2022-2023 Dancemakers Laboratory Resident

Artist Bio

Originally from Bangor, Maine, Audrey MacLean is a Boston-based dance/performance artist. Since graduating from Connecticut College, Audrey has had the pleasure of performing throughout the Northeast in work by a number of artists including: Jimena Bermejo, Peter DiMuro, Michael Foley, Morgan Griffin, Heidi Henderson, Kimberleigh Holman, Grant Jacoby, Annie Kloppenberg, Betsy Miller, Ruckus Dance, and Kristin Wagner.

Audrey’s own work has been presented through Green Street Studio’s New Works program (2013), The Dance Complex’s aMaSSiT program (2015), as part of DanceNOW Boston (2016), in DanceNOW NYC’s Fall On Demand Program (2021), and at a number of New England theaters and festivals.

Audrey has also been a guest teacher in both technique and composition classes at: Berklee College of Music, The Dance Complex, Développé, Moving Target (Boston and Portland), Rising Tide Charter School, and Wilmington Dance Academy.

Project Description:

Made up of vignettes, other stuff  aims to explore the emotions attached to simple human tasks. The piece strives to create a feeling of shared understanding between performers and audience members by literally performing those tasks on stage. I believe that no matter how inconsequential something seems on the surface, it can hold a great deal of nostalgia or memory for someone, and I hope to uncover those feelings. Some of the questions other stuff aims to investigate are:

• Can an overarching concept or idea be represented through task-based movement, and can something individually important resonate with an entire audience?
• How can a performer share their in-the-moment emotions honestly with an audience without getting wrapped-up in any “put on” theatrics?
• How can you create an experience that feels authentic, genuine, and exciting for both the performer and viewer?
• How many paper airplanes can you realistically fold in two minutes?

The catalyst that led to the creation of other stuff was a vignette prompted by a random promise made to a college roommate and a poem by Wendy Cope, which ended up delving into these overarching questions. Each subsequent vignette will have a life of its own based on the individual stories of its performers; able to stand on its own but part of a larger picture. Just like all of us.