GUILFORD — Vermont Performance Lab created the SEED Program in 2015 to help strengthen dance in the region by supporting local choreographers in the creation of new work.
The program invests in Vermont artists by connecting them with tools and resources that build their work and capacity, according to a news release. Selection for SEED is a competitive process managed by VPL and each artist chosen is provided an artist fee, a residency at VPL, housing for up to five people for the residency, a travel stipend, and production support.
This year, VPL has selected Pauline Jennings of Jericho as the 2018 SEED Artist. The award and VPL residency will support the development of “Sea Inside our Skin” an audience-immersive, multi-media duet rooted in a Chinese maxim translated as “drink the water, remember its source.”
Jennings is a contemporary choreographer who is compelled to solve critical questions through her body and its relationship to others via responsive systems. Her choreographic method is aimed at providing a journey for both dancers and audience, and Jennings also shares VPL's commitment to engaging local audiences in the artistic process.
Jennings' choreography for stage and interactive installations has been performed both nationally and internationally in festivals and showcases.
In addition, VPL is making two Seedling Awards for 2018. Lida Winfield of Middlebury will use the award to support her newest work, “Imaginary,” which mixes dance, theater, and an original audio score to engage community and audience members on how the imagination assists in shaping our potential, our reality, and our world.
Winfield is an innovative and accomplished dancer, choreographer, spoken word artist, and educator. She has taught and performed extensively, including at Roger Williams University, Habla: The Center for Language and Culture in Mexico, National Dance Association Conference, Skidmore College, the Bates Dance Festival, and Middlebury College.
Megan Buchanan of Guilford will use the Seedling Award to remount “Regnerations,” an interdisciplinary and collaborative dance, live music, installation, and poetry performance project that seeks to reckon with and respond to the closure of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Generating Station in Vernon.
Buchanan is a dancemaker, poet, and performer who often creates larger-scale, collaborative projects inspired by a specific site, concern or concept. Buchanan has performed in major contemporary dance festivals in Dublin, London, and Berlin with Daghdha Dance Theatre, and her work includes lead roles in contemporary projects in Los Angeles.