STRANGE NATURES
May 18th-June 4th
Aurora, CO
STRANGE NATURES
an immersive dance event full of glitter, dirt, plastics, and queerness.
May 18th- June 4th
DeLaney Homestead Historic District
170 South Chambers Road, Aurora, CO, 80017
Repeat after me, “This is Nature… take it in.”
Stay tuned for photos and videos from the show.
Strange Natures is a kaleidoscopic queer immersive journey exploring how the natural is unnatural and how to find joy and pleasure in the plastic and decaying world. Audiences explore what it means to find kinship with each other, with trash, with glitter, and with an ever-evolving climate. Through a series of chaotic vignettes, audiences are asked to consider what it means to lean into our increasingly plastic future.
Strange Natures is an unapologetically queer show and thus contains aesthetically relevant sexualized non-nudity, drag, lip-syncing, ball pits, potions, and plenty of sparkly things.
George Delaney
(he/they) is a trans movement practitioner, researcher, artist, and teacher. He was born and raised in, and is currently based out of the unceded land of the Nuche, Tsis tsis'tas, and Hinono'ei Peoples, otherwise known as Denver, CO. He has 25 years of experience dancing, 10 years of experience practicing yoga, and 4 years of experience teaching. He received a BFA in Dance (& Math) from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and a 300 HR Yoga teacher training through the Perri Institute of Mind and Body.
George is a constant student, fascinated by the intersection of Yoga, dance, body-based (collective) healing practices, ritual, astrology, physics, mutual aid, and embodied histories.
Elle Hong
(they/she) is an antidisciplinary artist from the occupied lands of the Hawaiian Kingdom (Honolulu, HI). Currently based in Arapaho/Cheyenne/Sioux/Ute Territories (Denver, CO), they hold an MFA in Choreography with a Graduate Certificate in Emergent Technologies & Media Arts Practice from the University of Colorado Boulder, and a BA in Dance & Sociology from Wesleyan University. Elle’s work spans across dance, media arts, text, sound, and pedagogy, often employing queer/diasporic collaging techniques for creating performances that reenvision history and form. She additionally provides dramaturgical support for artists Helanius J. Wilkins (“The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging”) and LA Samuelson (“Telegraph Valley”), and has toured as a performer for Michelle Ellsworth (“Post-Verbal Social Network”). Elle's creative research works to uncover the embedded politics and power structures inherent to viewing and being viewed. She is invested in exposing the complex dialectic between interiority and exteriority, paving way towards new methods of being that actively resist and transcend categorization.
Caroline Sharkey
(they/them) Caroline is a dancer, choreographer, organizer, and current Associate Director at Control Group. Originally from Northwest Arkansas, they attended Interlochen Arts Academy to further their formal dance training. Upon graduation, they received the Fine Artist Award in dance. They have since spent time at the Alonzo King LINES BFA program and the Hubbard Street Professional Program. Caroline has worked closely with artists such as Rena Butler, Peter Chu, Ryan Mason, Troy Ogilvie, and Johannes Wieland among others. Caroline has served as rehearsal director for works by Mark Morris and Joshua Manculich. They co-directed and produced “I woke up on Skyline Drive”, a site-specific work created in collaboration with Emmy-winning composer, Amos Cochran, and BODYSONNET. In 2022, they founded and curated UNDERGROWTH, a town hall series and resource center for Denver dancers.
Strange Natures was made possible through support from the SCFD Arapahoe County; the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; Colorado Creative Industries; Community First Foundation, and many generous individuals. Strange Natures was made in partnership with the Aurora History Museum and the City of Aurora.