a new performance work in development directed by Melissa Riker in collaboration with Dr. Martha (Missy) Eppes and the work of Dr. Stephen Laubach and Dr. Jill Marshall

This piece is developed and created via the artists’ research, through collaboration, conversation and the current work of Geologist Dr. Martha Cary (Missy) Eppes and her colleagues Dr. Stephen Laubach, Dr. Rob Lander and the work of subcritical cracking connected to trees.

CURRENT DETAILS

THREAD (working title) is the third work in a series by choreographer Melissa Riker and Kinesis Project in collaboration with geomorphologist Dr. Martha (Missy) Cary-Eppes, researching the parallels between humanity and the Earth's geologic processes. Earlier works - "Capacity, or The Work of Crackling" (2022–2024) and "Bridge Matter/The Reach" (2023–2025) - established this cross-disciplinary foundation.

Imagining the premiere on The Frame in Burlington, THREAD begins with a striking moment of sparkling distance along the waterfront -  one dancer in shades of gold in a harness high on the The Frame, one on the ground below, three more distant along the water's edge and twenty vocalists and musicians set along the edges of the lawn - tattered pieces of golden fabrics flowing from them. THREAD opens with stillness and separation, compelling the viewers glance to take in the entire landscape. As the piece continues, three dancers in harnesses ascend and descend The Frame as others are below, in the footprint of the structure.  The dance expands and contracts, sometimes spread across the surrounding fields. This work uses every available angle of space. The audience is welcome to move, to find their own vantage point, as the dance unfolds. Midway, the performance gently shifts, and the audience finds themselves guided into participation: referencing questions, offering drawings, in interactions initiated by performers. 

Conceptually, THREAD considers the similarities between the delicate, feathery mineral elements that interconnect and create bonds in rock; the thin strands of flax that combine to become rope strong enough to haul a ship; the movement of trees as "agents of progressive rock cracking" (Dr. Jill A. Marshall); and the invisible thread that keeps humans connected to those we love across distance. Riker and Eppes have worked so closely together that they now quote one another. For instance, Eppes tells audiences: "if you get bored of hearing the word 'rock,' replace it with 'people', my work with Melissa Riker has shown the parallels are interchangeable.

 ABOUT THE COLLABORATIONS

Riker has worked with her collaborator Johnny Butler to create a musical concept and structure for the work. With three musicians on the outside of the audience, the music drifts over head as the dance unfolds.

Melissa Riker and Dr. Eppes are continuing their conversations and collaboration and Riker has been the artist in residence for the Penrose 2022 Conference: Failure of Brittle Rocks, an international convening of geologists, geomorphists and mechanical engineers. Riker and Eppes have also co-created a weekend-long experience for scientists, artists and curious community members called CAPACITY, CRACKLING + COLLABORATION.

FUNDING ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS for THREAD - development and performance of this work has been made possible with support by Summer on the Hudson/Riverside Park Conservancy, John C. Robinson, public funds through Creative Engagement, a regrant program administered by LMCC funded by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) with NY City Council and Howard Gilman Foundation, individual donors and Patreon Patrons of Kinesis Project dance theatre.

We are in process of pursuing further funding to continue creating the work.

Venues and Development (2025-2026)

4 Open Rehearsals via “Revealing Dances: The Winter Sessions”

Riverside Park/Summer on the Hudson, NYC (2026)

Cold Hollow Sculpture Park - in Enosburg VT

Lensic 360/Blossoms & Bones Festival, Ghost Ranch, NM

Aire Craft Festival, Issiquah WA 

Contact us to book
THREAD
for your park, site, garden or gallery as we develop the work. This work is part of our geoscience series and is paired with a geology tour, or conversation about the geologic formations, cracks and bonds of the site.

Gallery

OPEN REHEARSALS

NYC - Images by Kirstin Orht and Cheryl French