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creating worlds where imagination

architectu

reform intersect.

WHATWE DO

OURPORTFOLIO

MEETTHE ARTISTS

tori lawrence

pamela vail

christopher landy

vicki brown

ashley lippolis

lora allen

christopher brooks

patrick fink

emily herchenroether

christina knipp

craig harris

awakened ruins

source

the endless round

mission

MISSION:

Inspired by the forgotten, antiquated, deterio-rating, grand, and common, Tori Lawrence + Company creates innovative site-specific dance projects and dance films that investi-gate the relationship between movement and place. The Company is a group of movement artists, musicians, and designers who embed intelligent art into historic buildings and landscapes, creating worlds where imagina-tion, architecture, and form intersect. The live performances invite diverse audiences to appreciate and explore, with active senses, the connection between people and place.

Tori Lawrence + Co. is currenlty in residence at Mascher Space Cooperative (Philadelphia).

webwww.torilawrenceco.com

videovimeo.com/torilawrence

youtube.com/torilawrenceco

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emailtorilawrenceco@gmail.com

Length: original version (45 minutes); stage-adapted version (15 minutes)

Dancers: Emily Herchenroether, Christina Knipp, Tori Lawrence, Ashley Lippolis, Pamela Vail

Musicians: Christopher Brooks (violin), Patrick Fink (piano), Vicki Brown

Costume: Virginia West, Tori Lawrence

Photography: Craig Harris

AWAKENED RUINS

site-specific dance & music installation, choreographed by Tori Lawrence

Performance Engagements:

Philly Fringe Festival | Founder’s Hall at Girard College, Philadelphia | Sept. 2011

New Voices in Live Performance | Center for Performance Research, Brooklyn, NY | May 2012

Lecture-Demonstration at Franklin & Marshall College | Lancaster, PA | Oct. 2011

Mascher Space Cooperative’s Artist-in-Residence Show | The Performance Garage, Philadelphia | Oct. 2011

Cultivate Dance Festival | White Mountain School, Bethlehem, NH | August 2011

Collage Arts Festival | Underground Arts, Philadelphia | May 2010

"Founder's Hall at Girard College is one of those Philadelphia

treasures you might never know about were it not for artists in

search of great spaces. Tori Lawrence + Co. has staged a

haunting Fringe event, ‘Awakened Ruins’, to animate this

majestic 1847 National Historic Landmark. The piece begins

with the sound of Christopher Brooks's violin spectacularly

reverberating off the domed ceilings. Making use of long views

from one space to another, five women dancers caked in white

clay and wearing corseted muslin bodices progress through

the three adjoining rotundas that were Girard College's first

classrooms. Tori Lawrence's choreography, replete with fine

articulations and

carefully placed tableaux, often resembles a slow-moving

sculpture as much as a dance. With its peeling layers of paint

revealing layers of history, the stabilized ruin is traversed

gradually by unison choruses sliding or pressing their way

forward, duos lifting or lying with each other, and dynamic

solos. One breakout moment recalls The Rite of Spring, both

in pianist Patrick Fink's rhythms and in the hunkered-down

group stomps. In a recurring image one dancer seems to

recall actions of classical ballet repeatedly testing the turnout

of her leg, or her ability to unfold into a grand extension.

Memory, decay, and slow-moving time are rich elements of

‘Awakened Ruins’."

REVIEW: AWAKENED RUINS

by Lisa Kraus, for The Philadelphia Inquirer

published Sept. 12, 2011

Chosen as one of Uwishunu.com’s “top picks for performances at unusual locations”

AWAKENED RUINS, A NEW DANCE INSTALLTION IN FOUNDER’S HALL

by Gabrielle Bonghi, for Phrequency

published July 14, 2011

"Tori Lawrence’s upcoming work for the Philly Fringe Festival is a beautiful dance installation titled ‘Awakened Ruins’. It will

premiere in Founder's Hall on Girard College Campus. The building is a historic piece of architecture but exemplifies the urban

decay that seems to invade the city of Philadelphia. The space is grand and beautiful but reveals vulnerability with deep wounds

of corrosion. This piece embodies this architecture through live music, thoughtful choreography, talented dancers and striking

but crumbling costumes that hint at the structures journey itself."

Wish You Were Here: “Fresh Juice” Serves Up Age Old Questions In A New Vessel

by R. Eric Thomas, for Thinking Dance

published October 2011

“Tori Lawrence’s ‘Awakened Ruins’, a site-specific dance created for Girard College and modified for the stage, was a lovely

meditation on the disconnect between intention and action. Two, then three, dancers, caked with chalky power and leaving

plumes of white dust in their wakes, trudged laboriously around the space in distinct sets. The dancers traversed the stage

parallel to each other and later in unison. Their movements doubled and deflated, frustrating their progress. They were beck-

oned, it seemed, by violinist Christopher Brooks’ urgent composition. The music, vibrant and hopeful, was a marked contrast

to lethargic movement phrases. As Brooks’ playing grew more frantic, suggesting drama, the dancers—Emily Herchenroeher,

Ashley Lippolis, Pamela Vail—continued their slow journey with heavy limbs and sluggish feet. It is only when Lippolis’ stone

creature broke free, stumbling and sliding around the space, that music and intention combined in service of a narrative.

Lippolis tottered wildly like a newborn calf, then whirled, gasped and finally wandered off-stage toward the exit as the music

grew reedy and high in a surprisingly tender development.”

DANCING AMONG RUINS: FOR UP-AND-COMING CHOREOGRAPHER TORI LAWRENCE, ALL THE WORLD TRULY IS A STAGE

interview by CRED Magazine

published January 2012

"Tori Lawrence is quickly becoming known in Philly's dance scene for her site-specific installations that explore connections

between architecture and choreography. For a few magical summer evenings, the 23-year old choreographer transformed

Girard College's Founder's Hall, a historic landmark otherwise unseen by Philadelphia's residents, into a grand performance

space for her newest piece, ‘Awakened Ruins’. 'The first time I saw Founder's Hall at Girard College I thought it was the most

beautiful building I'd ever laid eyes on,' said Tori. 'It looked like it belonged in Greece! I thought, I would love to dance in there.'

After an impromptu visit to the site, Tori met with Paul Eaton, the Chair of Girard College’s Fine Arts Department, who invited

Tori to use the space as a venue for her new work. In exchange, she became an artist-in-residence at the school. Twice a week,

Tori and fellow dancer Ashley Lippolis instructed Girard College's young dance students in an innovative curriculum that

focused on creativity, improvisation, and choreography. Their non-traditional approach taught the children how to choreograph

and perform works of their own. Meanwhile, Tori Lawrence + Company rehearsed for a performance that would leave every

member of its audience with goose bumps [...]"

nother hair-standing-on-the-back-of-my-neck performance. How

different was the grandeur of last night's performance, amidst

the peeling paint and crumbling plaster of the time-worn upper

levels of the latter building. Your performance makes an incred

ibly powerful statement. Not only did the dancers awaken those

ruins; they adorned them. Thank you.

--J. Cunningham, Sept. 11, 2011

his was an amazing experience--I'm so glad I was there. I had

goosebumps--wonderful production!

--S. Fink, Sept. 11, 2011

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK: AWAKENED RUINS

A

T

Length: original (50 minutes); stage-adapted version (13 minutes)

Performers: Emily Herchenroether, Tori Lawrence, Jaclyn Malat, Aly Massof

Costume: Holly Andrew, Virginia West, Tori Lawrence

Music: Bing & Ruth

Photography: Peter Cutler, Craig Harris

Video Installation: Tori Lawrence, Hang Pham

SOURCE

site-specific dance, choreographed by Tori Lawrence

Performance Engagements:

Philly Fringe Festival | Power Plant Productions, Philadelphia | Sept. 2010

Eastern Market, Lancaster | April 2010

The Art of Public Memory Conference | University of North Carolina Greensboro | April 2011

Chosen as one of philly.com's "Faves of the 2010 Philly Fringe"

"Down in the windowless basement of an outmoded power

plant, choreographer Tori Lawrence leads a four-woman

troupe through the vast, watery darkness. Their dresses

soaked, their hair casting arcs of droplets, the dancers

careen about the space with little regard for the bewildered

audience. They slip and slide, they grab and lift and drop one

another, staring straight ahead all the while. That's not a

blanket of blankness in their expressions, but of disbelief,

terror, resignation, rue. A short film projected atop their

bodies and an eerie score by Bing & Ruth only add to the

flow. "

"Awesome performance. The most moving dance piece I

have witnessed. The venue, lighting, music and dancing all

melded together to create a mesmerizing yet life-fulfilling

emotion. Look forward to more from this company."

--C. Angelini, Sept. 13, 2010

"It was a beautiful, haunting performance, brilliantly inhabit-

ing this fascinating space and moving among and even with

the audience. An inspiring first for this new dance company!

Can't wait for more."

--Lynn M. Brooks, Sept. 13, 2010

REVIEW: SOURCE

by MJ Fine, for the Philadelphia City Paper

published Sept. 2010 AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

Length: 5 minutes

Dancers: Emily Herchenroether, Jaclyn Malat, Aly Massof

Music: Bing & Ruth

Costume: Virginia West

Camera: Tori Lawrence, Hang Pham

Editing: Tori Lawrence

THE ENDLESS ROUND

dance on film, directed by Tori Lawrence

Performance Engagements:

Philly Fringe Festival | Power Plant Productions, Philadelphia | Sept. 2010

Eastern Market, Lancaster | April 2010

The Art of Public Memory Conference | University of North Carolina Greensboro | April 2011

Tucson’s Synergistic Water Film Festival | The Loft Cinema, Tucson, AZ | March 2011

Franklin & Marshall College Film Festival | Lancaster, PA | May 2010

TORI LAWRENCE

DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER

Tori Lawrence, originally from Atlanta, is the choreographer/director of Philadelphia-based Tori Lawrence + Company. She collaborates

with a group of musicians and dancers on multidisciplinary site-specific installations, dance films, and work for the stage. Known for

exploring the connection between architecture and choreography, Lawrence has created work in historic landmarks such as Founder's

Hall at Girard College (1857), Lancaster's Eastern Market (1883), and Philadelphia's Wilbur Chocolate Factory (1887). Her works have been

performed in the Philly Fringe, American College Dance Festival, Mascher Space Co-op's Fresh Juice, COLLAGE Festival, Franklin &

Marshall College, University of North Carolina Greensboro, New Hampshire, Lancaster, Tucson, and throughout the PA area. She has

taught Master Classes at Franklin & Marshall College and was an artist-in-residence at Girard College, where she taught improvisation

and composition. She graduated with honors from Franklin & Marshall College and holds a B.A. in both dance and public health.

ASHLEY LIPPOLIS

DANCER

Hailing from upstate NY, Ashley Lippolis is a young artist living in Philadelphia with a versatile background in dance, theater, and film.

She earned a BA in dance and psychology from Franklin & Marshall College, where she spent much of her energy on modern dance,

flamenco, musical theater, site-specific art, and dance for film. Ashley learned from a number of wonderful artists at the College,

including Pamela Vail, Lynn Brooks, Elba Hevia y Vaca, Lori Belilove, Jennifer Conley, and Lorry May. While in school, she discovered

Philadelphia's vibrant dance community as an intern for Melanie Stewart Dance Theatre at nEW Festival, and has been hooked ever

since. Soon after, she began putting her writing skills to use for Dadadance Project's Eun Jung Choi and Guillermo Ortega Tanus, whose

artistry she greatly admires. Ashley is currently coordinating a public art outreach program for the Fairmount Park Art Association, an

organization that commissions, interprets, and preserves public art in Philadelphia.

PAMELA VAIL

DANCER

Pamela Vail is a choreographer, performer, improviser, and teacher. She is a co-founding member of the Architects, a performance

improvisation ensemble, with whom Vail teaches, creates, and performs both choreographed and improvised work. She is a founding

member of critically acclaimed New York City-based Yanira Castro | a canary torsi, with whom she has performed extensively since

1995. Vail has also had the pleasure of working with choreographers Terry Creach, Heidi Henderson, Peter Schmitz, and Tori Lawrence,

among others. She teaches master classes and performs her own choreography nationally and internationally, and is currently Assis-

tant Professor of Dance at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. Vail holds a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.F.A. in

dance from Smith College, and has been dancing since she was six years old.

EMILY HERCHENROETHER

DANCER

Emily Herchenroether, originally from Pittsburgh, graduated in 2010 from Franklin & Marshall College, where she double

majored in dance and government. During her senior year, she earned the M. Munson Award in Dance and graduated with

honors for her research project, A Creative Legacy. She has performed in three American College Dance Festivals, 2010 Philly

Fringe Festival, COLLAGE Festival, separate site-specific productions by choreographers Tori Lawrence and Ashley Lippolis,

and work by choreographer Kate Speer. She has studied improvisation with the Architects at the Movement Intensive in

Compositional Improvisation (MICI) and has also participated at The Bates Dance Festival.

VICKI BROWN

VIOLINIST/COMPOSER

Vicki Brown works with musicians and bands, dancers, painters, writers, actors and film makers in the US and abroad. She has

recorded two albums, Winter Garden and Seas & Trees, music from which appears in the Oscar-nominated, Emmy award-winning

film, Gasland (Josh Fox) and in Tori Lawrence + Company's “Awakened Ruins” which premiered at the 2011 Philly Fringe Festival.

Vicki was born and raised in southern Wisconsin and began playing violin at age 9. She has since lived in Brazil and Germany,

studied spider monkeys in Costa Rica, and received a PhD in Psychology from the University of Arizona. She currently works and

lives in Tucson.

CHRISTOPHER BROOKS

VIOLINIST/COMPOSER

Christopher Brooks (violinist) was born and raised in Brooklyn. In high school, he studied at the Manhattan School of Music Prepara-

tory Department and during the summer he trained at the arcadian Kinhaven Music School. Attending the New School of Music in

Philadelphia (a conservatory founded by members of the Curtis Quartet), he studied violin with Jascha Brodsky and Geoffrey

Michaels. He has played chamber music and been a member of numerous orchestras in the US and Europe, including Orquesta

Bética Filarmónica de Sevilla (concertmaster), the Frysk Orkest in the Netherlands, and the Reading, York, and Harrisburg Sympho-

nies (concertmaster). Throughout his performing career he has continued to teach privately. His current musical focus is on jazz and

free improvisation.

In 1988, he embarked on a successful career as an architectural acoustics consultant and works as a Senior Consultant for the

architectural acoustics consulting firm, Acoustic Dimensions. He has published numerous articles and a book, Architectural Acous-

tics (McFarland 2002), a series of informal essays on architectural acoustics and related subjects. He also contributed to the Integra-

tive Design Guide to Green Building (Wiley Publishing, 2009) by a team who began in green design back when it was a fringe pursuit

among architects.He currently lives in Lancaster, PA with his wife, Lynn Brooks, professor of Dance at Franklin & Marshall College.

PATRICK FINK

PIANIST/COMPOSER

Patrick Fink (pianist) was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. He started studying classical piano at the age of five. Eventually he

made the switch to jazz and came to Philadelphia to study at Temple University. Patrick had the opportunity there to learn from great

jazz musicians such as Bruce Barth, Terell Stafford, Joanna Pascale, and others. As the piano player for the Temple University Big

Band, he has had the opportunity to perform with Nicholas Payton, Benny Golson, and Karrin Allyson at venues such as Dizzy's in

Lincoln Center, the 2008 Hague Jazz Festival, the Kimmel Center, and the 2009 Detroit Jazz Festival. In addition, Patrick regularly

performs all over the Philadelphia area as a leader or sideman in various jazz settings.

LORA ALLEN

DANCER

Lora Allen joined Tori Lawrence + Co. as a dancer in 2012. She is a creator, educator, and arts advocator. She graduated from

DeSales University in 2010. Her choreography has been presented at the Philly Fringe, the American College Dance Festival as

well as other theatres and collectives throughout Pennsylvania. Lora is the choreographer and artistic director of allendance. As

an educator, she is currently the assistant director of Sanford Elite Performing Arts Academy in Somerdale NJ. Lora has previ-

ously performed works choreographed by Kate Jewett of Shen Wei Dance Arts, Timothy Cowart, Twyla Tharp's "The One

Hundreds", Isabel Gotkowsky, Alwin Nikolais's "Tensile Involvement", Cleo Mack, Kristen Fieseler, Darcy Lyons, and Loren

Groenendaal. Lora and allendance is currently an artist in residence at the mascher space co-op in Philadelphia.

CHRISTINA KNIPP

DANCER

Christina Knipp, from Baltimore, MD, graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 2009 with a major in Economics and a

double minor in Italian and Dance. She has studied various styles of dance, such as ballet, modern, jazz, tap and hip hop.

Dance has always played a significant role in her life. She was a member of the Franklin and Marshall College Dance Company

for four years. She has performed in various venues, including Franklin & Marshall College, Towson University, Temple Univer-

sity, American College Dance Festival, and in various site-specific dance works. During her senior year, she performed in

Lawrence's Ajar: Through the Mind's Eye. She also choreographed in collaboration with Ashley Lippolis for F&M College's

Spring Dance Concert. Christina continues to study dance in Washington, D.C., where she currently lives and works

CRAIG HARRIS

PHOTOGRAPHER

Craig Harris is based in Philadelphia, PA. He graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 2009. He originally began taking

photographs for the Franklin & Marshall College Dance Company, where he first met Tori Lawrence. He has been taking

photos of Lawrence's work since 2009.

CHRISTOPHER LANDY

CINEMATOGRAPHER

With more than 20 years behind the lens, award-winning cinematographer Christopher Landy creates imagery that is inspiring,

insightful and thought-provoking. His work has taken him around the globe - from the teeming avenues of New York, to the

small dirt tracks of China and Africa, and all points in between. Christopher has done work for clients such as HBO, NFL Films,

Frontline, The BBC, The History Channel and Discovery.