Finding Space
Finding Space is a project created by Boston area choreographer, Madison Florence.
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About Finding Space
Finding Space tells the stories of people with identities often excluded or not recognized for their work in space sciences like those who are women, BIPOC, queer, trans, nonbinary, and parents. Focused on process, this piece is being developed to include the identities of the dancers and welcomes a wide range of dancers participating in the work. Finding Space will become a feature-length performance telling these stories and exploring humanity’s innate fascination with our solar system and beyond. In rehearsals, the dancers explore the themes of space through improvisation, exploration of shapes and lines, proximity to each other, focus and the act of being unseen or seen, and the recorded stories of people in space sciences eventually building to a full-length work.
The identities of the dancers and their stories will become intertwined with the movements and the stories of people in STEM. Capturing the essence of what it has been like and continues to be like working in space sciences, this piece will share those raw experiences as well as the aesthetics and appearance of space and the objects we have sent to space.
This piece will feature 12 dancers as well as a photo gallery featuring current folks who work in the space sciences and video interviews with the highlighted scientists. These works will be on display in the theater on the day of the show and available online afterwards. The video project will highlight excerpts from longer format interviews and direct viewers to a collection of full-length videos that will be free and publicly available for use by teachers, educators, parents, students, and the general public long after the day of the performance.
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About The Director
Madison Florence is a Boston-based dancer and choreographer. Growing up in Connecticut, Madison performed competitively in jazz, hip hop, tap, and modern for 13 years and had ballet training with Connecticut Concert Ballet, Ballet Theater Company lead by Brett Raphael and Román Baca, and the Hartt School. Madison also trained in modern dance with Lorelei Chang in the dancEnlight Pre-Professional Company. Madison attended Simmons University studying Communications and was a dancer, choreographer, and board member of the Simmons University Dance Company. Madison has worked with Skooj, Azeb Freitas and Lilly Reyes and was a company member, choreographer, and Marketing Director for Novum Dance Collective. Madison is currently producing her work Finding Space, a member of Evolve Dynamicz, collaborator with Souls of India, and marketing manager for Rasik Boston and Souls of India. Outside of this work, Madison is also a Senior Product Manager with the Museum of Science.