everyday more dystopian: entropic playground.

Houston Met Dance is excited to present “everyday more dystopian: entropic” playground by Creative Incubation Residency Artists, NMLY.dance under the co-artistic direction of Nicole McNeil and Lori Yuill.

“everyday more dystopian: entropic playground”, is a feature length multidisciplinary presentation/installation that explores themes of destruction, nature, environmental impact, and human relationships. The work invites the audience to consider “what’s next” as it traverses a dystopian landscape incited by the kinetic energy in loss. The production features projection design by Brian Buck and a collaboratively developed set installation initiated by multidisciplinary artist Katelyn Halpern’s 2 part World Building workshops that were offered in early September.

“entropic playground” is part of Nicole and Lori’s broader project everyday more dystopian, growing catalog of dances, performances and workshops that aim to spark a renewed interest between humans and the natural world in an effort to inspire a deeper connection to nature, fostering appreciation for its beauty, fragility and the importance of ecological awareness and sustainability. The process for this body of work takes a deep dive into the archive to revive and reprise dances and phrases that were created between 2020 and 2023 with the goal to draw out new stories and meaning. As the work evolves, each presentation is shaped by a botanical sound score and projection design.

NMLY.dance’s choreographic process embraces entropy and acknowledges the inherent death embedded in performance. Each iterative composition is devised from a process of construction and deconstruction which shifts from presentation to presentation. “entropic playground” takes it’s compositional direction from previous presentations and workshops that started in December of 2023. The project propels itself forward by inviting new media artist Brian Buck onto a wider platform making visible the dystopian landscape through projection design and set installation.

The sound score is a collision between Nicole’s desire to construct order and jhon r. stronks’ longing to better understand chaos. Nicole and jhon have a shared sonic pallet, but approach sound design from opposite directions. jhon’s sonic narration gives voice to the underlying seismic shifts and emotional turmoil that shapes the topography of the work. Nicole co-creates with the electrical tones of plants to give voice to the hope through which we discover “what’s next”. Their individual approaches give the sound score a rhythm derived from the play between harmony and dissonance.