Image design by Tori Lawrence
THOUGHTS FROM THE PRESS
Kat Richter, The Dance Journal, "It’s definitely not art for art’s sake: its art with a purpose and Stark makes no apology for this fact, nor should she. Deceptively simple, Goodnight War provided a complex meditation on the culture of war and our addiction to it and I, for one, hope that there’s much more to come."
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Megan Bridge, preview interview for thINKingDANCE, "Much of the movement for Goodnight War is task-based. Dancers build and knock down towers of cups. Stark learns to ride a bicycle in real-time (she used to ride as a kid, but hasn’t much since and has purposely avoided brushing up on her skills for this production)."
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GOODNIGHT WAR
Goodnight War examines how and why we support war in our everyday lives, through the framework of a funeral. Goodnight War invites participants into an intimate, communal space where they join the performers in reflecting on war and asking “If war was gone, what would I miss?” Through movement we embody the nuances and complications around this subject; construct and deconstruct, make messes, eulogize war, and delve into or witness intense physicality.
Continually wrapping her mind around these themes, Stark weaves personal narrative in movement and story into Goodnight War performances and workshops. Turning her focus inward, she reflects on how motherhood has shaped the way she thinks about war, examines her own shortcomings, and asks herself, thereby prompting others to ask themselves, “What can I do to make peace?”
Framing the events as a funeral for war is a useful tool for examining ourselves and our culture, and it brings audiences and performer facilitators together into a powerful symbolic ceremony. Though the work deals in nuance and doubt, Goodnight War ultimately creates a space where we must at least pretend that it is possible for war to end. By living in this reality, audiences and performers are offered the opportunity and the challenge to come together and lay war to rest for good.
LIFE OF THE WORK
2017 Goodnight War Workshop collaborative investigation with Ajibola Rivers, Katherine Kiefer Stark, Mariadela Belle Alvarez, & Sean Thomas Boyt
2015 Goodnight War Workshop in COLLAGE Festival performed/facilitated by Katherine Kiefer Stark, Megan Wislon, Paul Stern (harp), & Sean Thomas Boyt
2015 Goodnight War movement workshop at Abington Friends School facilitated by Katherine Kiefer Stark
2012 Goodnight War at Broad Street Ministry performed by Saroya Corbett, Loren Groenendaal, Erin Shanti Desmond, Jodi Obeid, Chana Rothman (composer & guitarist), Katherine Kiefer Stark, Paul Stern (composer, pianist, harpist, & vocal leader), Barbara Tait, & Megan Wilson joined by ensemble members Alan Baldridge, Caitlin Hellerer, Lily Hughes, Affiong Inyans, Kelly Turner, Kris Young
2012 Goodnight War movement workshops at Studio 34 and Broad Street Ministry facilitated by Katherine Kiefer Stark
2010 Goodnight War in the Wilmington Delaware Fringe Festival performed by Barbara Tait, Eliza Zeevalk, Mary O'Brien, & Nicole Christman joined by ensemble members
CONNECTED WORKS:
Eulogy for War (2011)
