https://www.alyssaemotter.com/projects daily 1.0 2025-02-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1519837896396-0YE4QHTO0IHSDFGCV4SP/Ambiguous+Loss_1.jpg Choreography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1519837203556-1NV6SR4UEEFPO352XV5P/04-26-17+NT+DANCE+THEATER+0222.JPG Choreography - 6 August 1931 (2017) Choreography: Alyssa E. Motter in collaboration with the performers Performers: Dance Theater New Trier Venue: New Trier High School, Cornog Auditorium (Winnetka, IL) Photo Credit: Stuart Rodgers Photography This piece stemmed out of a three-year teaching residency between Motter and Dance Theater New Trier. Each year, Motter conducted choreographic workshops with the dancers and culminated in the presentation of a collaborative work. "Select students also have the unique opportunity to work with returning professional guest artist, Alyssa Motter. Throughout the past two years, Motter has created innovative and beautiful dance works for New Trier students as part of an ongoing collaboration." - The Daily North Shore https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1552001920724-PYLP07A7GV1Q4TQT0WE0/Screen+Shot+2019-03-05+at+5.44.10+PM.png Choreography - The Tests of the Sea Choreography: Alyssa E. Motter in collaboration with the performers Performers: Yariana Baralt Torres, Johannah Wininsky, Christine Betsil, Sasha Vulovic, Jamila Kinney, Ansley Davis Venue: Fulton Street Collective (Chicago, IL) Photo Credit: Michael Myers The Tests of the Sea is an experiment in shared autoethnography conducted by six dancers and a facilitator through a collective reflection on individual stories of loss. The process entailed sourcing an experience or event from each participant's life to use as the primary somatic guide in a series of embodied and dialogic explorations with choreographic outcomes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1519789805375-3U8AGEEL1SPLZYFUZ64U/04-29-15+NTHS+DANCE+THEATER153+copy.JPG Choreography - Passage (2015) Choreography: Alyssa E. Motter in collaboration with the performers Performers: Dance Theater New Trier Venue: New Trier High School, Cornog Auditorium (Winnetka, IL) Photo Credit: Stuart Rodgers Photography This piece stemmed out of a three-year teaching residency between Motter and Dance Theater New Trier. Each year, Motter conducted choreographic workshops with the dancers and culminated in the presentation of a collaborative work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1519790345694-OGAUEG7KSM4D02G5FSVC/DSC_0300.jpg Choreography - Modus Ponens (2017) Choreography: Alyssa E. Motter in collaboration with performer Performer: Ansley Davis Venue: Links Hall (Chicago, IL) Photo Credit: J e l l o Performance Series Modus Ponens is part of a triptych of dances about ritual. Each section of the triptych draws its inspiration from the three stages of ritualistic transformation: separation, liminality, and re-aggregation. Modus Ponens focuses on the third and final stage while drawing inspiration from the previous two. The process used to construct the piece emphasized the ritualism present in my evolving creative practice. The result of this approach was a meta-ritualistic dance – a dance made by ritual about ritual. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1519788366211-TCZ6KA19QKA74ON5PRMW/UWM+Dancemakers+2017-10.jpg Choreography - Liminality (2017) Photo Credit: Mark Frohna   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1519844128215-EFKM4H2V6V4HDIZTOLNR/Ambig+Loss.jpg Choreography - Ambiguous Loss (2017) Choreography & Performance: Alyssa E. Motter Sound and Set Design: Alyssa E. Motter Venue: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Photo Credit: Emily Bennett https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1519833939465-YMK7GG929O3DRNID4ALX/04-28-2016_nt_dance_theater-441.jpg Choreography - Origin (2016) Choreography: Alyssa E. Motter Performers: Dance Theater New Trier Music: Federico Albanese Venue: Gaffney Auditorium, New Trier High School Photo Credit: Stuart Rodgers Photography This piece stemmed out of a three-year teaching residency between Motter and Dance Theater New Trier. Each year, Motter conducted choreographic workshops with the dancers and culminated in the presentation of a collaborative work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1603732355638-GF7TY50CCQLB3478E235/anasolo%25281%2529%2Bcopy.jpg Choreography - Aeroplane (2003) Soloist: Ana Mendez | Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (Urbana, IL) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1738949786877-G56FQU3VT3Z49AWISMR4/image-asset.jpeg Choreography - Interstice (2024) Choreography: Alyssa E. Motter in collaboration with the performers Performers: Eva Burkholder, Gabriella Desch-Obi, Morgan Dreher, Felix Gaddie, Fei Hao, Quillen Kai, Erin Soko, Sophie Teitler, Qianni Wang, Yitong Zhang Projection Design: Dwight Bellisimo Lighting Design: Rembrandt Pieplenbosch Sound Design: Joe Court Costume Design: Jeffery Hancock Venue: Josephine Louis Theater (Evanston, IL) Photo Credit: Justin Barbin This collaborative piece explores the complexity of identity within an individual, highlighting the interactions between these facets as transformative liminal spaces for personal growth. Through movement, the work experiments with the body’s natural asymmetries and organic motion to create cohesive patterns, illustrating how individual actions can spark emergent transitions and collective change. Using improvisational scores as a structural tool, the choreography allows dynamic, organic movement to unfold, shaping an expressive and evolving physical language. https://www.alyssaemotter.com/teaching daily 0.75 2018-04-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1524249375410-XI2N4G6C9CESQRB3DMBO/Screen+Shot+2018-04-20+at+1.35.46+PM.png Teaching - My goal as a teacher is to create learning opportunities that set the metaphysical and physical effects of dance in motion – to allow dance to shape who my students are, how they relate to others, and how they perceive the world. - Alyssa E. Motter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1524250015260-1DJX3OFHONSIYXM9HQ2W/Screen+Shot+2018-04-20+at+1.35.46+PM.png Teaching https://www.alyssaemotter.com/about daily 0.75 2025-02-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1521312874671-L2KEMMV48H5JCMHH0X5J/anasolo%281%29+copy.jpg Artist Statement Aeroplane (2003) performed by Ana Mendez at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, IL. PHOTO CREDIT: MATTHEW CLIFFORD https://www.alyssaemotter.com/publications daily 0.75 2025-02-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1552064105949-JIA22PP2HPQ961ER5XEB/1_FY19-IngriFiksdal-Diorama-1.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Anders Lindén https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1552064510869-RBUE1ZI1WCJQYRMB8BQN/Wirtz_2018_Danceworks_%E2%80%9COn-The-Eve-Of...%E2%80%9D-by-Nejla-Yatkin_JustinBarbinPhotography_Photo7.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Justin Barbin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1554600302510-UT300XG74L28KEMCG6YW/Gauthier_Dance_Eyal-Behar_Killer_Pig_3_Foto_Regina_Brocke.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Regina Brocke https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1552063150035-Q6DQQWZ5BE4ZCIEYDE26/edited.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Cheryl Mann https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1537843342425-56HHGVXBFR6ZQUBLI577/345A9182.JPG Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Henry Trinh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1552063369612-2I7GUT6JMP3LNZYVN7P5/Bard_LiveArts_042917-487.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Julieta Cervantes, courtesy Live Arts Bard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1552063952116-A0JUXNN4129YIEQEK0Q0/LucyScreamBWFTBOMH.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Gregory Hollis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1537288815301-3WYDV5HPCTNF5Y769GHG/PrimeTime_20180915_1034.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Nathan Keay https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1522288825215-82PNF01WY5XC33J5XH08/180118_Dance_ProductionResidency_MadShak_PDembinski-1896.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Philip Edward Dembinski https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1553529398024-CE4VYCHEY15MKIN7W83X/FY19-AnnieDorsen-1.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Julia Cervantes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1539803056201-E8XMYD8JYN39MK2I8CXL/TereOConnor-023.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Ben McKeown https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1564500236262-SVA05D07PCONPGI26LSS/Eifman-Ballet-of-St.-Petersburg-photo-by-Michael-Khoury-14.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Khoury https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1523072193319-R0TOW0M1Y9R4G13NSZNS/20180220_9042_Altman_MillerRethorstMakingRoom.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Robert Altman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1606936933623-WTH3P0YYJGKEVX1TPFC9/201106_Dance_JumaaneTaylorResidency_PDembinski-6181-1536x1024.jpg Writing Jumaane Taylor’s “Dance Buffet” Production Residency/Photo: Philip Dembinski https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1526347775674-K7IOAB1B9IA7WZ70DJDB/Kristi-1.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: MReid Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1552064265027-HCEN9M73H42Z59YLJUYQ/English-National-Ballet-in-Akram-Khans-Giselle-C-Laurent-Liotardo.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Laurent Liotardo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1552063642914-M0OUSX780F9KKMK2AIOV/Image-2-FY19-Relations-RalphLemon-2.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Dan Merlo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1528303934719-XKF08Z8O3R28YRJQGGP5/Tori-and-Grace-no-text.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Jessi Alt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1524962706718-BGV061LXLMTA2F7V2MZE/yatkin.jpg Writing PHOTO CREDIT: Enki Andrews https://www.alyssaemotter.com/read-me daily 0.75 2025-02-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1542663692638-FNODTCDF9THG9WQ4BUBD/04-26-17+NT+DANCE+THEATER+0196.JPG CV Photo Credit: Stuart Rogers Photography https://www.alyssaemotter.com/bio daily 0.75 2025-02-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a961e2f2714e5dd5b3aad47/1519849265969-498QS3H4LOERJGLTRB3V/Alyssa+Mayfield+Picture.png Bio - ALYSSA MOTTER is an interdisciplinary dancemaker and scholar whose work examines how ideas from various fields take shape in the body, facilitating dialogue and collective meaning-making through movement. Her artistic practice emphasizes collaboration and creates experiences that extend beyond performance, engaging audiences through kinesthetic, sensory, and social interaction. Motter's choreographic works have been presented at venues and festivals such as the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Links Hall, Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center, and various academic institutions. As a performer, she has worked with choreographers including Kyle Abraham, Jasmine Hearn, and Nejla Yatkin. Beyond performance and choreography, she has held roles in arts management at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and Carnegie Mellon University and has contributed as a cultural critic and writer for Newcity Chicago. Motter is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Instruction at Northwestern University, where she teaches courses in dance composition, improvisation, autoethnographic dancemaking, and interdisciplinary seminars. She holds an M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee and a B.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on community-building and education through the arts, identity exploration through embodied methodologies, and the integration of movement into science education. Through her choreography, research, and teaching, Motter frames the body as both a subject of inquiry and a site for knowledge creation and exchange within broader cultural and scholarly contexts.