FIRST LOOK SERIES:
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Primordial Sadness
Written, Choreographed, and Directed by Madeline Wilcox
Performed by Laura Witsken, Jordan Patt, Jenna Purcell, and Madeline Wilcox
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Primordial Sadness is a new dance theater work by Madeline Wilcox, developed over a year-long experimental process. Staged as a shifting constellation of movement, song, and text, the dance oscillates between choreographic structure and improvisational risk. The tone shifts from ethereal softness to visceral overflow; threaded with sharp humor, spiritual undertones, and the quiet tension of live performance.Â
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Primordial Sadness is an evocative excavation of grief, femininity, identity, and the unsocialized body. Dreamlike and intuitive, the show invites us into a porous space of reflection, where physical expression becomes a portal to what we feel but rarely name. Dancers: Laura Witsken, Jordan Patt, Jenna Purcell and Wilcox channel inner states of the body in service of exploring how the soul takes form in physical space, clears out debris of the past, and offers acceptance of the present.Â
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A dissonant yet vibrant sound score blends nature sounds, rehearsal recordings, and 80’s pop songs to expand the limits of sensation, memory, and satire. Rather than resolve, the work unravels, questioning the roles we have inherited and the voices we have internalized, especially those that ask us to smile through grief.Â
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Performances Dates/Times:
Tickets:
MEET THE ARTISTS
Madeline Wilcox (Writer, Choreographer, Director) is an artist who works in the forms of dance, choreography, performance, and social work. Over a five-year collaboration with Sarah Michelson, she performed in and contributed to the development of numerous works, including May 2018/\, February 2018/\, October 2017/\, September 2017/\, R2R Attempt 2, For James Tyson, TOURNAMENTO, My Name is Beautiful Diamond, and 4. She also performed in Third Rail Projects Then She Fell in the role of Alice over a four-year period. Additional collaborations include dancing for choreographers Ori Flomin, Catherine Galasso, and Jillian Pena, among others. Her own choreography has been presented by The Knockdown Center (Sunday Series), The Footlight (MerdetheShow), and Center for Performance Research (PSOH: MAY).Â
Madeline decided to expand her questions from conceptual art spaces to direct action spaces in 2018, which led her to earn her Master of Social Work from Hunter College in 2020. She currently works full time as an LCSW at two Brooklyn high schools, serving their communities, and also provides individual psychotherapy to adults through a community mental health agency. She continues to follow her questions in the form of dance and theater, when she can, and is now interested in the ephemeral, shifting space where the two meet.
Laura Witsken (Dancer) is a New York based dancer and improviser. Recently, she has worked for choreographers Ella Dawn W-S, Adrienne Westwood, Gillian Walsh, and Nicole Mannarino. Laura also works in collaboration with visual artist Izzy Leung. They are premiering their performance/installation works SWAN SONG in July 2025 at The Woods (Ridgewood, NY) and Slow Violence in September 2025 at 6BC Botanical Garden (NY, NY). Laura holds a BFA in Dance and a minor in Business from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. laurawitsken.com
Jordan Patt (Dancer) is a Brooklyn based dancer, performance artist and experimental musician. Jordan graduated with a BA in Dance from The University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2018 where she was awarded the Porter Award for Creativity in Dance. After graduating, she moved to Brooklyn where she has been creating live performance work, film and music videos. She is currently a dancer in The Equus Projects company, collaborating with horses in live performance, as well as dancing in Funsch Dance. Jordan and her life partner, JP Davis, have a performance art project, Paint Horse, where they explore the possibilities of experimental music and dance as one.
Jenna Purcell (Dancer) is a performing artist based in Brooklyn. She was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and holds a B.A. in Modern Literature from UC Santa Cruz, where she had the pleasure of working with Tandy Beal, Mark Franko, Sommer Ulrickson, Danny Scheie, Paul Whitworth, and Ted Warburton. She has performed with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Donofrio Dance Company, ChrisMastersDance, Andrew Schneider, Anne Zuerner, Lundahl & Seitl, The David Perlow Studio, and The Neo-Politcal Cowgirls, among others. She currently collaborates with Third Rail Projects, past productions include Then She Fell (Alice, Nurse MaryAnn, Red Queen, Rehearsal Director), and True Love Forever.
Wesley Marcarelli (Compositions) is a musician, electrical engineer, and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. In 2017 he launched STEM Modular as a playful and empowering approach to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts through electronic music production. He has toured as a synth/keyboard player and makes his own electronic instruments from scratch.
Jon Perry Davis (Composition and Live Sound Design) is a Brooklyn based multimedia artist. He specializes in music, dance, experimental performance, photography, painting and clothing design. Davis graduated from The University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2019 with a Bachelor in Journalism. He investigates textural storytelling across his many art forms. Davis has been collaborating with his wife, dancer, Jordan Patt, in their performance art project, Paint Horse, for 3 years.Â
Eric Cotti (Dramaturge) is an artist whose work as an actor and producer has been seen on stage, television, and film. Previous credits include, on stage: The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, Bodies of Water, In the Soundless Awe, Waiting for the G, Senescence, and David Levine: Some of the People, All of the Time; and on screen: Hayseed and the Netflix shows Hit & Run and Zero Day. He has worked as a story and script consultant, as well as a performance coach, and will attend Ithaca College in the fall to earn his master’s degree in Mental Performance. Much gratitude, support, and love to my partner, Madeline, you are my world.
Shana Crawford (Lighting Designer) Entangled as a lighting designer, producer, performer & such, Shana Crawford’s work in all forms cultivates structures of support and celebration. Recent collaborators include Abigail Levine, Lime Rickey Intl, Jessie Young, Juliana May, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Laurie Berg, Madeline Best, Tess Dworman, Stephanie Acosta, Justin Cabrillos, and Yanan Yu, among others. You can find her at the Chocolate Factory Theater, producer of four River to River Festivals and collaborator with AUNTS. Shana orchestrates the Sometimes Together group and her work has been shared in NYC, MN, VT, HA, PA, MA, Italy and Spain. see more at sortofhere.com
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A Note About the Ensemble: Madeline met Jenna as a fellow cast member in Then She Fell. She met Laura at a Movement Research workshop taught by Irene Dowd. She met Wes in an acting class at the Atlantic Acting School, and Jordan through Laura, who met Jordan at a dance intensive in 2017. Madeline thanks her loving partner, Eric, for his incredible support and love.
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COVID-19 policy: In guidance with the city and state COVID-19 policies, we will no longer be requiring masks, but strongly recommend them.