About

little house dance is the artistic home of choreographer Heather Stewart, a space for contemporary dance, interdisciplinary performance, and collective creation in Portland, Maine and beyond. After years of working as an independent artist, Heather founded little house to formalize her collaborative relationships with dancers, musicians, visual artists, and writers. Together, they create research-driven performances that value collaboration, experimentation, and care. As an organization, little house challenges the notion that exceptional dance can only emerge from cities already recognized as established dance hubs, demonstrating ambitious, nationally relevant contemporary performances and encounters.

Work from little house is made for audiences who are invested in seeing performance that stretches the boundaries of movement potential, while touching on experiences that are uniquely human. Additionally, as an organization little house is committed to fostering community growth by offering classes, workshops, and opportunities for our artists to develop and present their own creative work. little house strives to elevate and center the presence of LGBTQIA+++ artists. little house acknowledges that the land on which we are based is the occupied and unceded territory of the Wabanaki. 

The name, little house dance, is created in memory of Montreal-based sound artist Marc Bartissol aka dull, Heather’s longtime creative partner, confidant, composer, and best friend. Long before he took on the stage name dull, Marc got his start as a Montreal-based DJ named little house. From 2012 until his suicide in 2019, Heather create several dances with Marc, who remains a profound influence on her work. dull is little house dance’s posthumous resident sound artist.

Artistic Director: Heather Stewart

Community Director: Isabel Hunter

Board of Directors:

Asher Woodworth

Maya French

Jake Newman

Bryan Evans

Kate Brigham

Artistic Mentors, Important Friends, & Significant Collaborators

Marc Bartissol aka dull, Maddy Joss, Mia Muntu, Taylor Butterfield, Harrison Pearse Burke, Emily Gualtieri, Louis Elyan-Martin, Jenna Pollack, Cacia LaCount, Will Farris, Helen Cox, Holly Greco, Natasha Luckhardt, Patrick Lloyd Brennan, Emilyn Claid, Rebecca Steinberg, Michael Figueroa, Riley Watts, Emily Jerant-Hendrickson, Alyx Henigman, Jenna Moen, Jen Passios, Ty Morrison, Maya French, Palaver Strings, Luke Myers