Creative Traffic Flow Breaks Ground With 'Duets Of Difference' And 'Voices From Roanoke River'

Creative Traffic Flow, a theatre collective committed to creating ensemble-driven performances with queer people, POCs, and women as leaders, gears up for two new performances this fall. Formed by DawN Crandell, Kristin Rose Kelly, and Jeesun Choi, the collective will premiere 'Duets of Difference' at the University Settlement in New York, and 'Voices from the Roanoke River' at the Earth Summit 2018 in Virginia.

Jeesun Choi, one of the co-founders of Creative Traffic Flow, is a transnational playwright/director who creates performances that are socially provocative, physically arresting and entirely human.

Why did you decide to start Creative Traffic Flow (CTF)?

JC: I first met DawN Crandell and Kristin Rose Kelly, the other co-founders, at the National Institute for Directing and Ensemble Creation in Minneapolis. When we touched base in New York after the conference, we realized that we wanted to create a space for ourselves in which we create work that centers cultural, sexual and racial minorities. We really gained momentum when we were chosen as the 2018-19 Artists in Residence at the University Settlement to work on 'Duets of Difference,' a dance-theatre performance that embodies how we find unity and equity despite difference. That show is premiering in late October and our other commissioned piece, 'Voices from the Roanoke River' will premiere in early November. So we have a busy summer and fall ahead!

How do you manage multiple rehearsal processes?

JC: That's the magic and beauty of having a theater collective with multiple leaders. DawN, Kristin and I are very good at discovering where our strengths and availabilities lie and working together to maximize those. Right now it's a little crazy as we are in an active creation/devising process for 'Duets of Difference' and 'Voices from the Roanoke River.' However, I think to develop and premiering such meaningful pieces this year will mean that our work together as a collective will continue to grow.

Tell us a little bit more about 'Voices from the Roanoke River.'

JC: That is a play commissioned by the Clean Valley Council in Roanoke, VA to be performed at the Earth Summit 2018. It's a piece about the historical, cultural, social and environmental perspectives on the Roanoke River and how it has woven itself into the consciousness of human experience over the last few centuries. We are using documentary theater methods and interviews to gather perspectives from the actual residents of Roanoke and synthesizing our other methods to create a performance that really voices the marginalized, and often ignored points of view.

You are a playwright and director who come from a physical theater background.

JC: Yes. I began as a writer but realized that words were not enough to really capture what I wanted to express as an artist. So I spent three years researching and training at Dell'Arte International. That really gave me the foundation to write in ways that are body-centered and to write for the living, breathing body. Much of the responses I've gotten as a physical theater playwright, so to speak, have been that my work is unique in that the world of poetry, human emotions and relationships really gets revealed through the physical world.

How does that affect the work that Creative Traffic Flow produces?

JC: My expertise comes heavily into play in both the rehearsals and meetings. It's also important to note that CTF is very interdisciplinary. Kristin is a director and documentary theatre maker creating poly-vocal work that explores gender and sexuality within specific communities. DawN is an interdisciplinary performing artist creating work in the space where theater, dance, and poetry meet. So when the three of us come together, it's an explosion of experiences, ideas, and methods of theater making.

When we conduct devising rehearsals, like we are currently doing for 'Duets of Difference,' we pull from our diverse backgrounds as artists. My technique really comes into play in the stages when we are preparing the performers to start the creation process. I work a lot with opening up both the mind and the body to host stories, emotions, and thoughts, both old and new.

We found that is extremely crucial when it comes to working with participants from the community. What CTF is doing in our rehearsals is that we are not just teaching methods in which we create performances, but also building a shared vocabulary that we will continue to draw from as we craft a show together.

What are your future plans for CTF?

JC: So much of our work is based in a specific community. We create works that represent and speak to specific communities, whether that be a neighborhood in New York City or a smaller city in rural America. I want to take the work that we do - our community workshops, devising processes and performances - to more audiences. We are New York based, but we are creating work that can be engaged in many different cultural demographics. I see our next few years doing exactly that while developing our collective's methods in creating performances that are meaningful socially, environmentally and politically.

'Duets of Difference' will be performed on October 25-28, 2018 at Speyer Hall (184 Eldridge St) New York, and 'Voices from the Roanoke River' will be performed on November 2, 2018, in Roanoke, VA.