Keen [No. 2] grows out of an open-eyed exploration of that which we uncomfortably avoid: the contours of grief. Juxtaposing ancient rites of mourning with threads inspired by such disparate sources as Paul Klee’s illustrations for Voltaire and Irish traditions of keening and windalls, as well as new rites, inherited and invented, the dancers mine the emotional and physical experience of loss, memory, and holding love. Adhering to and departing from formal dance structures, the dancers cultivate a world that shifts between seemingly opposing states: mundane and otherworldly, human and animal, lamenting and salutary.

Choreography Ivy Baldwin
Performed by Ivy Baldwin, Eleanor Smith and Katie Workum with Kay Ottinger, Anna Adams Stark, Dia Dearstyne, Tara Willis, Tara Sheena, Marya Wethers, Heather Olson Trovato, Katie Dean
Music Composition Justin Jones
Lighting Design Chloe Z. Brown
Costume Design Mindy Nelson
Set Design Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen
Technical Director & Stage Manager Randi Rivera
Creative Producer Meredith Boggia

Premiere Abrons Arts Center, 2017

“Her Longtime Dancer Died. Instead of Moving On, She Embraced Loss”
– New York Times – feature

Keen [No. 2] is co-commissioned by the Abrons Arts Center, The Chocolate Factory Theater, and The Joyce Theater. Additional support has been provided by the Jerome Foundation, William and Karen Tell Foundation, Ivy Baldwin Dance Commissioning Circle, and residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Mount Tremper Arts, Abrons Arts Center, and Chashama.