"As an audience we are left with a firm belief in a pursuit of honest connection; true human relationships - physical emotional, electronic or otherwise - may be our one saving grace"- Tara Sheena, Culturebot
Up NEXT!
May 10 & 11 in NYC
Unstable States: The Children of Frogs
Saturday May 10, 4pm
Sunday May 11, 2pm
The Cell | 338 W 23rd St, New York, NY 10011
EstroGenius Festival Tix: HERE
What does it mean to prolong the life of materials on the verge of decay—to press into matter and feel its resistance? This work explores the body's visceral exchange with discarded materials, like eggshells, to expand our sense of humanness and unsettle fixed notions of being.
Directed by Beth Graczyk
Performed by Leah Wilks & Beth Graczyk
Music by Aaron Gabriel, with cello by Laura Sewell
Costumes Asa Thornton
photos Effy Grey
Beth Graczyk is an independent performance artist and Artistic Director of Beth Graczyk Productions.
Beth Graczyk is a choreographer, performer, biochemist, and educator whose interdisciplinary practice explores the tensions between concrete facts and the more elusive, felt experiences of the body. Drawing on themes of uncertainty, materiality, and perception, she creates structures rooted in visceral impulses to express perspectives often overlooked—those of femme-identifying, neurodiverse, LGBTQIA2+ bodies, and non-human forms. At the heart of her work is a focus on vulnerability, connection, and the interplay of histories—evolutionary, psychological, and cultural—that shape our embodied existence. With an ongoing dialogue between dance, science, and material experimentation, Graczyk's work seeks to create spaces where language gives way to the unknown, and the body becomes both a site of transformation and a witness to the natural world.
Beth Graczyk is a choreographer, performer, biochemist, and educator whose interdisciplinary practice explores the tensions between concrete facts and the more elusive, felt experiences of the body. Drawing on themes of uncertainty, materiality, and perception, she creates structures rooted in visceral impulses to express perspectives often overlooked—those of femme-identifying, neurodiverse, LGBTQIA2+ bodies, and non-human forms. At the heart of her work is a focus on vulnerability, connection, and the interplay of histories—evolutionary, psychological, and cultural—that shape our embodied existence. With an ongoing dialogue between dance, science, and material experimentation, Graczyk's work seeks to create spaces where language gives way to the unknown, and the body becomes both a site of transformation and a witness to the natural world.
Film study at Lymra residency this past December 2024 in Port Townsend, WA. In honor of Jeremiah Greene.
Desire Motor
Thresholds
Other Collaborations
Biography
Beth Graczyk is a choreographer, director, performer, educator, and scientist based in Brooklyn/Lenapehoking. Her 22-year career blending creative practice and scientific inquiry offers a unique perspective on art and science. Her work is deeply rooted in improvisation and integrates postmodern, modern, somatic, and physical theater modalities. As the Artistic Director of Beth Graczyk Productions, Inc. (BGP), a national nonprofit based in NYC, she creates contemporary dance projects that celebrate LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse communities. Since 2002, Graczyk has performed and choreographed across the US and internationally, including in Japan, Ecuador, France, China, and India. Her work has been presented by Velocity Dance Center, Gibney, La MaMa, JACK, CPR, and Movement Research, among others. Her company’s recent dance documentary film, "Waiting for the Bus," explores self-expression, movement, and identity through the lens of autism and has been selected for the 2024 NY Global Lift-Off and Sans Souci Dance Film Festivals.
Since 2019, Graczyk has been a faculty member at the NYC Peridance Certification Program, teaching improvisation. She also works part-time as a Research Specialist at The Rockefeller University in the lab of MacArthur Fellow Dr. Vanessa Ruta, studying olfaction in insects. Graczyk is an author on ten science publications and received a 2020 Pilot Award from Rockefeller University with collaborator and neuroscientist Guadalupe Astorga for research on visual perception and neurodiversity. From 2008 to 2016, she co-directed the performance company Salt Horse in Seattle, receiving funding from 4Culture, Artist Trust, Washington State Arts Commission, NEA, and commissions from the City of Seattle, Northwest Film Forum, and Cornish College. She has collaborated with artists such as John Maria Gutierrez (G^2), Aaron Gabriel, Amy Chavasse, and Torben Ulrich, and has danced for Sara Shelton Mann, Mark Haim, Raja Kelly, and Molly Scott, among others.
@bethgraczyk
Since 2019, Graczyk has been a faculty member at the NYC Peridance Certification Program, teaching improvisation. She also works part-time as a Research Specialist at The Rockefeller University in the lab of MacArthur Fellow Dr. Vanessa Ruta, studying olfaction in insects. Graczyk is an author on ten science publications and received a 2020 Pilot Award from Rockefeller University with collaborator and neuroscientist Guadalupe Astorga for research on visual perception and neurodiversity. From 2008 to 2016, she co-directed the performance company Salt Horse in Seattle, receiving funding from 4Culture, Artist Trust, Washington State Arts Commission, NEA, and commissions from the City of Seattle, Northwest Film Forum, and Cornish College. She has collaborated with artists such as John Maria Gutierrez (G^2), Aaron Gabriel, Amy Chavasse, and Torben Ulrich, and has danced for Sara Shelton Mann, Mark Haim, Raja Kelly, and Molly Scott, among others.
@bethgraczyk
Beth Graczyk Productions, Inc is a 501(c)(3) based in NYC
Beth Graczyk Productions, Inc is committed to anti-racism and de-colonization practices through self-education, community engagement, and sustaining connections and support with individuals and organizations engaging in the work.
Video & edit: Rooftop, Beth Graczyk
Photos: Effy Grey
Photos: Effy Grey