Dance Theater Workshop presents a multi-disciplinary performance by Seattle-based artists Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey. The critically acclaimed the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t combines Scofield’s disciplined physical distortion of classical technique with Shuey’s distilled visual design to create a heightened sense of reality. Supported by Morgan Henderson’s hypnotic, original score incorporating live sound design by Kamran Sadeghi, and lighting by Jessica Trundy, the devil…. creates a world shaped by accumulating, external forces as the company delves into a haunting physical, sonic and visual space shaped by brutality and grace. Performed with local dancers from Barnard College, Scofield and company perform what Brendan Killey at The Stranger has called “a beastly ballet, both harrowing and gorgeous.”

The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t is conceived and constructed by Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey, with choreography by Scofield and set and video design by Shuey.  The work is performed by Scofield, Christiana Axelsen, Jim Kent, Adele Nickel, Allison Van Dyck, Shannon Stewart and dance students from Barnard College.

Performances will take place at Dance Theater Workshop in the Bessie Schönberg Theater, February 12-14 (Thursday – Saturday at 7:30pm) will also be a Post-Show talk with Carla Peterson on February 12 (Thursday).  Tickets are $26 ($15 for members, students, and seniors) and are available for purchase online at dancetheaterworkshop.org, over the phone at 212.924.0077, or in person at the box office.  Dance Theater Workshop is located at 219 West 19the Street between 7^th and 8^th Avenues.

About the Artists

Zoe Scofield studied ballet and modern as a scholarship and dance honor student at Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts in Boston. While there she started choreographing and won the Monticello Scholarship for Emerging Choreographers at the Regional Dance of America festival. Upon graduating she joined Prometheus Dance Company in Boston performing with them throughout the U.S. and France. After receiving the Breaking Ground Festival scholarship in Toronto, Canada, Zoe began studying Ashtanga Yoga at Downward Dog Studios and also danced with Bill James Atlas Dance Company until 2002.  She has performed with several Seattle choreographers and has shown her own work at Velocity’s Under Construction, MOVE! Performance Series, Ten Tiny Dances: 11: Portland and Seattle, On the Boards’ 12 Minutes Max and the 2005 NW New Works Festival, beginning her collaboration

with video artist Juniper Shuey and musician Morgan Henderson.  Zoe has curated 12 Minutes Max and the Secret of Gold Festival in WA.  She was awarded the Mariam MaClone Emerging Choreographer Award from Wesleyan University in 2008, Artist Trust’s GAP Grant (2008), Seattle Magazine’s Spotlight Award (2008), Artist Trust Fellowship Recipient for Performance 2008 and was short listed for The Stranger’s Genius Award (2007).  She recently collaborated with musician Holcombe Waller on “Old girl”, commissioned by Spectrum Dance Theater, which premiered October 2008 and will be presented at On the Boards Northwest New Works Festival in June 2009.

Juniper Shuey is a video installation and sculptural performance artist based in Seattle.  Since 1999 he has been working professionally, exhibiting his work both locally and abroad.  His work has been featured in many exhibitions, including: Solo Exhibition at the Howard House Contemporary Gallery (2005), Tacoma Art Museum’s Northwest Biennial (2004, 2006), “YSA” at the Howard House (2003), “Fashion is Art”, curated by Thread (2003), “LAVA 2002” at Noodleworks, “Multiplex” at Bumbershoot (2002-05), Northwest Annual at Bellevue Art Museum (2001) and “La Mostra” in Palazzo Pio, Rome (2000).  He has been the recipient of several recognition awards including the “Curators Choice Award” from the Tacoma Art Museum’s Northwest Biennial in 2004, the “People’s Choice Award” from the Bellevue Art Museum’s Northwest Annual in 2001, and the Lambdha Rho Art Honorary from the University of Washington School of Art in 2000.  He received an Edge Grant from Artist Trust for advancement of his professional practices and the Marsh Scholarship for his work abroad. Juniper came to the visual arts from a theater background.  He spent three years at Emerson College in Boston studying theatrical set design.

Zoe | Juniper

Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey began their collaboration in 2005.  Their first work, I am nothing without you, premiered at On the Boards’ NW New Works Festival in 2005.  This began a series of collaborative projects between Juniper and Zoe that spans both visual arts and dance / performance.  Scofield and Shuey were commissioned by On the Boards in 2005-06 for their NW Artist Series with there ain’t no easy way out. The work was adapted for touring as find your own way out, and was presented by Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Bumbershoot, as well as The Southern Theater in Minneapolis, ODC Theater in San Francisco, and Velocity Dance Theater in Seattle, as part of SCUBA 2007. The company has received commissions from Spectrum Dance Theater, the Frye Art Museum, and Ten Tiny Dances (2007, 08, 09).  Zoe, Juniper was the co-creators (with composer Morgan Henderson) of the Secret of Gold Festival in 2006, a multi-disciplinary arts festival in Arlington, WA. In 2007 they choreographed and collaborated with Dave Matthews for his “Eh Hee” video, and published a book of their ongoing photographic collaboration, White Teeth. Scofield and Shuey’s ongoing photographic and video collaborations have been shown in solo exhibits at the Howard House and the 2005/06 Tacoma Art Museum Biannual.

Zoe and Juniper are recipients of an Artist Trust Fellowship and GAP grant, NPN Creation Fund and Residency commission, and a National Dance Project Production Grant for their work the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.  the devil you know… premiered at PICA’s TBA Festival in September 2007, followed by performances at On The Boards (Seattle), Dance Masters at Wesleyan University and Bates Dance Festival (Lewiston, ME).  Upcoming performances in winter 2009 include Dance Theater Workshop (NYC), ICA Museum Boston/CRASHArts, and Myrna Loy Center (Helena, MT).  Zoe and Juniper will be in residence at The Trafo House of Contemporary Art in Budapest (July-August 2009), where they will develop new work and present their new piece, “A Crack in Everything.”, followed by a second residency and performance at The Body Festival in New Zealand (September-October 2009).

the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t was made possible by the Doris Duke Fund for Dance of the National Dance Project, a program administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Ford Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, JP Morgan Chase Foundation and MetLife Foundation. the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t is a National Performance Network Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by On the Boards in partnership with PICA and the National Performance Network. www.npnweb.org. NPN and NPN Creation Fund is sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Altria, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). 4Culture Special Projects, Artist Trust GAP Grant and Artist Trust Fellowship, based in Seattle also provided funding.

Photo Credit: Justine Avera

Dance Theater Workshop presents the New York premiere of The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t by Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey, FEBRUARY 12-14, 2009, Thurs-Sat at 7:30pm

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