SYNCHRONICITY Makes Its World Premiere At Arts On Site, New York City

Emerging Choreographer Stephanie Shin premieres her newest evening length work SYNCHRONICITY, Friday, March 10, 2023 at 6:30pm & 8:30pm and Saturday, March 11, 2023 6:30pm & 8:30pm, 2023 at Arts on Site, 12 St Marks Place, New York, NY 10003. Closest Subways: 6 Train at Astor Place, R/W Trains at 8th Street.

SYNCHRONICITY originally derives from Shin's experience as an Asian-American woman living in a city where violence toward her demographic has increased in recent years. Specifically, her recurring experience of meeting eyes with other Asian women while waiting for the subway in New York City. She said that these instances created an unspoken agreement to be there for each other if a situation were to escalate. While this may seem unimportant to an outsider, acknowledging its significance gave Shin solace in a time when comfort was scarce.

Experiences like these informed her creative process, as she shifted her interest to moments of coincidental unison, syncing pathways of movement, and intersecting bodies in space. The work questions the stakes of being in the right place at the right time, and this idea required additional dancers to explore.

In addition to this probing, SYNCHRONICITY asks the following: Why is there potential for good things to occur when we least expect it? Can meaning come from coincidences in our lives, or do we create the meaning after observing a coincidence?

Local dance artists collaborating with Shin to present the work include Buglisi Dance Theatre and Lane Co Arts dancer Emily Aslin, who also serves here as Artistic Associate, JChen Project and Periapsis dancer Maya Lam as well as Gotham Dance Theater dancer Celinna Haber, and NYU Tisch Dance alumna and five two Dance Company member Rachel Ha-Eun Lee.

Shin developed the work extremely collaboratively, investigating each artist's own individual moments of coincidence that gives them solace. SYNCHRONICITY is an amalgamation of each dance artist's movement qualities and experiences, led by Shin's choice-making and artistic process.

"In rehearsal, we are always guided by the core of the piece, involving those everyday occurrences that we largely overlook but are actually packed with meaning," says dancer Emily Aslin. "Each of us is vital to the work and we are finding the integrity and nuance of each movement. This piece will be a beautiful reflection on everyday moments that the audience can connect with."

Stephanie Shin is a dancer, choreographer, and arts administrator emerging in the New York City dance community. She received her early training from Robert Thomas Dancenter in Ames, Iowa, and went on to graduate from Boston University with a B.A. in Computer Science and a Minor in Dance. She currently dances with Gotham Dance Theater and Rogue Wave, has danced work by Brandon Coleman, works in an admin capacity at the Martha Graham Company, and is developing new artistic work.

Two opposing forces structure Shin's artistic process - a mathematical based thought process and an emotional response to music. Having a degree in Computer Science from Boston University, she turns to research and rational methodologies when building work, such as using patterns and numbers to build phrases. Though music is highly mathematical, growing up in a musical family playing violin and piano, she has always been reactive to the things she hears and her emotional response. Listening is a starting point in her creation process, beginning by improving specifically based on the lyrics or percussive elements of music. Often, she draws symbols or writes rhythmic patterns in order to capture sounds that eventually become interpreted with movement pathways.

Growing up as an Asian-American female in Iowa, Shin often questioned her individuality. Uniqueness or lack thereof is a common theme in her work, where she explores the tension between its importance and insignificance in our lives. With her work in live and film mediums, she trusts that understanding, sharing, and exchanging differences can only lead to a greater sense of empathy.

Shin's artistic process aims to be inclusive and highly collaborative. She aims to use any power and privilege she has to uplift other underrepresented artists by compensating them equitably and giving them a platform to share their artistry authentically. She values transparency, leading with understanding and humility so others can consider a different perspective that may make us serendipitously not so unique.