Project Introduction
The Love Alone Anthology Project is an evening-length multimedia contemporary dance work choreographed by Keith A. Thompson, inspired by the writings of author and activist Paul Monette, particularly his 1988 volume of poetry Love Alone: 18 Elegies for Rog.
Inspired by Monette’s devastating and beautiful poems about his partner dying of AIDS, as well as Thompson’s own experience as a gay man coming of age during the 1980s and ´90s during the height of the epidemic in America, the Love Alone Anthology Project is both a personal and collective meditation on care and survival. The piece honors the queer bodies whose lives were shaped by—and often lost to—this tumultuous period in our recent history.
the heart behind the project
“Love Alone” is a reckoning, a remembrance, and a response. The emotional weight of Monette´s writings,chronicling the loss of his partner Roger Horwitz to AIDS, speaks not only to the depth of their bond but to an entire generation’s grief. This text is raw, unapologetic, and relentlessly honest. They capture the ache of survival in a time when queer lives were being erased by a virus and ignored by society.
At its core, the project is a mission: to share stories of love, grief, rage, and resilience with universal relevance. In a world still grappling with how to hold pain and joy at once, Love Alone Anthology Project offers space for both.
The Artists
Keith A. Thompson
Artistic Director
Keith A. Thompson is a multifaceted contemporary dance artist currently serving as Assistant Director of Dance and Associate Professor within the School for Music, Dance, and Theatre at Arizona State University, as well as their Center for The Study of Race and Democracy´s inaugural faculty fellow. He danced internationally for the Trisha Brown Dance Company (1992-2001), including serving as her Rehearsal Assistant (1998-2001); has performed with Bebe Miller Company; and is frequent performer, co-choreographer, and rehearsal director with Liz Lerman. As a teacher, he has taught master classes and workshops widely throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, as well as served on the faculty at the Florida Dance Festival & the American Dance Festival. Since 2006, he has served as Artistic Director of danceTactics performance group, where his choreography has been featured in New York at Dance Theater Workshop´s Guest Artist Series, Dixon Place, Dance New Amsterdam, and the Dance Now Festival, as well as Harvard University, the University of Maryland College Park, the Dance Boom Festival (PA), the Jersey Moves Festival (NJ), the Aging in America Conference (CA), the Montpelier International Dance Festival (France), the Edinburgh Festival (UK), Theater X (Japan) and the Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Conference. Keith received his MFA Research Fellowship in Dance from Bennington College (Vermont) in 2003.
shawn brush
Shawn Brush is a New York-based dancer and choreographer who is a company member with both danceTactics performance group and Falcon Dance. Shawn has performed with Amber Sloan, The Dance Exchange, Meagan Woods Company, Maya Orchin, Laura Peterson Choreography, Stefanie Nelson, The New Collectives, and Artichoke Dance Company. His own work, in collaboration with his partner Molly McGrath as Brush/McGrath(works), has been presented at Arts on Site, Art House Productions, Judson Church, Dixon Place, Triskelion Arts, Green Space, and a good friend’s wedding. Shawn is also a teaching artist and has taught at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and Raritan Valley Community College, and has been a guest teacher at The Dance Exchange, various universities, and public schools. He graduated with a BFA in Dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts in 2015.
aidan feldman
Aidan Feldman has been a part of danceTactics since 2012. He is also a member of Artichoke Dance and Valerie Green/Dance Entropy, and occasionally puts together shows of his own. In the past, he has worked with Chavasse Dance & Performance, Spark Movement Collective, and the Barkin/Selissen Project. Aidan leads multiple lives, also working to make government function better through technology, and teaching code and data skills to public policy students at Columbia University and New York University (NYU). When not dancing or nerding, Aidan can be found glaring at cars from his bicycle. He's thrilled to be sharing this work with you, thank you for supporting the arts.
clarence brooks
Clarence Brooks toured the US, Europe, and Asia with 80 plus companies including Nikolais/Murray Louis, Laura Dean, Ohio Ballet, Marcus Schulkind, Robin Becker, Jean Erdman, Creach/Koester, and Spoleto Festival/USA. A former associate professor, who has lectured, choreographed, and taught in institutions across the nation, founded the Repertory Dance Theatre Ensemble which performed in curated festivals from Miami to Boston. They can be seen in the 5-part video documentary The World of Alwin Nikolais and their essay, Dancing with the Issues, was published in One Teacher in 10: LGBT Educators Share Their Stories. Additional distinctions include induction into the OCU Performance Hall of Honor, two Atlantic Center for the Arts Associate Artist-in-Residences, a Japan Foundation Grant to study Butoh, and the Library of Congress recording their interpretation of Talley Beatty's masterpiece "Mourner's Bench" for the national archive. A founding member and past president of the Florida Dance Education Organization, Clarence holds advisory positions with FDEO and Natural Movers Foundation and sits on the boards of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, danceTactics Performance Group, Miami Dance Futures, and Doris Humphrey Foundation for Dance. A high school dropout, they hold an MFA, a bachelor of performing arts, and several somatic certifications including Laban Movement Analysis, yoga (200 hour), and the Evans Method of Teaching Dance Technique. Clarence freelances with the Dance Exchange, Pioneer Winter Collective, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, danceTactics Performance Group, Megan Williams Dance Projects, and David Parker & The Bang Group. Follow them on Instagram: @clbdreadeddancer
Brendan Mccall
Brendan McCall has worked in over 40 countries on 5 continents as a performer, choreographer, director, and producer, and has had the pleasure of working with Paul Langland, Lars Øyno, Alexandra Beller, Moisés Kaufman, Maureen Fleming, David Gordon, Stephen Petronio, among others. He performed in and co-produced Brain to Brain (2019), the final work created by his mentor Mary Overlie; performed in the Ibsen Award-winning production of Svanhild in Norway, Russia, and Japan (2015-17); and a number of his choreographies were presented by Danspace Project between 1995-2008. He was the Manager of the Cummins Theatre in Australia (2012-14), served as Producer & Director for Grusomhetens Teater (2014-17), and was Production Manager for Tulsa Ballet (2019). He first collaborated with Keith Thompson on Human Behaviors (Danspace Project) in 2001, and has been a member of danceTactics since 2015. Since first performing at La MaMa in Sin Cha Hong´s Pluto (1994)), Brendan has subsequently produced world- and US-premiere productions by Grusomhetens Teater, Kari Hoaas, and Nela Kornetová, as well as worked with Pavel Zustiak/Palissimo. As a teacher, he has taught at the Yale School of Drama, the New School for Drama, the Actors Studio, New York University, Pace University, Bilkent University (Turkey), Ballettakademien and the University of Dance (Sweden), and The International Theater Academy Norway, where he also served as Dean from 2008-10. He teaches regularly at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, as well as master classes at Terry Knickerbocker Studio and elsewhere. He has written numerous articles and award-winning pieces related to performance since 1997, which have been translated into French,Norwegian, Russian, and Belarusian, and is a staff writer for thINKingDANCE and a contributing writer to Culturebot. He is a designated instructor of Allan Wayne Work, the Jean Hamilton Floor Barre, and Mary Overlie´s Six Viewpoints; co-founder of Interzone Films, an independent production company, with Akira Veintidos; and has published award-winning fiction under a pseudonym. BFA with Honors in Acting, New York University. MFA in Dance, Bennington College. MPhil in Ibsen Studies (ABT), University of Oslo.
Collaborators
Robert Flynt – Photographic Artist
Robert Flynt is a renowned photographic artist whose work has been exhibited internationally since the 1980s. His images are held in the permanent collections of major institutions including MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the International Center of Photography. Known for his evocative and experimental approach to the human form, Flynt has long collaborated with choreographers and performance artists across the globe.
For the Love Alone Anthology Project, Flynt brings his distinct visual language to the stage, creating powerful images that extend and echo the emotional landscape of the work. His photography adds a vital layer to the project’s exploration of memory, grief, and resilience.
You can learn more about Robert here.
Joe Levasseur - Lighting Designer
Joe Levasseur is a graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts, and has been working in theatrical production in New York since 2002. As a lighting designer, he has collaborated with many artists including: Annie-B Parson, Pavel Zuštiak/Palissimo, John Jasperse, Sarah Michelson, Jodi Melnick, Jennifer Monson, Neil Greenberg, Beth Gill, and John Scott. He lit both Wendy Whelan’s 2013 breakout Restless Creature, and her subsequent collaboration with Brian Brooks Some of a Thousand Words (2016). He has received two ‘Bessie’ awards (including one with Big Dance Theater) and a Knight of Illumination Award for his work on Meredith Monk’s Cellular Songs. He was also the Technical Director for PAC-NYC’s hit show CATS: The Jellicle Ball. Instagram: @sirjoelevasseur / www.joelevasseur.com
David Fishel - Video Designer
David Fishel is a filmmaker & video-artist based in New York whose work has screened at numerous festivals internationally. His music videos, promos, and shorts have routinely been broadcast globally. Notable previous collaborations have included Octavio Campos (TRPL Quince), Chris Masters Dance (Exit Strategies, Mausoleum), Luke Murphy (Drenched, Your Own Man/Mad Notions, Villains). He regularly collaborates with Robert Flynt. Along with choreographer Carlye Eckert, Fishel is one of the founding members of Chapman Steamer Arts, an artist residency program operating out of a 115-year-old firehouse situated in New York ́s Hudson Valley. David is excited to be collaborating with the entire ensemble and crew of Love Alone Anthology Project. More samples of his work can be found at GuerillaGorilla.com.
Lacee Garcia - Stage Manager
Lacee Garcia (Stage Manager) is an Arizona native who now lives, works, and creates in Brooklyn, New York. She received her BFA in Dance from Arizona State University in 2017. During her time there, she worked under the expertise of Cari Koch and Melissa Rex and found an interest with the technical aspects of the theater. She has had the opportunity to work in various positions on the technical team for undergraduate work, MFA thesis work, and artists such as Cruz Control Collective, Jessica Rajko, Master Ballet Academy, and the Phoenix Ballet. Currently she is a full-time competitive gymnastics coach in Williamsburg and finds time to create with her friend and collaborator Maxx Love.
Maesa Pullman – Composer
Maesa Pullman is a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter and multidisciplinary music-maker whose work spans folk, Americana, and experimental soundscapes. Her original music has been featured in Queen Sugar, The Sinner, and Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce, among others, and she has composed for film, dance, and theater projects across genres. As the founder of The Band of Singers, a community choir rooted in biophilia, Maesa brings a deeply human and expressive approach to composition. Her work for the Love Alone Anthology Project fuses raw emotion with layered sonic textures that mirror the themes of loss and remembrance.
Dalal Bruchmann – Composer
Dalal Bruchmann is an Austrian-born composer, classically trained pianist and violinist, and internationally recognized performer. With roots in both pop and orchestral music, she has composed for stage, film, and television, including five feature-length soundtracks co-written with Maesa Pullman. Dalal’s compositions blend cinematic depth with haunting beauty, earning recognition from the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. For the Love Alone Anthology Project, she brings her signature fusion of classical structure and emotional resonance to a score that elevates and deepens the movement on stage.
Albert Mathias - Composer
Albert Mathias has been creating music for movement since 1991. He is a multi-disciplinary musician whose focus includes accompaniment, composition, and sound design for dance/theater and motion pictures, as well as solo works for the stage. Since 1998, Mathias has served as Music Director of Motion-Lab, an experiment of dance training, choreography, improvisation, and performance with dancer/choreographer Kathleen Hermesdorf. Motion-Lab has produced seven evening-length works for the stage and released 17 audio works since 1999. Presently he is resident accompanist for Xitlali Piña Poujol at Escuela Professional de Danza in Mazatlan, Mexico. Albert was a staff accompanist at Stanford University and guest Artist/Accompanist for over 20 years at ODC Commons in San Francisco California. In 2000, Mathias was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Award for Original Sound Score for BLUE 2000 (Motion-Lab). In 2006, Mathias received a New York Bessie award for his work on Bebe Miller’s Landing/Place, an evening-length multimedia performance which toured extensively across the continental United States. Albert is also the primary percussionist for the international touring and recording artists LiveHuman, an improvisation-based trio with bassist Andrew Kushin and DJ Quest. The band has released 7 critically acclaimed albums since 1998 and have been recognized as “local sonic renegades...stretching the boundaries of improvised music” (San Francisco Weekly’s Best of the Bay, 2003). They were signed to Fatcat Records London and Matador Records in New York. Mathias was a member of the multi-disciplinary performance group Contraband from 1995-1999 and Bebe Miller company from 2002-2009, has worked independently in the dance field with Kathleen Hermesdorf, Group Six, Kim Epifano, Sue Roginski & Mercy Sidbury, Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Dominique Zeltzman, Patricia Jiron, Norman Rutherford & Marintha Tewksbury, Smith/Wymore, Disappearing Acts, Scott Wells, Raisa Punnki, KT Nelson, Knee Jerk Dance Project, Bill T. Jones, Katie Duck, Claudia Lavista, and Del Fos Danza Contemporanea. He attended California Institute of the Arts from 1991-1993, training in tabla, voice and accompaniment under the guidance of masters Amiya Dasgupta, John Bergamo, and Leonice Shinneman. He has also had the honor of private tabla study with legendary musicians Pandit Swapan Chauduri, Sri Ravi Bellare, and drum set independently with Vern Wennerstrom, Dan Morris, Rick Dior and the Great Tony Williams.
Production History
The Love Alone Anthology Project received its world premiere at the 20th La MaMa Moves! Festival in New York (curated by Nicky Paraiso) for a limited run in April 2025.
Excerpts from the piece were also shown at the SoloDuo Festival at Dixon Place, the Take Root Festival at Green Space, PrideFest at The Tank (all in New York), and the Third Space Dance Festival at Tempe Center for the Arts (Arizona).
Public Showings
10-13 April 2025
La Mama Experimental Theatre Club
For additional information and tickets, click here.
Saturday, 11 January 2025, at 5:30pm
Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP 2025)
Florence Gould Theater
January 12-13, 2024
Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP)
January 14th, 2024
Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center
June 29-30, 2023
at Tempe Center for the Arts, AZ
June 23-24 2023
June 2-3 2023
at Green Space Studio, New York
February 10, 2023
January 14, 2023
Gallery
In the Press
From ThINKingDANCE
"Love Alone Anthology Project is brutally beautiful. Quiet and outraged, sometimes funny, always pleading and loving. It’s all so tender and full of longing."
by Emilee Lord | Read more here
From The Dance Enthusiast
“intimate, embodied, and quietly insistent."
by Catharine Tharin | Read more here
From Eyes on the Arts
"It takes rare artistry to transform a feeling into music, love into words, poetry into movement, memory into presence. The Love Alone Anthology Project serves this transformation not by just articulating it, but by offering it fully — layered, complex, human, and profoundly moving."
by Emma Morris | Read more here
From CultureBot
"Through movement, voice, and a collage of imagery, the dance brought to life Monette’s poetic account of living (and dying) in the wake of losing his beloved partner, Roger (Rog) Horowitz, to AIDS. It was intricate, political, and deeply moving."
by Emma King | Read more here.
Community Impact
Viewers and critics alike have praised the project for its emotional honesty and its ability to hold space for many voices at once. Through its cast, collaborators, and creative process, the piece centers multi-generational, multi-identity storytelling—ensuring that no single narrative defines the experience of grief or healing. Instead, it becomes a tapestry of memory and movement, where each body adds to the whole.
Tech Rider
For our downloadable Tech Rider, please click below.
Contact for Further Information
The Love Alone Anthology Project is available for in-person and digital engagements, including performances, workshops, and residencies. If you're interested in learning more or exploring a collaboration, we’d love to hear from you.
For booking inquiries, please contact:
KMP Artists
Kristopher@kmpartists.com
312-342-7898