Dance Dramaturg

Working with contemporary performing artists in the development of new works.

 
 

Roles Melanie plays as a Dramaturg

Audience Educator

Choreographic Advisor

Dance Editor

Intimacy Captain

Outside Eye

Performance Coach

Rehearsal Assistant

Researcher

Scribe 

Dramaturgical Statement

As a dramaturg, I work with contemporary performing artists in the development of new works. I am an advocate and empath for the artistic work, and a thought-partner for the artist. Inquiry is at the heart of the process. What does the artist value? What can I identify about the aesthetic to propel the work forward (and when, where, why, how)?  In addition to the traditional work of a dramaturg - research, rehearsal tracking, attending to the narrative threads, synthesizing disparate themes, counsel for the makers and doers – I prioritize composing text to frame the work as the artists want it be received by the audience, critics, and the field at large. My experience as a certified movement analyst and rehearsal director allows artists to utilize me as an “outside eye” and performance coach. My greatest strength is my ability to calibrate to the process and accept artists on their terms. As a result, my dramaturgy history reflects a range of artist aesthetics and genres.
- Melanie George

Hear Melanie speak about her dramaturgical process in this excerpted panel hosted by Gibney Dance.

Selected Work Samples

 
Three dancers shown from the waist up move against a black background. Photo provided by Kimberly Bartosik

Three dancers shown from the waist up move against a black background.
Photo provided by Kimberly Bartosik

Kimberly Bartosik

In 2018, Melanie served as the Dramaturg on Kimberly Bartosik’s piece: I hunger for you as part of the LUMBERYARD's Residency Program. Initially premiering at BAM in 2018, the piece went on to be presented by the SuperSense Festival of the Ecstatic in Melbourne Australia, as well as Bates College, The Flynn, Columbia College Chicago, and the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center.

Read more about I hunger for you and the dance field’s evolving relationship with dramaturgy in The Washington Post article: “Everyone needs an editor, even choreographers.”

 
In a room filled with folding chairs and string and a string-like installation, Melanie is shown sitting a white shirt with her laptop, while Maria Bauman is exploring movement with a chair. Photo provided by Maria Bauman

In a room filled with folding chairs and string and a string-like installation, Melanie is shown sitting a white shirt with her laptop, while Maria Bauman is exploring movement with a chair.
Photo provided by Maria Bauman

Maria Bauman

Melanie contributed to Maria Bauman 2019 piece (re)Source. As the Dramaturg, Melanie wrote in depth about this project as a “work of blood and bone, of muscle and memory. It only lives in Maria Bauman and will likely only ever be performed by her. In part, because it is an improvisational work, but also because the specificity within the thematic content – America, race, family, identity – can only be assembled by way of her understanding of her origin story and place in the world.”

Read more of Melanie’s reflections on this work here — or click below to watch The Chocolate Factory Theater’s recap of their collaboration.

 
Sitting on a wood bench, Melanie speaks with choreographer Helen Simoneau. Both are utilizing hand gestures as they speak. Photo by Kate Enman

Sitting on a wood bench, Melanie speaks with choreographer Helen Simoneau. Both are utilizing hand gestures as they speak.
Photo by Kate Enman

Helen Simoneau

Helen Simoneau “creates work that exists at the intersection of intent and impact,” and Melanie joined Helen as her Dramaturg on Darling, which premiered in early 2020 at the Hanesbrands Theatre in North Carolina.

Dig into the work, read an excerpt from Melanie’s program note, listen, and watch sections of Darling below:

 
1st row L to R: Hope Boykin, Aminata Balde, Samantha Speis, Jawole Zollar, Melanie George, Gayle Fekete, Sharon Bridgforth. 2nd row: Ni'Ja Whitson, Jennifer Calienes, Douglas Corbin, Katherine Profeta, Chanon Judson, Maria Bauman, Stephanie McKee, Cheri Stokes, Ananya Chatterjea. Photo taken November 11, 2018 & provided by Urban Bush Women.

1st row L to R: Hope Boykin, Aminata Balde, Samantha Speis, Jawole Zollar, Melanie George, Gayle Fekete, Sharon Bridgforth. 2nd row: Ni'Ja Whitson, Jennifer Calienes, Douglas Corbin, Katherine Profeta, Chanon Judson, Maria Bauman, Stephanie McKee, Cheri Stokes, Ananya Chatterjea.
Photo taken November 11, 2018 & provided by Urban Bush Women.

Urban Bush Women

Melanie was invited to be the Co-Facilitator of Urban Bush Woman’s Choreographic Center Initiative (CCI)'s 2018 Dramaturgical convening. The first of its kind, CCI prioritizes the building of nationwide partnerships and relationships over physical spaces, with the specific focus to investigate and uplift Black Women(+) choreographers’ experiences, voices, and futures.

Read more about the second dramaturgical convening hosed by Urban Bush Women below:

 

“You can ask her [Melanie] anything about the work, and her response will be something that furthers your thinking. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and she effortlessly articulates questions, patterns, concepts, rhythms, metaphors she sees set into motion by the work.”

— Susan Marshall
Photo of Marshall'‘s 2016 work Chromatic, captured by Peter Serling

Current 

Projects & Collaborations:

 

PAST

FOR LUMBERYARD (2016-2020)

Residency Support

Extended Projects for Lumberyard