Dancers Adam Barruch and Chelsea Bonosky have been performing under the epithet Anatomiae Occultii (Hidden Anatomy) for ten years. Their latest project, Traumnovelle, is a new site-specific dance collaboration that will premiere in June as the first edition of a two week-run. Audiences of ten at a time will be able to enter a couple’s apartment as voyeurs and observe the inner-workings of a relationship as a quiet evening at home turns into … something else. Traumnovelle will be Anatomiae Occultii’s first site-specific piece.

Traumnovelle is currently in the crowdfunding phase, aiming to raise $4,500 for this first run. We spoke to Adam and Chelsea over email to learn more.

No Proscenium (NP): Can you tell us a little about yourself and your backgrounds?

Adam Barruch (AB): I began my career as a young actor, performing professionally on Broadway and in film and television, working with prominent figures such as Tony Bennett, Jerry Herman and Susan Stroman. I later received dance training at LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts. After three years of high school I graduated early and was accepted into the dance department at The Juilliard School.

As a dancer, I have worked with Sylvain Émard Danse in Montreal, and with The Margie Gillis Dance Foundation, performing and researching Conflict Transformation as part of The Legacy Project. In 2009, I met Chelsea at Springboard Danse Montreal and have been working with her ever since, under the epithet Anatomiae Occultii, or Hidden Anatomy. I also have created works for companies such as The Limón Company, Ailey II, Keigwin + Company, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, River North Dance Chicago, BalletX, Whim W’Him Seattle Contemporary Dance, Graham II, GroundWorks Dance Theater, Minnesota Dance Theatre and The Gibney Dance Company, as well as for dance icons Margie Gillis and Miki Orihara.

Chelsea and I created two music videos for Tokyo based musical act mishmash* and I have also served as choreographer for an immersive show on Celebrity Cruises. My passion project that I am currently working on a new physical theater production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Chelsea Bonosky (CB): I am originally from upstate New York, and spent 10 years at a ballet training school in my youth. Upon graduating there, I continued on to receive my Bachelor’s of Fine Arts, in Dance from New York University’s, TISCH School of the Arts. Right out of school I performed with Sidra Bell, and apprenticed with Stephen Petronio. In 2009 I met Adam up at Springboard, and worked with him as an Emerging Choreographer. We traveled back to the city together, and I have been working as his assistant on setting works with Companies, in Residencies, and as his collaborative partner for 10 years. It is a partnership that has taken us all over the world, and experienced so many once in a life-time opportunities.

In 2011 I joined the immersive theatre production of Sleep No More, where I performed 6 roles over the course of 4 years. I guest perform with Joshua Beamish (MOVE: The Company), Gabrielle Lamb (Pigeonwing Dance), and Sarah Elgart (ArrogantElbow) — specializing in site performance and film. Last year I produced/directed/performed in my first ever solo show (LUNA); in which I collaborated with Barruch, Lamb, Mary Carter, and Pavel Zustiak on four different solos. My site specific dance film, entitled LUNA with the direction/production of Justin Ervin was selected and screened at The ADF Movies by Movers Film Festival. I am an honored member of The Margie Gillis Legacy Project, and participate in her Conflict Transformation Workshops as well- geared at the education of movement to heal, resolve and transform.

In addition to my artistic endeavors, I am also a trained Pilates instructor, studying non-secular Buddhism and Meditation practices, and am Reiki II certified. I am an activist, and Planned Parenthood Defender, an Ambassador to The Free Body Project, a non-profit working at the intersection of dance and social justice, and am a Teaching Artist with ASTEP ( Artists Striving To End Poverty).

NP: What, in a nutshell, is this project about?

AB: This new work explores the dangers in lifting the veil on our innermost desires, while following a couple in what is perceived to be a quiet evening at home. Taking from a variety of influences: the work of writer Arthur Schnitzler, director Stanley Kubrick and composer Morton Feldman and Ingenting Kollectiva, Traumnovelle utilizes our signature kinetic gestural language to weave an abstract narrative with a complex and emotionally charged vocabulary. The setting is a fully furnished fifth floor apartment on St. Marks in Manhattan. Because of its intimacy, the initial two-week run will be held for only 10 people per night for a total of 12 performances. This will allow each audience member a full experience and an ability to witness the performance with little obstruction.

CB: We follow a couple in their apartment, as they share their desires and fantasies, and the outcome of lifting the veil on a seemingly “normal” relationship. An evening of deception, passion, aggression, and empathy. As Adam mentioned above, we pull from a variety of inspirations, all leading us to a voyeuristic experience, both as performers and from audience members. We explore direct and expansive movement, as we live in and through the space.

NP: Why did you create this experience? What inspired you?

AB: Our previous evening-length, Belladonna, was inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story ‘Rappaccini’s Daughter.’ This story takes place in a garden, so when we conceived the project we initially thought to create it for the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens or even in a greenhouse. Eventually we were commissioned to finish the piece for traditional theater spaces so that idea was left behind. Our last performance was scheduled for a stage outside at Bryant Park during their summer Picnic Series. Though I was excited to perform, I felt the venue wasn’t right for the intensity of piece. Then the skies started to turn grey and it began to rain. The show was to be cancelled, but all the audience stayed. I saw that there was dirt and gravel pit below the stage which was just asking to be danced on!!! Chelsea agreed with me that it would be an incredible experience to perform on it. With only about two minutes to prepare we began the show. It was exhilarating! The rain and the dirt added so much dramatic energy and brought us full circle with our original idea of dancing in the garden.

We knew we couldn’t top that performance so Belladonna was retired, but we both agreed our next piece had to break conventionality and be totally immersive. We wanted the performance space to be a breathing, living entity just like the dance itself.

CB: When the weather drastically turned and rain began to fall, it looked like the event was going to be canceled. Miracuously, nobody in the audience left, they just popped up some umbrellas and stayed in their seats. I thought, “If they aren’t leaving, why would we?” It was almost like Adam read my mind. We noticed there was a gravel pit just below the stage we were supposed to perform on, and he asked me if I would be open to performing in there… I took a look around, and immediately said YES. The crew gave us their consent, set up our prop pieces, and we began performing in the dirt, mud, and rain in the middle of Bryant Park. It was a truly thrilling moment — and in that instant we knew this was how this piece was made to be performed. It wasn’t our best performance, but it was real, and honest; it was raw and explosive.

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After that moment, we knew our next piece was not to be presented in a traditional performance space. There was something exciting about the vibration of a space that was just as alive as we were — you had to play with the elements, not just place your work on top of it. We create work that is inherently intimate, and the altered change of space made it feel at home.

NP: Can you talk a little bit more about the 5th floor “apartment” at Arts on Site? How is the setting incorporated into the experience?

AB: We wanted the setting for Traumnovelle to be a traditional living space that would in essence serve as a third character for the show. We wanted to immerse our audience the experience that we, the performers, are having with as much realism as possible. There is definitely a voyeuristic aspect to the show in that there is no interaction between audience and performers. As Chelsea said, we use everything from the shower to the closets. We also though it important to utilize only the lighting one would find in an apartment, which is a technique we borrowed from Stanley Kubrick. We didn’t want stage lighting to break the sense of reality.

CB: We knew that we wanted a non-traditional space for this performance, and had heard that Chelsea Ainsworth (Arts on Site) and her husband had taken over the 5th floor apartment in the building Arts on Site is, and was Airbnb-ing it. I showed Adam some photos of it online, and we immediately set up a walk through of the space. The moment we entered, we knew this was it. We could already envision the audience taking the elevator up to the 5th floor, being met by the Stage Manager, hearing the music begin, and the door opening, welcoming them into a private evening in the apartment of two people in an intimate relationship.

We are utilizing the space as it is — a true apartment — using the furniture, the dishware, the kitchen, the shower. Rather than imposing the movement onto a space, we have made the piece to fit the mold of this apartment.

NP: How are you designing around audience agency, consent, and safety?

CB: From my time at Sleep No More, I have a keen awareness to the safety of the audience, as well as the performers, and I believe knowledge is key. Upon the purchase of tickets, it will be made clear that the space is small, but our movement is full-bodied; and that there will be a Stage Manager on hand to provide support should anyone need it. We are only allowing in ten people per performance, to keep their (and our) safety in mind.

The Stage Manager will reiterate every note from the ticket site before the audience members take the space: there will be designated seats set around the space for those who would like, that you can walk around the space to get better viewpoints, to stay aware of the performers/movement, there is to be no direct contact with the performers, there will be no direct contact with the performers to the audience, and you will be escorted out and into the elevator post performance.

AB: We thought it of utmost importance to have a third party to be present in the space at all times. Someone who knows the show and space extremely well to manage the audience and all of the technical elements. In this production there is no audience/performer contact and as Chelsea stated, the audience will be informed of the regulations we are setting in place to maintain a positive experience for all.

NP: You’re crowdfunding the show, what challenges are you expecting to face with the campaign?

AB: Crowdfunding is never easy, and it requires so much attention and consistent reaching out to potential backers. We are posting media almost every day of the campaign, and sending emails to our previous supporters and audience members. It’s a very humbling process. I also find it challenging because we have had many campaigns over the last five years and I think after a certain point, the novelty wears off and people are less inclined to give. Luckily we have amazing people in our lives, that love us as humans and as artists, and they have been extremely generous.

CB: As Adam mentioned above, crowdfunding can be a very humbling experience. And it requires just as much time and effort as it does to be in rehearsal, so finding a balance of dedication and commitment to both can be challenging. We are very lucky that we have a supportive system of people who have followed us over the years, and observed our growth and expansion. People who want to see our newest explorations as much as we do, and who encourage us in many ways.

NP: What aspect of the experience are you excited about the most?

AB: As a performer, I am most excited about the intimacy of 5F, as well as the realism that is brought from being in an actual apartment. I think it will serve to heighten and clarify our performances. I am also excited about having to navigate through unknown territory each night as the audience differs and their placement in the space changes.

CB: Ironically enough, the experience of performing in a non-traditional space I feel most at home. There is a different level of pressure for sure, but there is an intimacy with the audience that is palpable. We are exploring this territory together. I am looking forward to exploring the challenge of a continued run of a show, and getting to live this piece nightly, allowing it to transform night after night.

Learn more about Traumnovelle on their Indiegogo page.

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