slowdanger

During this Pillow Lab residency in the new Doris Duke Theatre, multidisciplinary performance group slowdanger will develop STORY BALLET, a surreal dance theater quintet with an intergenerational cast, holographic projections, and live sound. The work reimagines Hector Berlioz’s 1830 Symphonie Fantastique as an evening-length performance exploring mental health, escapism, and the question: what holds us together?

Berlioz’s original narrative objectifies “the woman” as an obsession; STORY BALLET queers this concept, reframing it as “dancing with the ghost of one’s self.” Five performers embody facets of a central character, each confronting obsessions and past selves, with noir lighting, Pepper’s ghost–style projections, and live sound underscoring the theme. The work was first incubated at Texas A&M University in 2024 and will premiere at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh in fall 2026.

slowdanger is a multidisciplinary performance entity founded in 2013 by co-artistic directors and life partners anna thompson and taylor knight, creating work at the intersection of dance, sound, and technology. Rooted in queer, non-binary world-building, their practice reimagines performance as a space for embodied intelligence, resilience, and collective transformation. Their work has been shared at The Museum of Modern Art, The Andy Warhol Museum, The Kennedy Center, Dance Place, Springboard Danse Montreal, and internationally at venues such as Place des Arts and Usine C. Named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2018, they have held residencies at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, and Texas A&M University, receiving support from the New England Foundation for the Arts and the National Performance Network. Recent works include SUPERCELL (2023), ABYSS (2025), and the forthcoming STORY BALLET (2026).

Watch Venom, a performance by kNoname Artist | Roderick George, featuring music by slowdanger on Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive: