HOLY CRAP
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June 23-25
ODC Theater, SF
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Created and performed by Julie Crothers
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Music by Ben Juodvalkis,
"Surplus" by Ginger Bender
Lighting Design by Morgan Embry
Dramaturgy by Sarah Rose Leonard and Nora Sharp
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Production and Stage Management by Jessi Barber
Choreographic Support by Jess Bozzo
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Holy Crap is made possible by support from Zellerbach Family Foundation Community Arts Grant, Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC), ODC Theater's Rental Discount Initiative, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, and individual donors.
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BIOS
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Julie Crothers (she/her) is a white, queer, disabled performer, choreographer, and community educator based in Berkeley, CA. As a maker, Julie utilizes contemporary dance, character, and comedy to tell stories, encourage self-reflection, and foster connection. She strives to be honest, bold, and full of self-irony, and loves inviting audiences into the worlds she creates, where all are welcome. Her solo choreographic work has been presented on stages throughout the Bay Area and beyond, including CHOPSHOP Dance Festival and International Women in Dance Leadership Conference. She has danced with AXIS Dance Company, Tara Pilbrow Dance, WaxPoet(s), Kickbal, and Sharp & Fine. Julie is passionate about increasing the accessibility of dance for all and is currently on staff at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center and a teaching artist for Oakland Ballet's You Can Dance! residency program. Julie was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to watch" in 2020. This past April, Julie was a visiting artist at Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography in Tallahassee, FL, where she worked with dramaturg Nora Sharp and musician Ben Juodvalkis to further develop Holy Crap. A Tennessee native, Julie studied Dance Performance and Choreography and Arts Administration at Elon University, graduating in 2014.
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Ben Juodvalkis (he/him) composes original music for dance, film, theater, corporate events, and museum installations. He has created scores for over 50 organizations and has had his music performed on four continents. Ben works from his studio in San Francisco as well as on location with his mobile custom built electronic instruments.
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Morgan Embry (she/her) is a lighting designer, video designer, and dancer currently based in Los Angeles, California. She received her BA in Dance from The University of Alabama and her MFA in Lighting Design at the University of California, Irvine. She is an active designer for dance and theatre, acting as resident LD for Willing Kompany and Festival Ballet Theatre, Video Designer for The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, and Projection Designer for CounterBalance Theatre. She is also a Lighting Designer for live music; Vance Joy, Bryce Vine, Beabadoobee, Tegan and Sara, Ashnikko, Black Veil Brides, SHAED, and Allie X being among the list of wonderful collaborators she gets to regularly create with. “Having the background as a dancer often leads me to think of designs in terms of motion and pacing. How do bodies and/or light move through the world I am helping create?” Morgan is beyond excited to be a part of this production of Holy Crap and this extremely talented team. For more information about Morgan’s work, visit www.morganembry.com
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Nora Sharp (they/them) is a dancemaker, filmmaker, and writer whose work draws attention to queer and trans people’s unfolding relationships with themselves and each other, and to the kinks in the fabric of artmaking labor and culture, in order to offer alternative, expansive understandings of gender, relationship, and the creative economy. Nora’s work has been presented by On the Boards, Movement Research at the Judson Church, OTV | Open Television, Chicago Dancemakers Forum - Elevate, Steppenwolf Theatre’s LookOut Series, Midwest RAD Fest, the Fly Honey Show, the Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, and elsewhere, and supported by residencies at the Hambidge Center, Links Hall, and High Concept Labs. Their community work has included facilitating work-in-progress performance spaces, sharing Amtrak coupons for creative research, and co-organizing artist collective response efforts, in addition to working professionally in social change organizing.
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Sarah Rose Leonard (she/her) is a dramaturg and creative producer. She is currently a Live Events Producer at KQED. Previously, she was the Literary Manager at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Literary Associate at Signature Theatre in NYC. She has worked on projects with Andrew Merrell, Jonathan Spector, Kate E. Ryan, Dipika Guha, Erika Chong Shuch, Martyna Majok, Chuck Mee, Sheila Callaghan, and Christopher Chen, among others. She is a Co-Editor of 3Views on Theater, an online theatre criticism publication dedicated to multiplicity.
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Jessi Barber (she/her) is a dance producer, lighting designer, stage manager and electrician and one of the co-producers of the Queering Dance Festival
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Jess Bozzo (they/them), originally from Sacramento, is a choreographer, teacher, and performing artist based in the SF/Bay Area. They received their BA in Dance from San Francisco State University in 2018, where they worked with local companies, ka•nei•see, ODC/Dance and Garrett+Moulton Productions. Since graduating they have worked with REYES Dance and independent choreographers, Marlene Garcia, Julie Crothers and Molly Matutat. They have danced and choreographed for music videos by Madeline Kenney and appeared in the first season of NBC’s Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Jess is currently performing with Blind Tiger Society, Cookie Harrist, REYES Dance, and Hunniez, a local crew in Oakland. They also teach biweekly on Mondays at Full Out Studios.
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SPECIAL THANKS
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Special Thanks to Megan and Shannon Kurashige, Hans Holtan, Vita Hewitt, Rapt Productions, Dancers Group, Earthdance, Jeanne Hadley, Alessandra Di Toma, Trav, my family, and everyone who, in ways big and small, has shown up for me throughout this process.
Thank you! I am blessed!
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Extra extra special thanks to Greta Hadley, who supports me in quite literally all the ways - from sitting in on rehearsals and sharing her brilliant ideas, to helping me write an acknowledgement letter and just send the darn emails, to quite literally picking me up off the floor during more than one stress-induced crying fit. The space she has held and encouragement she has provided, both artistically and practically, over the past many many months is truly (word that I can't think of because no word says it quite right). She's a rock, a sage, an angel, and a total babe, and this show wouldn't be what it is without her. Thank you amore!
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FUN STUFF
Peep this video for a glimpse into some of the research that went into creating Holy Crap while in residence at MANCC.
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Greta's sister's band, @gingerbendermusic, whose song "Surplus" features in the show, has a new song coming out on July 2 about sisterhood. It's so beautiful. Check them out! AND plan your trips to Milan to catch them live! (OR LMK if you know any Bay Area venues who wanna host this smashing hot Italian duo! )
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Loved Holy Crap? Want to support Julie in the making of future works? Donate here!
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