Blind Date: Holy People & Emily Kessler

On Friday, February 9th at 8pm, just a few days before Valentine’s Day, 2024 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow and interdisciplinary artist Lina Azalea Dahbour presents the first program in her “Blind Date” series—Tiny Conversation Hearts. This Winter, between phases of renovation, ISSUE returns to our 22 Boerum Pl. theater for a series of limited capacity Artist-In-Residence and Fellowship events. 

Tiny Conversation Hearts asks four performers to complete a series of risky tasks: take a singular score (in this case, a newly commissioned score by choreographer Alexa West), go home by their lonesome, create a piece based on the score, and show up on the night of the event to perform their piece at the same time as another artist working in a different medium, with no knowledge of the other artist’s plans. 

In an attempt to depart from the mono dynamic, algorithmically feasible pairings modern technology seeks to offer us, Dahbour has selected two dancers and two musicians with differing and distinctive voices to be paired in this first dance/music cross-genre “Blind Date” experiment. Conceptually oriented, multimedia dance artist Dominica Greene is paired with cathartic, aural channeler Nyhne; geometrically-minded movement investigator Emily Kessler is paired with sonic collagist Holy People.

Dahbour notes, “Tiny Conversation Hearts is a hopelessly romantic quest to find unexpected, chance-based artistic partnerships. What can we learn about our differences & samenesses from witnessing a kaleidoscope of score interpretations? What do we experience when improvisation lives in the overlap between interdisciplinary artistic monologues? Will any of the artists find creative love? Or will the night be filled with awkwardness and missed opportunities?” 

Emily Kessler is a multinational dance-based artist who was raised in the United States and Switzerland. Her choreographic work has been performed in Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, Singapore, and Vietnam. Collaboration being at the helm of her process, Emily created POGO in early 2020 to deepen her artistic endeavors with others. Through POGO she has released her first film, choreographed music videos, created work for stage and the outdoors, and curated and produced seasons of a dance showcase series for NYC-based artists. Her recent work has been presented by PAGEANT,  Arts On Site, and the Locker Room. Additionally, Emily is a MOtiVE 2023 AiR and has been in residence at Mount Tremper Arts, Chapman Steamer Arts, Sky Hill Farm Studio, Utica Dance, Peaceable Barn, and the Neuberger Museum of Art. She graduated from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, earning a BFA in Performance and Composition and a minor in Art History.

Holy People is the solo-music project of Leah Victoria, a narrative artist & experimental composer based in NYC. Leah’s practice is influenced by her connection to home, healing, and ancestral memory. Her debut LP, Jester to Her Majesty the People, was released in 2019.