A Dancer and Chaplain Illuminates the Invisible With Patience In “The Invisible Project,” a premiere at NYU Skirball, the choreographer Keely Garfield’s work as an end-of-life and trauma chaplain informs the dance.
“In her surreal landscapes, dignity and daring hold equal weight. Living takes bravery, and so does the kind of dancing she embraces: vulnerable, brash and unafraid to expose the rawest of nerves.” Gia Kourlas, The New York Times.
Keely Garfield /The New York Times. Photo by Sabrina Santiago.
UPCOMING!
KEELY GARFIELD DANCE
THE INVISIBLE PROJECT
NYU SKIRBALL WORLD PREMIERE - MARCH 1O, 11, 12, 2023
LIMITED SEATING - GET TICKETS TODAY!
TICKETS & EVENT DETAILS - KEELY GARFIELD DANCE/THE INVISIBLE PROJECT
ABOUT THE INVISIBLE PROJECT
An NYU Skirball commission, Keely Garfield Dance’s highly anticipated premiere, The Invisible Project, is a ritualized performance inspired by Garfield’s work as an enduring dance artist, and her covert calling as a hospital chaplain.
Garfield, with collaborators Paul Hamilton, Molly Lieber, Angie Pittman, and Opal Ingle, contends with presence and absence, emotionally extravagant embodiment, and understated disappearing acts to offer a glimpse of hope. Original music from Jeff Berman harmonizes spirited testimonials and percussive soundscapes to underscore the intimacy and largess in the body of the work.
“The Invisible Project is a container for things heretofore invisible that are made visible through the conjuring act of dancing. Things like endurance, rest, patience. It is informed by my role as a chaplain working in end-life and trauma. Chaplains employ a set of skills, or competencies, among them is compassionate presence, reflective listening, bearing witness to suffering, affirming strengths, and facilitating expression of feelings, and meaning making. For me, dancing and making dances utilizes the same skills.” — Keely Garfield
Photos by Whitney Browne. Keely Garfield Dance/The Invisible Project with Keely Garfield, Paul Hamilton, Molly Leiber, Angie Pittman, and Opal Ingle.
The Dharma of Embodiment
Online Workshop at The Village Zendo
with Keely Rakushin Garfield
Sunday, November 21: 3 pm - 4:30 pm
Keely Rakushin Garfield will lead us in an exploration of embodiment through movement and dance. The workshop is open to all bodies and abilities. Wear comfortable clothing, and have pen and paper on hand. Keely’s wide-ranging work in the field of arts and wellness engages dance, yoga, and chaplaincy. www.keelygarfield.nyc
There is a body-there is not a body;
This is me-then again it is not
—Hanshan
The Tang Dynasty poet Hanshan made this curious discovery, inscribed it on a rock, and left no clue behind as to his true identity, when and where he may have actually lived, and when exactly he died. Regarded as an expression of Manjushri, Monk Hanshan’s words essentially challenge the proof of our own eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hearts and minds. We know the world through our direct experience with its innumerable sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and through our feelings and thoughts. As far as we can tell, we locate and store this evidence in our bodies, and create stories to remember. Our stories become the corroboration of our existence, as well as the measure of its meaning. Yet amidst the torrent of noise and movement, the backdrop of silence and stillness gives us pause, and we begin to suspect that there is a body within the body that although we may barely recognize, we intimately comprehend.
For more information and to register click HERE
Twin Pines with Keely Garfield and Anthony Phillips
“Deep Blue Sea” by Bill T. Jones at The Park Avenue Armory - Sept 28 - Oct 9, 2021!
Thrilled to be a Community Captain and performer in this new work…treading the boards again in great company!
Tickets and Information: https://www.armoryonpark.org/programs_events/detail/deep_blue_sea
Photo: Maria Baranova
The Dance Chaplain
Read this article about my work as a hospital chaplain during the pandemic…movement and stillness, sound and silence…it’s all here!
Join me for Pop-Up-Yoga! Contact me for details. Private Yoga, Reiki and UZIT sessions also available.
Watch Choreographer Keely Garfield talk about the making of Perfect Piranha - performed at The Chocolate Factory.
“When Ms. Garfield begins by telling the audience, “None of us can do this on our own,” you might wonder if her tongue is in her cheek. But when the work ends with the dancers turning in a circle, hand in hand as the lights fade, it’s pretty clear that she means it. This is not a war dance. It’s more like prayer.”
Photo: Keely Garfield by Paula Court
MANDALA by Keely Garfield with costumes by Morgane Le Fay
“What forms can we create in modern society that will be conducive to seeing the oneness of life? What are the forms that will make it easier to experience interconnectedness?”
Danspace Project Platform: Dancing Platform - Praying Grounds, Blackness, Churches, and Downtown Dance - March 2018
New York Live Arts - Live Ideas, Radical Vision: Resistance & Friends! - April 2018
Photo: Keely Garfield Dance by Ian Douglas