The Portal

The Animal Suite: Experiments in Vaudeville and Shapeshifting

Cori Olinghouse, The Animal Suite: Experiments in Vaudeville and Shapeshifting (2011). Performance by Neal Beasley and Mina Nishimura. Photograph by Ian Douglas.

Cori Olinghouse, The Animal Suite: Experiments in Vaudeville and Shapeshifting (2011). Performance by Mina Nishimura. Photograph by Ian Douglas.

Cori Olinghouse, The Animal Suite: Experiments in Vaudeville and Shapeshifting (2011). Performance by Cori Olinghouse and Eva Schmidt. Photograph by Felipe Vasquez.

The Animal Suite: Experiments in Vaudeville and Shapeshifting is an evening-length performance featuring dancers Neal Beasley, Kai Kleinbard, Mina Nishimura, Eva Schmidt and Cori Olinghouse that explores physical metamorphosis through vernacular and animal movement languages. The Animal Suite begins by re-enacting a famous dance scene from Buster Keaton’s 1921 film The Playhouse, then re-assembling this historical imagery.

Related events:

February 15, 2011, Artist Talk at the Emily Harvey Gallery. Cori Olinghouse cross-cuts imagery from performances by eccentric dancers of the 20's and 30's, Buster Keaton, Vaudeville, post-modern dance, dada, Bauhaus, and voguing. Formal topics span these related influences, as she explores her current research.

January 25, 2011, Eccentric Dance Sampler includes workshops taught by Cori Olinghouse, Colin Gee (choreographer, performer, former member of Cirque du Soleil) and Archie Burnett (“voguer” and “waacker,” and grandfather of the House of Ninja).