Cinderbox 18 - Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

Lucky Plush Productions
Cinderbox 18
Photo by Cheryl Mann
Lucky PLush
Productions
Cinderbox 18
Thursday–Saturday, November 15–17, 2007
Artistic Director and
Choreographer: Julia Rhoads
Performers and Collaborators:
Lia Bonfilio
Benjamin Law
Elizabeth Lentz
Marc Macaranas
Jennifer Meek
Zachary Whittenburg
Meghann Rose Wilkinson
Julia Wollrab
Special thanks to Joanna
Rosenthal for her contributions to
the development of this work.
Composer: David Pavkovic
Video Designer: John Boesche
Lighting Designer, Stage
Manager, and Technical
Director: Kevin Rechner
Costume Designer: Je=ery
Hancock
Original text: Julia Rhoads and
Performers
Additional music: The Clogs,
Sigur Rós, and Yes
Many thanks to Peter Taub,
Yolanda Cesta Cursach, Sarah Wambold, and
Surinder Martignetti as well as to the sta=
and crew at the MCA who made these performances
possible.
Thanks also to Lia Bonfilio, Marshelle Williams,
Cheryl Mann, Tobin Del Cuore, Leslie Buxbaum
Danzig, Peter Carpenter, Jon Sherman, Scott
Silberstein and HMS Media, Neal Bader and the
Menomonee Club, Nicolle Wood and Galaxie,
and Alex, Sadie, and Vera Brenneman.
Backstage hospitality generously provided by
Whole Foods Market

Artists uP cLose
Join us for these upcoming programs with the artists.
Thursday, November 15
First Night
Audience members are invited to join Peter Taub,
Director of MCA Performance Programs, in an insightful
postshow talk with Julia Rhoads and members of
Lucky Plush Productions.
Saturday, November 17
Dance Pulse
11 am–1 pm
Members of Lucky Plush Productions lead this openlevel
dance-theater workshop. Drawing from the process
used in the creation of Cinderbox 18, participants
will choreograph their own responses to what they
perceive as the most important cultural and social
phenomena shaping their lives.
Saturday, November 17
Roundtable
2–4 pm
Join the discussion with Julia Rhoads and guest artists
and scholars including Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, Artistic
Director of 500 Clown, and Daria Tsoupikova, Assistant
Professor in the School of Art and Design at the
University of Illinois at Chicago. Rhoads and Danzig
will use examples from their work to launch a talk
about the ways artists are responding to our highly networked
culture. Tsoupikova will address technology’s
ubiquity and accessibility with respect to phenomena
such as YouTube, MySpace, and reality tv as well as
the broadening range of interdisciplinary work in the
arts. Questioning the influence of the media and vast
Internet platforms, the group will talk about issues of
authenticity and appropriation. Attention will also be
given to the ways that artists maintain rigor in their personal
inquiries and speci>c >elds in a culture increasingly
drawn to hybrid works.
From the Artist
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
—Albert Einstein
A few years ago I broke a long hiatus from watching
television. Not only was I surprised to realize that
just about every other show is reality tv or some
type of criminal drama, I was even more bothered
by my own late-night attraction to this voyeuristic
and purportedly unscripted programming. My fascination
with its widespread success became the
basis of my initial inquiries for Cinderbox 18. In the
studio I began working with the performers to generate
material around related ideas of spectatorship,
competition, anxiety, vulnerability, virtuosity, failure,
violence, the manufacture of personal story into
anecdote, and the gray area between reality and fabrication
in our networked culture.
Cinderbox 18 has been created over nearly a yearlong
process, and these initial conceptual ideas
have been overshadowed through an extended
process of sedimentation. Movements that were
originally developed in relation to concept are now
the basis of a vocabulary rooted in relationship and
history. This has allowed the performers to inhabit
the work with immediacy and response rather than
to perform a prescribed choreographic score.
Cinderbox 18 is both consistent with a trajectory in
my work and a point of departure for the company.
I have always been interested in creating conceptbased
works that explore individual behavior
and relationships. I have also been challenged
to explore the intersection between dance and
theater that allows for the expression of technical
dance, but with a more human and responsebased
sensibility. Cinderbox 18 has been the first
process where we have had the time to focus on
performance intent in a deep way. Throughout
the process I have layered the structure with
unknown variables to increase the level of risk as
the performers become vulnerable in experiencing
the unknown. In this way, they are intentional
agents in the subtle di=erences that define every
performance.
I would like to emphasize that Cinderbox 18 is a collaborative
e=ort. The distinct environment of the
work could not have been achieved without the
ongoing input of our composer David Pavkovic and
designers John Boesche, Kevin Rechner, and Je=ery
Hancock. But most of all, I would like to acknowledge
the role of the performers whose contributions
have truly shaped the speci>c character of the work.
We are absolutely thrilled to premiere Cinderbox 18
at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Julia Rhoads
Artistic Director of Lucky Plush
Productions
About the Artists
Led by choreographer Julia Rhoads, Lucky Plush
Productions is a dance-theater company that
creates immersive environments through striking
visual design and movement that is intensely
physical and surprisingly gestural. Rhoads, known
for her theatrical savvy, is often recognized for
the boldness, modern sensibility, and intelligence
found in her work. Since founding the company in
1999, Rhoads has facilitated the relationship among
dance, performance, and new media technologies,
o=ering a distinctive interdisciplinary platform for
innovative artists in Chicago.
Lucky Plush Productions has premiered 27 original
works including performance installations, a
CineDance work, and six evening-length productions.
The company has partnered with Chicago’s
Redmoon Theater, Walkabout Theater, and the
interdisciplinary collective M5. Due to Lucky Plush
Productions’ distinctive brand of dance theater, the
company has performed in a wide range of dance,
theater, and performance venues. Beyond performing
extensively throughout the Chicago area at locations
such as the Great Hall in Union Station and the Lurie
Garden in Millennium Park, Lucky Plush has toured
in Alaska and created site-speci>c work in Wisconsin,
Michigan, and Illinois. For more information, visit
www.luckyplush.com.
Julia Rhoads
earned a bachelor’s degree in history from
Northwestern University and a master of fine
arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago. She has been a company member of the
Salt Creek Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet, as well
as a performer and artistic associate of XSIGHT!
Performance Group (1995–2000). Rhoads has
created more than 25 original works with Lucky Plush
Productions, including numerous repertory dance
pieces, performance installations, a dance film, and
six evening-length productions. Rhoads’s independent
work has been commissioned by Alaska Dance
Theater, Mordine & Company Dance Theater, and
twice by River North Dance Chicago. She has also
directed and choreographed projects for Redmoon
Theater, Walkabout Theater, Hyperdelic, and the
interdisciplinary collective M5. Rhoads has received a
Cli= Dwellers Foundation Award for choreography, an
Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for choreography (2000
and 2006), a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, and a Chicago
Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Award. She is currently
on faculty in the theater department at Columbia
College Chicago.
John Boesche
last worked with Lucky Plush Productions for Lulu
Sleeps in 2005. His set designs and productions for
dance, theater, and opera have been seen by Chicago

audiences in Julius Caesar at
Chicago Shakespeare Theater;
Pictures At An Exhibition at Chicago
Symphony Orchestra; Vigils at
Goodman Theatre; Great Men Of
Science at Lookingglass Theatre;
Sunset Boulevard at Marriott
Lincolnshire Theatre; ReSound
at Mordine & Company Dance
Theater; Sunday In The Park
With George at Ravinia Festival;
and Monsieur Chopin at the Royal
George Theatre, among others.
He recently received a DC Metro
Dance Award for Excellence
in Stage Design/Multimedia
for Liz Lerman’s Ferocious Beauty:
Genome, seen at the MCA in
fall 2006. Boesche received a
Joseph Je=erson Special Award
for projection design in 2005.
Lia Bonfilio
is from Minneapolis and earned
a bachelor’s degree in dance from
Columbia College Chicago, where
she was privileged to perform
in the works of Jan Erkert, Molly
Shanahan, and Emily Stein.
Also a member of Mordine &
Company Dance Theater, Bonfilio
is thrilled to be performing in
her second season with Lucky
Plush Productions.
Je¤ery Hancock
has been involved with garment
construction and design his entire
life. Early training by his mother
and grandmother was followed
by learning various techniques
and machines in classes as well
as a lot of work in his lab. He has
designed and constructed clothing
and costumes formally since
1984; his long career as a dancer
has led to many opportunities in
the field. Hancock has an eclectic
design history, including work
with River North Chicago Dance
Company, Gus Giordano Jazz
Dance Chicago, Chicago Cultural
Center operas, Columbia College
Chicago, Ginger Farley, The Dance
COLEctive, Peter Carpenter, Same
Planet Di=erent World Dance
Theatre, Dance Kaleidoscope, and
many other artists and companies.
His design company “-ish” was
formed in 2007.
Benjamin Law
received his bachelor’s degree
from Beloit College in 2005.
Aside from his work with Lucky
Plush Productions, he is a
member of Mordine & Company
Dance Theater and Concert
Dance, Inc. He has also performed
with Instruments of Movement,
Hedwig Dances, and The Dance
COLEctive. Law is currently
on the faculty at Northeastern
Illinois University.
Elizabeth Lentz
is happy to be in her fifth season
with Lucky Plush Productions.
A graduate of Carleton College,
she has danced with Breakbone
DanceCo., Chicago Moving
Company, Cindy Brandle, Rachel
Bunting, Mark Dendy, Sonje Mayo,
Sheldon B. Smith, and Tennessee
Dance Theatre among others.
Lentz currently teaches at Loyola
Academy and in the dance and
theater departments of Columbia
College Chicago. She also choreographs
sketch comedy and
leads workshops and retreats on
spirituality and movement for the
pastoral care unit at Northwestern
Hospital and First United
Methodist Church in Evanston.
Each fall she coproduces and
curates The Other Dance Festival,
which presents many of Chicago’s
finest modern dance companies
and choreographers.
Marc Macaranas
is originally from Delano,
California. He graduated cum
laude from the University of
California, Irvine, and was a
student at the School at Jacob’s
Pillow. In addition to Lucky Plush
Productions, he performs
with Mordine & Company Dance
Theater, teaches at Dance Center
Evanston, and has appeared
in Thodos Dance Chicago’s New
Dances project.
Jennifer Meek
graduated magna cum laude
from Point Park University
where she received a bachelor
of fine arts degree in modern
and jazz dance. She had the
privilege of performing the works
of many world-renowned choreographers
including Robert
Battle, Sean Curran, Daniel
Ezralow, Lar Lubovitch, Joseph
Mooradian, David Parsons, Ann
Reinking, Margo Sappington, and
Lauri Stallings. She performed,
taught, and choreographed for
Thodos Dance Chicago for four
years. Currently, Meek is honored
to work with Lucky Plush
Productions, Hedwig Dances, and
Concert Dance, Inc.
David Pavkovic
is a composer and drummer who
has focused much of his music on
dance and theater and has worked
with many Chicago companies.
Pavkovic composed the score for
Nelson Algren: For Keeps and
a Single Day with the Lookingglass
Theater Company and scored
the television version for WTTW.
As a drummer, he has enjoyed
tours in Europe and North
America with jazz and rock bands,
and his recordings are widely
distributed. His daytime hours
are spent as an IT professional,
designing and building large-scale
computer systems for Chicago-
area businesses. Pavkovic also
enjoys teaching his two-year-old
daughter how to play the drums,
which she calls the “mums.”
Kevin Rechner
has been Production Manager,
Technical Director, and Lighting
Designer for the Dance Center
of Columbia College Chicago
since 1996. He has a bachelor’s
degree in theater from Illinois
State University and spent three
years in Paris studying movement
theater with Jacques Lecoq
and Daniel Stein. He has created
four solo performance works
including I Am Hugo. Technically,
Rechner has worn many hats for
many people including: Ballet
Theatre of Chicago, Deeply Rooted
Dance Theater, Hedwig Dances,
the Jo=rey Ballet of Chicago,
Akira Kasai, MASS Ensemble,
Momenta!, Robin Lakes Rough
Dance, Daniel Stein, XSIGHT!
Performance Group, Kota
Yamazaki, and others. He has
designed lights for The Dance
COLEctive, HT Chen and Dancers,
Latin Street Dancing, Lifeline
Theatre, Lucky Plush Productions,
Luna Negra Dance Theater,
Mordine & Company Dance
Theater, Natya Dance Theatre,
Peter Carpenter, The Seldoms,
Urban Bush Women, and others.
He served as the lighting designer
and technical director for the
Dance Division of the National
High School Institute for five years
and can still say “stop” and “no”
in many languages.
Joanna Rosenthal
is in her fifth season with Lucky
Plush Productions and is also
Co-artistic Director of and dancer
with Same Planet Di=erent World
Dance Theatre. She received
her bachelor of fine arts degree in
dance from the University of
Iowa and is currently pursuing
a master of fine arts degree there.
Her performing credits include
the Chicago Moving Company,
Hedwig Dances, and Mordine
& Company Dance Theater as
well as other independent choreographers.
For the past several
years, Rosenthal has taught at the
Dance Center of Columbia College
Chicago. She also taught extensively
in the suburbs and choreographed
for local high schools.
Zachary Whittenburg
is originally from Boulder,
Colorado. Beginning his career
with Seattle’s Pacific Northwest
Ballet, Whittenburg has also
performed with North Carolina
Dance Theatre, Hubbard Street
Dance Chicago, and Montreal’s
[bjm_danse]. Now in his third
season with Lucky Plush
Productions, Whittenburg has
also choreographed Folding Chair

Stamp (2006) for Lucky Plush
and presented trailerpilot in
Chicago and Canada.
Meghann Rose Wilkinson
is a graduate of Northwestern
University and is happily beginning
her fourth season with Lucky
Plush Productions. She is a
collaborating member of Raizel
Performances and has appeared
in Chicago in the works of Lisa
Wymore and Sheldon B. Smith,
Felix Ruckert, and Shirley
Mordine. Wilkinson teaches at
Northwestern University and
Dance Center Evanston and
is a coordinator for the Chicago
Seminar on Dance and
Performance.
Julia Wollrab
studied at the National Ballet
School of Canada in Toronto and
entered the National Ballet of
Canada in 1987, later becoming
a soloist. In 1995 she joined
the Ballet du Grand Théâtre
de Genève in Switzerland and performed
the works of Nacho Duato,
William Forsythe, Michel
Kelemenis, Maguy Marin, Amanda
Miller, and Ohad Naharin, among
others. After working with
Galili Dance in the Netherlands
and Ballet British Columbia,
Wollrab danced with Hubbard
Street Dance Chicago from 2002
to 2006. She is now studying fulltime
at the University of Chicago.
Luck PLush Productions
seAson suPPorters
Lucky Plush Productions
Board of Directors
Bette Rosenstein, President
Elaine Adams
Alex Brenneman
Marcia Lohner
Julia Rhoads
Kay Vee Rhoads
Thor Saline, Advisory
Paul Rhoads, Advisory
Foundation and government
Alphawood Foundation
Arts Work Fund
Chicago Community Foundation
The Elizabeth F. Cheney
Foundation
Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley
Foundation
The Grover Hermann Foundation
Illinois Arts Council, a state agency
The Mayer & Morris Kaplan Family
Foundation
Peter G. and Elizabeth Torosian
Foundation
Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Individual
Elaine Adams
Lauren and Dallas Allison
Donna Aylesworth
Gloria and Jim Baird
Jan Bartoszek
Sheila and Rick Blair
Roberta and Stephen Bonfilio
Stanley Brown
Jeanine and Carl Brownell
Judy Bulger
Geraldine Callanan
Nancy and Chris Cassidy
Margi Cole
Terri Jo and David Englund
Christophe Gauspohl
Hunter and Kristina Geye
Debra and Patrick Giordano
Paul Matthew Glavin
Margot and Dick Glenn
Colleen Halloran
Nancy and David Hayden
Nancy R. Hayden
Michael Henchman
Liane and David Hodgman
Cathie Hu=ord
Patricia and Mike Huth
Amy Jacksic
Marty Johnson
Logan Kibens and Sharon Greene
Mary Ann and Preston Lentz
Paulette Lloyd
Marcia and Virginia Lohner
Victoria Lyman
O. J. Mavon
Katheryn and Edward Meek
Martha Mulligan
Paul and Suzanne Murin
Gary Neul
Jennifer and Robin Pastore
Nancy and Ray Powers
Mark Reese
Alice and Gurrie Rhoads
Kay Vee and Paul Rhoads
Bette Rosenstein and John Brix
William Savage
Jeannine and John Schutz
Connie and Larry Scott
Patricia Sigurdson
Mary Smith
Jamie Spirakes
Peter Taub
Sean Taylor
Pamela and Matthew Thelen
William Thurmond
Laura Wade
Kari Wall
The Weasel Fund
Susanne Caroll Wren
Bobbi and Sheldon Zabel
Lucky Plush Productions is a
nonprofit organization. Your
contributions are greatly appreciated
and are tax deductible
to the extent allowed by law.
Lucky Plush Productions
301 Olmsted Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
773.862.9484
www.luckyplush.com