N o i s e f l o o r

World Premiere December 6 & 7 2023 @ The State Theater in Portland, ME

Noisefloor is an audiovisual encounter that seeks to guide audiences through the intersection between objective and experiential worlds. Featuring the talents of 21 collaborators from the worlds of music (string ensemble Palaver strings, composer Courtney Swain) and dance (little house dance, choreographer Heather Stewart), this experience uses architecture and acoustics to transform the traditional proscenium theater into an atmospheric cave. Visual void one moment and cavernous echo chamber the next, the production redirects audiovisual focus throughout the theater, drawing upon the non-linear structure of dream logic to ping-pong sensory perception throughout the performance hall. During the production the dancers will perform and interact with the musicians (who will play live on stage). Noisefloor will premiere Dec 6 & 7th 2023 at The State Theater in Portland, ME. Noisefloor was recently named as a finalist for a National Dance Project Grant from The New England Foundation for the Arts.

While the conceptual framework for Noisefloor came from a place that was abstract in nature, the making and performing of this work has all been very human. The choreographic structure exists as a sort of imperfect collective consciousness; moments of gathering, convergence, and tenderness are interjected by moments of loneliness, divergence, and solitude. In the world of Noisefloor the performers take on a ceremonial approach to movement and gesture. They create, destroy, and uphold rituals. Noisefloor is as much about the individual experience of each person within this world as it is about the collective experience of the community.

Choreography: Heather Stewart in collaboration with the performers

Original Composition: Courtney Swain, performed live by members of Palaver Strings

Dancers: Isabel Hunter Ball, Taylor Butterfield, Nolan Eisenhaur, Dareon Blowe, Kylie Grossman, Maddy Joss, Drew Lewis,

Mia Muntu

Rehearsal Director: Alyx Henigman

Outside Eye: Allie James

Lighting Design: Harrison Pearse Burke

Costume Design: Lizzie Moore & Heather Stewart

Palaver Strings and the new Noisefloor commission was supported by New Music USA’s Organization Fund which receives support from the Cheswatyr Foundation, Fifth House Ensemble, and legacy contributions to the organization’s Endowment.

little house dance company is a 2023 NDP Grant Award recipient. Support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation in support of Noisefloor and to address continued sustainability needs.

Noisefloor was supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant