of Dance and Education, and her most perfect creations are her three sons, Orin, Arlin and Zahavi.
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Ariel Rebecca (Rivka) Grossman is a native New Yorker, who trained at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts and Joffrey Ballet School under Gerald Arpino. She earned a B.S. in Dance, with honors, and a Minor in Women’s Studies from Skidmore College, and a masters in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College. In 2008, she founded an all-female contemporary company, Ariel Rivka Dance. Ariel Grossman received a 2023 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.Ariel's work has been presented worldwide, including BAM Fisher, NJPAC, The Place, London, England, Bryant Park, NYLA, Baruch Performing Arts Center, Martha Graham Studio Theater, NYU Tisch, Rutgers University, Roxbury Performing Arts Center, and in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Houston, Cleveland, Florida, Oklahoma, Detroit, Memphis, Istanbul, TR, Paris, FR, Perigord, FR and Bari, IT, Portugal, France, Rwanda and the UK. Dance Lab NY, Konverjdans, Breathing Art Company, Ballet Vero Beach, and Skidmore College have commissioned choreography by Ariel in addition to Heritage and Harmony, which featured NYCB Principal Dancer Chun Wai Chan. She has collaborated with Rioult Dance NY, Taylor 2, Heidi Latsky, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, and Sean Curran. Ariel is a past recipient of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (New) Moves Fellowship, DanceNYC, Dance New Jersey, and Jersey City Dance Artist Relief Fund by Nimbus, with support from the New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund. ARD is an awardee of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, The Charles & Joan Gross Family Foundation, Jersey City Council of the Arts, and New Jersey State Council on the Arts and more.
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Sie Hamilton-Thibert is a freelance dancer based in New York City. They have honed their craft in prestigious conservatories, including the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program from 2021 to 2023, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts from 2015 to 2019. Sienna has worked with esteemed faculty and choreographers such as Mike Tyus, Kyle Abraham, James Vu Anh Pham, Lea Ved, Brett Conway, Gregory Dawson, Laura O’Malley, Jay Carlon, Brenda Daniels, and many more. They have gained valuable experience through roles as a videographer, social media coordinator, and intern for organizations such as SFDanceWorks and American Dance Competition. Since graduating from LINES, Sienna has danced for LUMU Movement and Body Artifacts, and they are eager to start their journey with Ariel Rivka Dance.
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Sangeeth Kumaski (he/him) is a multimedia artist, sound designer, optical engineer, and a third-culture immigrant based in South Portland, Maine.
His work focuses on generative algorithm-driven imagery based on the principles of signal processing to build textural, synthesized soundscape behaviors from audio field recordings.
His educational background includes Interactive Media at New York University and Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology. Sangeeth's sound and multimedia design work in collaboration with dancers Amy and Hannah Wasielewski (Kumaski) has been seen at the Joe Goode Annex (SF CA), the GUSH Virtual Festival (SF CA), Dance Hack (SF CA), Subcircle (ME), and University of Southern Maine. In 2025 he participated in a residency at SPACE Studios as a part of SPACE’s Rent-Free Studio Program (Portland, ME).
Hannah Kumaski (fka Wasielewski) is a dancer, mother, teacher, and healer based in South Portland, Maine. She has been engaged in choreographic practice as a soloist and in collaboration since 2012. Her practice today is centered around contact improvisation, experimental contemporary dance forms, and healing through radical performance.
Formally, based in San Francisco, her work with Amy Wasielewski has been produced by several dance organizations and she has collaborated with a wide-range of choreographers as a performing artist, most notably Sara Shelton Mann (CA/Europe), FAKE Company/Kathleen Hermesdorf (CA/Europe), and Kinetech Arts (CA).
Living in her home state of Maine since 2020, her solo works and collaborative epics with Kristen Stake as dance duo “imaginary island” have been presented by NEFA’s Regional Dance Initiative at the ICA in Boston, TEMPOarts in collaboration with visual artist Pamela Moulton, Hewnoaks Artist Residency, Meeting House Arts, SPACE Gallery, University of Southern Maine, and Subcircle.
April Levy
April is a current junior majoring in Government and Performance, Theater, and Dance, with a minor in Classical Civilizations. She creates works of performance art inspired by the world around her, often centered on feminism and female experiences in our male-centric society. This is her first piece of work in which she is not a performer.
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Kristin Licata is from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program. She performed classics by Alvin Ailey and Joyce Trisler and worked with Robert Battle, Sean Curran, William Forsyth, and Elisa Monte. After graduation, she danced with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company II, Felice Lesser Dance Theater, Regina Nejman and Company, Tamara Saari, Dance, Yuka Kawazu/Danse En L'air, Vabang!and Vox Luminere. Recently, she worked in the creative process with Chanel DaSilva, Maria Naidu and Michael Spencer Phillips. Touring internationally in Brazil, Greece, and Poland, Kristin currently dances with Covenant Ballet Theater, Matthew Westerby Company, and Valerie Green Dance Entropy, as well as being an ABT® certified teacher, teaching ballet and modern throughout NYC.
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Gabrielle Marino grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana. She graduated with a BFA in Dance in 2025 from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. She has received additional training from various intensives and workshops such as Perry-Mansfield with Limón Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Doug Varone and Dancers, New Dialect, Basin Arts, and more. She has been awarded the 2025 Outstanding Senior in Dance, the Colleen Lancaster Scholarship, and the Jean-Breaux Award. She is currently working to receive her Pilates certification. She is excited to begin her journey with Ariel Rivka Dance.
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Casie Marie O'Kane originally from Northern Virginia, attended the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program in San Francisco, California from 2010-2012. While in the training program, Casie worked closely with Alonzo King, David Harvey, Maurya Kerr, Christian Burns, and Karah Abiog. Since moving to New York in 2012 she has worked with Sidra Bell, Erin Carlisle Norton, Maruya Kerr, Jennifer Archibald, Yoshito Sakuraba and Karol Armitage. She has a B.S. in Public Affairs from Baruch College and completed her 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in 2018. Casie joined Ariel Rivka Dance in 2014.
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Robin Oxley-Luyster
Robin is a junior at Colby College, and composed an original score for this piece.
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Halle Puchalski
Halle is a senior at Colby College, and is a performer, dancer, and choreographer. Some of her works include "Lustidia", performed at the American College Dance Association 2024, and "Arrhythmia" in the fall of 2024.
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Ariel Rivka Dance (ARD) is an all-female contemporary dance company based in New Jersey led by Artistic Director Ariel Grossman that creates a space for open-hearted movement collaborations rooted in women’s experiences. With live performances, global touring, and workshops for all ages, the company transcends the stage by exploring individual stories that connect to the broader community. Through movement, ARD creates a community of vulnerability and acceptance, providing opportunities for hope and connection.
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Butch Rovan is a composer, media artist, and performer on the faculty of the Music and Multimedia Composition (MMC) program at Brown University. From 2016-19 he was the inaugural faculty director of the Brown Arts Initiative.
Prior to Brown, Rovan was a compositeur en recherche with the Real-Time Systems Team at IRCAM in Paris, and a faculty member at Florida State University and the University of North Texas. Rovan worked at Opcode Systems before leaving for Paris, serving as Product Manager for Max.
Rovan has received prizes from the Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition, first prize in the Berlin Transmediale International Media Arts Festival, and has contributed writing to numerous books and journals. His music appears on Wergo, EMF, Circumvention, SEAMUS, and New Focus labels. Rovan has received patents for his instrument and interface design. Recent projects include an accessible interface that allows non-sighted composers to program interactive computer music.
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Kalyan Sayre is a North Carolina native and New York transplant. She studied dance at George Mason University, where she was also a member of the Honors college. Kalyan has performed for companies and choreographers such as The Yard, Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup, Go.Co, The Moving Architects, Abby Bender, Shannon Yu/Sha Creative Outlet, Rachael Lieblein-Jurbala, and Madeline Hoak. She currently dances with Brian Sanders’ JUNK and is thrilled to be joining ARD. In addition to dance, Kalyan is a circus artist, has spent time farming/gardening, and is a volunteer sexual assault and domestic violence crisis advocate while in school pursuing psychology.
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Molly W. Schenck (MFA, MEd) is a multi-disciplinary artist and somatic practitioner fascinated by human movement and what interrupts its full expression. Her performance work moves fluidly between dance, theater, film, and visual art. Her performance work has been featured in venues such as the Tuscon Fringe Festival, Boulder Fringe Festival, and multiple events and venues within the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Additionally, her film and photography work has been on exhibition in New Zealand and the Netherlands. She also specializes in the intersection of creativity and trauma. She is the author of Trauma-Informed Teaching Practices for Dance Educators and has presented workshops and trainings for individuals, organizations, and arts leaders locally, nationally, and internationally - including San Francisco Opera, Actors Equity Association, and the Association of Theatre Movement Educators. In 2016, she founded Grey Box Collective, an arts organization that makes weird art about tough stuff, where she currently serves as Director and Creative Producer. Schenck holds a BA in Theater and an M. Ed. in Higher Education from the University of Maine and an MFA in Dance from Arizona State University. For more information, visit mollywschenck.com.
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Movement artist, Ami Shulman has choreographed for the National Theatre of London, UK and the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington DC where she received a Helen Hayes Award for choreography. She co-created work with the Cirque Du Soleil, has assisted creations with the National Ballet of Canada and Ballet BC and has been a rehearsal director at the Göteborgoperans Danskompani in Sweden. Ami has taught throughout Europe, Canada, and the USA, including for the Netherlands Dans Theater; the Venice Biennale and the Juilliard School amongst others and she is an Artistic Associate of the Springboard project. Ami has worked as a performer and movement director on several film and installations projects, including with Mouvement Perpetuel and Butch Rovan. She is also a certified Intimacy Coordinator. Ami co-authored for the anthology Back to the Dance Itself. She is a certified Feldenkrais practitioner and has presented her work at conferences internationally.
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Daniil Zakirzyanov is a multi-disciplinary artist creating at the nexus of the corporeal and the computational. Born in Philadelphia to Kazakh heritage, his path—from the disciplined world of international ballroom competition to the experimental studios of contemporary art and dance—informs a unique inquiry into the moving body and its relationship to others.
His creative practice is a deep meditation on the posthuman condition, pondering the body as a data-rich landscape and contemplating the liminal space where the organic merges with the digital ether. Zakirzyanov views glitch not as an error but an aesthetic; technology not as a tool but a collaborator in shaping new realms of being.
These ideas materialize as lucid, sensory landscapes. Through the use of motion capture, Touchdesigner, and expansive audio design, he orchestrates pansensory experiments—kaleidoscopic arenas where the boundaries of body, identity, and perception are dissolved and reimagined.
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