WOMEN IN MOTION: PELE BAUCH & DONNA COSTELLO

Brilliant, challenging and charming, Women in Motion 2021-2022 Commissioned Artists Pele Bauch and Donna Costello bring their crafted, wise and compelling ingenuity to the Arts On Site stage.

Pele Bauch is an interdisciplinary choreographer who combines dance with theater, weaving mixed media and set design into unique performances. Since 2017, her work has focused on her journey as a Hapa Haole Kanaka Maoli (multiracial Native Hawaiian) seeking to understand and overcome her ignorance of her own heritage.  In April 2022, she premiered A.K.A. Ka Inoa (also known as the name) at La MaMa. This evening-length solo delves into the weight she bears being named after one of Hawai’i’s most beloved and significant deities. Bauch’s choreography has been selected for presentation at many New York venues including the Chocolate Factory, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Joyce SoHo, HERE's TALR and the Best of TALR, and the Brooklyn Arts Exchange. She has received residencies from The Joyce Theater Foundation, Dance Theater Workshop, Chocolate Factory, and 92Y Harkness Dance Center. She has received funding from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Brooklyn Arts Council and Harkness Foundation for Dance. Pele resides in her hometown, New York, in the unceded land of the Lenape people.

DONNA COSTELLO is a multi-faceted dance artist centering the body as a deep vessel of expression. She is committed to fostering exchange within and for the community. Her choreographic collaborations have been shared in New York City at venues that include Center for Performance Research, Dixon Place, chashama, Triskelion, Movement Research at Judson Church, the Flea theater; and at the Estrogenius Festival in New York, Definitive Figures Femfest (Co-Producer) in New Orleans and Performatica in Mexico.  As a performer she has worked with an inspiring array of artists performing in apartments, public parks, historic  buildings, pools, fields and stages in the U.S. and abroad. Recent projects include works by choreographers Nicole Mannarino, jill sigman/thinkdance, Carrie Ahern, Kelly Bartnik, Vicky Shick, filmmaker Darryl Hell, visual artist Nick Cave, and theater artist Jennifer Sargent. She champions the authentic voice of young people and works as a teaching artist and curriculum specialist for leading cultural institutions in New York.  For more information visit donnacostello.org.

Women in Motion is a volunteer-run organization whose mission is to foster female choreographers through commissioning, producing and mentoring.  Founded in 2000, WIM has produced a diverse group of over 90 dance artists, and the list of once-emerging, now-established choreographers goes on. In addition to their annual concert performance, WiM hosts quarterly performance salons presented in non-traditional performance spaces throughout the city, offering female artists the opportunity to show work-in-progress in a supportive, intimate setting, intended to create a dialogue between artists and audiences. Women in Motion is directed by Melissa Riker, Erin Cairns Cella, and Amber Sloan.

Photo of Donna Costello by Julie Lemberger