• Post-show conversation with the artist on Thursday facilitated by Courtney Sheehan (Northwest Film Forum Executive Director)
• Post-show conversation with the artist on Friday facilitated by Omar Wiley (artist)
  Free after party on Saturday

World premiere!
Live show commission by Northwest Film Forum
Free after party on Saturday at 10pm
*ALL SHOWS ARE SOLD OUT*

Read the City Arts preview

“PALMS responds to my fatigue with conflict. I emphasize connection without denying the dirty complexities or fragile emotions interlocked with opposition. I bring the naked body with extended palms to the foreground as a central symbol of solidarity.”  -Paige Barnes

Snow, cake, lighthouses, confined spaces, pockets, shadow, hands, pulse.

These are the key components of PALMS, a performance that combines dance, music, poetry, and architectural design to portray the story of a wild animal turning into a woman. In PALMS, choreographer and performer Paige Barnes roams across autobiographical and emotional states through low-to-the-ground movement and animal symbolism. On a three-tiered set occupying the entire floorspace of the Film Forum theater, dancers explore a childhood in France, desire, and constraint. A capella falsetto vocals and electronic music by Paurl Walsh, French text, and spoken poetry by Vanessa DeWolf scaffold the soundscape.

Key collaborators include: dramaturg and poet Vanessa DeWolf, dancers Nadia Losonsky and KJ Dye, lighting designer Amiya Brown, costume designer Jme Frank, set builders Corrie Befort and John DeShazo, musician Evan Flory-Barnes, and sound designer and composer Paurl Walsh.

Pulse residency (June 21-23)
In addition to the show, audience members are invited to be involved in the creative process. Paige will hold a pulse residency three weeks prior to the performance, and will conduct 40 pulse readings welcome to individuals of all ages and experiences. June 21 – June 23 from 5:30-7:30. To sign up for a reading please contact Paige at barnes.paige@gmail.com

About the Artist
With a BA in Dance from the University of Washington, Paige has been creating and performing since 1996. She has presented work in Ecuador, Cuba, Mexico, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. She worked closely with Ecuadorian choreographer Pablo Cornejo (1998-2004); together they co-founded Locate Performance Group and Open Flight Studio. Throughout her work, her dances are blatantly vulnerable; they express a personal journey. She aims to unmask an emotional landscape to explore consciousness and belonging.
www.paigebarnes.in