GRIT

More Info: GRIT Collaborative

Description

GRIT is an interdisciplinary performance of music, dance, and visual art representing the collaborative efforts of Rebekah Chappell (choreographer), Joshua Marquez (composer) and Dana O’Malley (visual artist). Formed by graduate students at the University of Iowa, GRIT is about the perseverance (grit) needed to overcome the obstacles (grit) that we confront in our daily lives and the dialogue needed to grow from them.

Chappell, Marquez, and O’Malley are honored to be presenting GRIT at ​T​he Englert Theatre, a historic venue of collaboration and community engagement in Iowa. GRIT Collaborative will continue working on a variety of projects in the future, including visual/musical installations and performances. For more information, visit gritcollaborative.com.

Rebekah Chappell (choreographer)
Rebekah Chappell is a MFA candidate in the Department of Dance at The University of Iowa and is a performer, teaching artist, and dance maker. She earned her BFA in Dance from Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia. Rebekah has taught dance throughout The United States, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua working with colleges, public and private schools, studios, and community programs. Her choreography considers the relationship between art and efficacy, examining the processes that facilitate a transformation of a person, place, and/or community. She is exploring how to connect embodied movement and lived experiences so that life, art, and the research inform and enrich one another. Rebekah is currently working on her thesis, a performance project titled Flood. The work investigates overwhelming and overflowing states of being, considering the vessels and containers of our lives that have been flooded.

Joshua Marquez (composer)
Joshua Marquez (b. 1990) is a Filipino American composer and Biomusic researcher currently based in Iowa City, Iowa. Marquez’s music has been performed, internationally, by ensembles such as the JACK Quartet, Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players, University of Iowa Center for New Music, Akropolis Reed Quintet, Fresno State New Music Ensemble, Gate City Camerata, Quintet Sirocco, and the Cape Fear Wind Symphony along with performances at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF 2014), the National Student Electronic Music Event (N_SEME 2014),Birmingham New Music Festival, Indiana State University New Music Festival, UNCG New Music Festival, Brave New Works (CA), Stony Brook Premieres! (NYC), Circuit Bridges, Vox Novus Composer’s Voice Concert Series, and the International Ferienkruse für Neue Musik Darmstadt. His music has been heard in venues such as Symphony Space (NYC), Abron Arts Center, Gallery MC, Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, Weatherspoon Art Museum (NC), Hulsey Recital Hall (AL), The Englert Theatre (IA), Georgia Southern University, McIntosh Theatre (KS), as well as other universities and institutions. Joshua’s music for film has also been featured at the Canada International Film Festival and the Utopia Film Festival (MD). His music has been released on the album, Sonic Flux (E.M.P.i.R.E.S) and will be released on an upcoming Quintet Sirocco album. Joshua is currently a PhD candidate (ABD) in composition at the University of Iowa. He holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (MM ’13), and Campbell University (BA ’11).

Dana O’Malley (visual artist)
Dana O’Malley is a visual artist currently based in Iowa City, IA. Her work has been exhibited in Iowa, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. Dana is an MFA candidate in Painting at the University of Iowa, and holds an MA in Painting from the University of Iowa. She is a recipient of the 2015-16 Mildred Pelzer Lynch Fellowship at the University of Iowa.