BOOMERANG is a daringly physical, poetically nuanced dance and performance project created in 2012 by co-directors Matty Davis and Kora Radella with founding member Adrian Galvin. Recognizing the body as an evolving repository for both physical and psychological life, BOOMERANG sifts through and siphons from the rich, eclectic histories that constitute the personhoods of the people with whom they work. BOOMERANG’s work has been presented in NYC at venues including Judson Church, Center for Performance Research, Dixon Place, Roulette, Triskelion Arts, the Irondale Center, and at the United Nations, as well as in Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Grand Rapids. They’re also keen on presenting their work in a wide variety of alternative spaces, from parks to vineyards, streets to the mountains, and within academic and school contexts. This past June and July, they made their European debut with performances in Berlin and Barcelona. Most recently, they were shortlisted as 1 of 20 juried finalists for the Grand Jury Prize at ArtPrize7, having been selected as among the top 5 time based artists by Sundance’s Shari Frilot. In March 2016, BOOMERANG will premiere a commissioned evening length, in collaboration with drummer Greg Saunier of the band Deerhoof, at Dixon Place. For more information, please visit www.boomerang.com
Matty Davis is a co-artistic director and the principal performer within BOOMERANG. He is also a visual artist, jewelry maker, and athlete. Far from the stage and studio, he has mounted guerrilla style performances in Death Valley, rural Oklahoma, and on deserted trailers in the Great Smokey Mountains. His work pits the body against often radical undertakings and journeys that explore the limits and empathic possibilities of embodiment, as well as the origin of materials and mark making. In 2015, he was selected as one of 80 international artists from nearly 30 countries to participate in Robert Wilson’s International Summer Program at the Watermill Center. He has studied at Kenyon College, the American Dance Festival, P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels, Belgium, and is currently pursuing his MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. More information about his work can found at www.mattywdavis.com
Adrian Galvin is a cofounder and dancer with BOOMERANG. He is a yoga teacher at Katonah Yoga in New York City and musician with the band Poor Remy and his own work. More information about Poor Remy can be found at www.poorremy.com. His work with Yellerkin created an EP that was received with critical acclaim and that music can be found via www.soundcloud.com/yellerkin. Galvin graduated from Kenyon College (2012), where he designed his own major in liberation theology and German Social Theory.
Kora Radella is the choreographer and a co-artistic director of BOOMERANG. In addition to her work with BOOMERANG, she is the artistic director of Double-Edge Dance, whose work has been performed in cities including Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Basel, Cleveland, London, and New York City. Noted for her use of “awkward grace,” she researches being on the edge of control, pushing both physical and psychological balances. Radella received a 2014 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. Her honors also include the Ineke Sluiter Prize for choreography in Amsterdam, a fellowship from the Belgian American Educational Foundation for choreographic research in Brussels, and numerous grants. Radella’s primary teaching interests include contemporary dance technique with dynamic release principles, improvisation, choreography, and movement for actors. Radella is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Kenyon College and a certified yoga teacher (500RYT).
Greg Saunier is best known as the drummer of acclaimed rock band Deerhoof. Since he cofounded the group in 1994, he has produced or coproduced their 13 albums, and been their most consistent songwriter. As a drummer he has performed drums onstage or on recordings with Laurie Anderson, Anthony Braxton, David Byrne, Yoko Ono, Konono No. 1, and The Flaming Lips. He is active in the free music scene in New York and has released improvisation records with Sean Lennon, Zach Hill, Joanna Newsom, and Brian Chippendale. He is a sought after producer and remixer for other artists including Maroon 5, Xiu Xiu, Marc Ribot, and Mantra Percussion Ensemble He has composed notated works for yMusic, Brooklyn Rider String Quartet, Ensemble Dal Niente, Ecstatic Percussion, Daan Vandewalle, Spektral Quartet, and Empire DriveIn Casio Orchestra. This year will see the release of his “Deerhoof Chamber Variations” by Stargaze Ensemble, the performance of a new work for Kronos Quartet, “String Quartet” with choreography by Pam Tanowitz at the Vail International Dance Festival and Lincoln Center, and the premiere of a new evening length work with BOOMERANG at Dixon Place in March 2016. More information about Deerhoof can be found at deerhoof.net.
By pushing physical extremes with sensitivity and rigor in dance and musical performance, Matty Davis will create a new work that interrogates the relationship between memory and ‘active forgetting.’