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Little Pieces
By Mary Willmeng/Willmeng Dances
Created by Mary Willmeng, in collaboration with the dancers
Playing at
Show Description
An evening of dance created at different times and in different places. Each piece looks at the dynamic of relationships through expressive movement and gesture.
Genre and Content
Content Warnings
The creators say this show is appropriate for ages 7-11 and up
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Video Trailer
Cast and Crew
Hunter Batterson
DancerHunter Batterson (she/her) is a dancer, performance artist, and arts administrator originally from Chicago, IL. She began her competitive, multidisciplinary movement training with the Dance and Music Academy before transitioning into a pre-professional program at The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts). At this time, Hunter also received additional instruction through the Kansas City Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago summer intensives, along with performing as an ensemble member/featured dancer in musicals like Sweet Charity (ChiArts) and All Shook Up (Big Deal Productions). She then went on to pursue her B.F.A. in Dance and minor in History from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, receiving numerous distinguished academic scholarships and ultimately graduating with high distinction in Spring 2021. Here, she had the opportunity to create various original choreographies as well as perform in works by Andrea Miller (Gallim Dance), Vie Boheme, Chris Schlichting, Annie Hanauer, Carl Flink, Joe Chvala (Pippin), and Rahila Naomi Stadem Coats (North Central ACDA 2020 selection). In her professional endeavors, Hunter has had the opportunity to work closely and perform with Concerto Dance by Jolene Konkel, Borealis Dance Theatre, Javan Mngrezzo, Kendall Kramer, and Lily Conforti, appearing in Zenon Zone, the Bryant Lake Bowl & Theater, CANDY BOX Dance Festival, and the MN Fringe Festival and their annual Five Fifths Fundraiser. Along with performing, Hunter has also worked administratively within the performing arts non-profit realm, previously with organizations like Northrop and Trifecta Dance Collective. She is currently the Youth + Outreach Coordinator for Zenon Dance School and the Creative Design Manager for ARENA DANCES.
Ayaka Moriyama
Understudy/DancerDienae "D" Hunter
DancerDienae “D” Hunter (they/them) is a performance artist that recently transplanted to Minneapolis from the greater Phoenix area in Arizona. In Arizona they performed with several local dance and dance theater collectives including SM2 Dance, Cruz Control Collective, JAMovement, and Grey Box Collective. As well as working as a performer, D directed and presented their own work ranging from solo performances, collaborative, interdisciplinary shows, and dance theater productions. Since moving to Minneapolis, D has had the opportunity to perform in Arena Dance’s Candy Box Dance Festival and is looking forward to performing in the 2023 Minneapolis Fringe Festival.
Ayumi Shafer
DancerAyumi Shafer is an educator, choreographer, and mover currently active in the Twin Cities and greater area. Originally from California, Ayumi has now been teaching for over 16 years in various cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Eugene, and Minneapolis. She earned a BA in Dance and Choreography from San Francisco State University (2009), as well as a MFA in Dance from the University of Oregon (2013). As she continues to teach in both public and private institutions, Ayumi has focused on collaborating with local artists in both dance and other disciplines. In 2014, she co-founded DanceBARN Collective with her dance partner, Molly Johston. DanceBARN is a nonprofit organization committed to creating dance opportunities for artists, performers, educators and audience members in rural communities. Ayumi and Molly strive to build community, create innovative dance through collaboration, and nurture the creative minds and bodies of our communities. Ayumi is also immersed in the community at Jeté Dance Centre in Rogers MN, serving as Assistant Director and working with youth of all ages, in many genres from Musical Theatre to Improvisation. Recently, Ayumi had the opportunity to collaborate with Jagged Moves on a residency at the Red Eye Theatre, as well as present some of her work through Inbox@Artbox, The Cowles Center’s Generating Room, 6x6 Solos, and Candy Box Festival. Drawing inspiration from the idea of play, the freedom to act on our impulses, and active curiosity, she strives to create work that tells a story. She is enthusiastic about sharing dance with all members of her communities, and continues to organize events for people with all types of experiences in art and life. When Ayumi is not teaching or working, she enjoys her days with her husband and 2 kids, usually catching a movie, crafting, cooking, or romping at a playground.
Kaitlin Craven
DancerKaitlin Craven is a Twin Cities-based dance artist, yoga teacher, arts administrator and activist. After graduating from The University of Iowa in 2019, she has performed with CollabArts, CANDY BOX Dance Festival, Generating Room, DanceBARN Festival, Borealis Dance Theatre, and Concerto Dance Company. Kaitlin also recently served as the Interim School Coordinator at Zenon Dance School. Within dance and yoga practices, she is interested in how moving bodies can connect and explore shared intersections of the human experience.
Jamie Carr
DancerJamie Carr is a performer, choreographer, teacher, and action photographer. With a strong background in classical ballet, Jamie graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance from California State University Long Beach (CSULB), an Associate’s degree in Photography, and is a nationally certified teacher from the American Ballet Theatre. Jamie has been selected to train and perform nationally and internationally with several high-profile artists during her time at CSULB. Since graduation, Jamie has performed with local Colorado-based company T2 Dance Company and has managed and performed with several Los Angeles contemporary dance companies. She currently is a teaching artist for Lakewood Dance Academy. Additionally, she has established a performance-based contemporary company Authentic: Grooves; with the mission of eliminating preconceived notions about dance and bringing dance to unique spaces and communities. Utilizing the various movement styles and theories discovered in school, Jamie’s choreography is a kinesthetic translation of her imagination. She believes in a holistic, somatic-based approach to movement which feeds her investigation of movement.
Hope Rogers
Composer/FlutistHope Rogers is a freelance flutist and musician originally from Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 2022 with a degree in Music and Environmental Studies and honors in music history, theory, and performance. Hope has performed as a featured soloist with the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra and participated in a range of other classical and jazz ensembles. She composed the music for Open Field in 2019 in collaboration with Mary Willmeng for Trifecta Dance Collective’s Engage Artists Lab.
Autumn Goetting
DancerAutumn Goetting is a Minnesota native and lifelong dancer. She studied at Minnesota State University Mankato where she received her BA in dance under the tutelage of Daniel Stark and Julie Kerr-Berry. During her time at MSU Mankato she was fortunate enough to take numerous master classes with various Twin Cities-based artists, and this exposure in conjunction with her education allowed her to develop her own choreographic voice. After graduating she spent a season with Emotions Dance Company in Orlando, FL before returning to her home state. This is her second time participating in MN Fringe after her 2022 debut in The Cupcake Murders.
Eliana M. Durnbaugh
DancerEliana is a multidisciplinary dancer, researcher, and educator living on the ancestral lands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe. She holds a BA in Dance and Microbiology from Carleton College, and while there, performed in works by Stephen Koplowitz, Darrius Strong, HIJACK, Judith Howard, Herb Johnson III, and Emma Marlar & Leila Awadallah. Eliana's movement vocabulary primarily stems from Bharatanatyam and Graham Modern techniques, and she toured with Kalanjaali Dance Company in Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad, India in 2015. Currently, she teaches ballroom dance at Heart of Dance MN and youth creative movement/modern at Zenon Dance School. Additionally, Eliana works as a soil microbiologist studying fungal carbon fixation. This is Eliana's first performance with the Minnesota Fringe Festival and she is overjoyed to be dancing with Willmeng Dances.
Mary Willmeng
ChoreographerMary Willmeng (she/her) is an independent choreographer, teacher, and dancer living in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Dance in 1999. Upon graduation, she danced professionally in Chicago, IL with Mordine and Company Dance Theater, the 58 Group, Breakbone Dance Company, Adriana Durant Dance, and Ayako Kato/Art Union Humanscape before relocating to Colorado in 2009. During her time in Colorado, she performed with Cindy Brandle Dance Company, Mary Wohl Haan, and Rachel Oliver Young. Her own work has been presented at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, the Colorado Conservatory of Dance, the Dance Center of Columbia College, Links Hall, the UIC Theater, Stage 773, and the Eagan Art House. She has set her work on Simantikos Dance Chicago, Trifecta Dance Collective, and the students at Zenon Dance School. Her duet, Walk With Me, was chosen as a commissioned piece by Simantikos Dance Chicago and was presented in their company show. In 2019, she was chosen as a choreographer to collaborate in the creation of a new work with flutist Hope Rogers for Trifecta Dance Collective’s Summer Engage Artist Lab. Her work, Open Field, was chosen as a commission by TDC and was set on their professional company. Mary Willmeng creates dances that look at human relationships. She explores movement phrases born out of a physical impulse and transforms them with her dancers, weaving them together and following the thread that connects back to our human experience. She uses the form of dance to take tender, challenging, difficult, and beautiful human moments and capture them for the stage. Mary is thrilled to be a part of her first Minnesota Fringe Festival and is honored and grateful to have such a wonderful, talented group of dancers bringing her work to the stage.
More Information
Little Pieces
Notes from the choreographer
This evening is a collection of choreographed pieces that have been created over the last five years in quick, intensive processes. Each piece was created through a collaborative process where I bring in movement material to share with the dancers and often have them create their own movement by creating variations of the original phrase material or new material based on prompts I give. Because of this, each of these pieces has the imprint of the original cast embedded in the work. I can see each one of those original cast members in these pieces. Now, I also see the interpretation of the current cast and their own individual stamp that is placed on these dances.
It is a collective process that I value because I love to see the individual expression of each dancer and what they share. Each one of these pieces has its own history and also lives in the present through this group of dancers. As we have worked to prepare for this show, I have been able to see older work in a new light and have had new insights about each one revealed to me. It is like a mosaic that has been created through all of these small moments and connections that creates a larger, beautifully layered picture. I hold so much gratitude for my current cast and all of the dancers that I have had the privilege to work with over the years. I am beyond thrilled to share this show.
Open Field, 2019
Open Field was created in 2019 as part of the Trifecta Dance Collective's summer intensive. I was connected with another artist collaborator, Hope Rogers, through the intensive to create a piece. We had four days of rehearsal to create the work. Hope is a flutist and composer and she created the sound score. We met a couple of times in person and exchanged ideas via email leading up to the intensive. We talked about how birds communicate through their song and sounds. Those ideas translated into the choreography through flocking movements, soloists playing against the group, and the spatial patterns of each dancer. In the beginning of the work, each dancer feels solitary, holding space on their own. As the dance progresses, there is an increasing awareness of the collective where each individual has their own expression, but returns to be a part of the larger, group movement. I feel so thrilled that Hope has been able to join us for two performances to play live over her recorded composition. This has been a fun piece to revisit because it has grown from 4 dancers to 6, and this cast was able to create some new material within the work.