Christy Fisher Choreographer and Dance in Seattle, WA

Christy’s work is inspired by her interest in culturally diverse movement forms including Butoh, Qigong, Yoga, Indian Classical dance, and modern Western dance. Often working collaboratively with dancers, writers, composers and visual artists, she approaches each choreographic project as a form of meditation, a process of stripping away to find what is authentic, real, and spontaneous.

Christy’s work has been performed in a variety of contexts, including the Judson Memorial Church (NY), HERE Arts Center (NY), Movement Research (NY), On the Boards (Seattle), Velocity (Seattle); The Seattle Art Museum, St. Mark’s Cathedral (Seattle), Centrum (Port Townsend, WA), The Chapel (Seattle), and outdoors in Cal Anderson Park (Seattle). The breadth of work reflects a commitment to involve and challenge audiences in uncommon ways.

For the past ten years Christy has found her home in Seattle, and with her curated program, !!Artslaunch!!, has cultivated a diverse community of artists who explore new work beyond the mainstream. Christy has also collaborated with brother, composer Garrett Fisher and the Fisher Ensemble, on many new performance projects which have toured nationally.

Christy is sponsored by the Allied Arts Foundation and has received several grants from the Seattle Mayors Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs. She has been part of collaborative teams that have received funding from 4Culture, King County Site Specific Grants, Bossack-Heilbron Foundation, Wiggly World, and Allied Arts Foundation. Most recently she was the choreographer and co-director for the Fisher Ensemble’s new opera “Psyche” which received “Best of Seattle 2008” in Seattle Magazine.

Psyche (2008)
Composed by Garrett Fisher
Words by Thomm Schram
Choreography and Co-Direction by Christy Fisher
Co-Direction and Dramaturgy by Ken Cerniglia
Puppets and costumes by Tori Ellison

Psyche is an inter-disciplinary opera that combines music, spoken word, movement and life-size puppets to tell the story of wrathful Aphrodite’s quest to ruin Psyche.

Psyche
Dialogue between King and the Chorus followed by the Sacrifice Scene where Psyche is taken to the Mountain to be sacrificed. The Kathak Dance in this scene was co-created by Christy Fisher and Archana Kumar. Performed by Ines Andrade, Diana Garcia Snyder, Archana Kumar, and Gary Zinter.

Press:

---“Best Re-interpretation of a Greek Myth”

Best of Seattle, Seattle Magazine 2008

---“Garrett Fisher and his first-rate team of collaborators throw a lot at you in his latest opera, a Greek-myth feast of song, dance, spoken word, beats, electric viola, and elaborate puppets/costumes.”

Seattle Weekly, August 2008

---“Psyche takes the prize for disarming novelty.”

Richard Campbell, Seattle PI

MOON

Moon in the Bucket November 2008
Music by Garrett Fisher, Words by Zeami, Co-Direction/Choreography by Christy Fisher; Co-Direction by Ken Cerniglia; Set and Costumes by Tori Ellison; mask by Louise McCagg
Inspired by Zeami’s fourteenth-century Noh play “Matsukaze” (“wind in the pines”) this chamber opera tells the story of a wandering priest who employs the moon’s reflection to release a pair of ghosts from their haunted past.

Press:

“…a haunting, ineffably lovely choreographed oratorio…” November 2008

Time Out, NY

THOMAS MORE 1995, 2007
Words and Music by Garrett Fisher
Co-Direction and Choreography by Christy Fisher
Co-Direction and Dramaturgy by Ken Cerniglia
Masks by Louise McCagg
Costumes by Aubrey Jackson

The Passion of Saint Thomas More is a meditation on the historical figure, Thomas More and his decision to remain true to his conviction as he refused the demands of King Henry VIII.

Participants:

Photos by Maya Vajra.

Agamamenon (1997, 1998)
Words and Music by Garrett Fisher
Choreography by Christy Fisher
Masks by Louise McCagg

Agamemnon is based on the ancient Greek tragedy of Aeschylus and tells the story of the Greek king who returned from the Trojan Wars and is murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra.

Dialogue between Cassandra and Fate.
Music by Garrett Fisher
Choreography by Christy Fisher
Mask by Louise McCagg
Performed by Teresa Mathern and Sandra Fann
Agamemnon’s slave Cassandra converses with Fate and foresees Agamemnon’s murder and the Fall of the House of Atreus.

Press:

“When Agamemnon was presented as a work-in-progress at last year’s Northwest New Works Festival at on the Boards, it had real promise as a work of significance. The music was haunting and the integration of movement skillful…Those elements are even more fully realized in the now-complete hour-long “opera” --Alice Kaderlan, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“The performance presented last week at the Nippon Kan Theater—utilizing the choreographic talent of Christy Fisher, music and words by Garrett Fisher, and masks by Louise McCagg…was nothing less than brilliant…Fully using the clean, simple core of the Nippon Kan Theater, dance, theater and Taiko music melded for one heck of a performance….” --Rajkhet Dirzhad-Rashid, Seattle Gay News

“Fisher casts the same dancer, Teresa Mathern, as both the murdered daughter, Iphigenia, and as Cassandra…It’s a clever stroke. Mathern, who has a beautiful, angular face and body..projects an intense vulnerability…It’s a thrilling finale when Clytemnestra takes the knife (handed her by Fate)..She follows him (Agamemnon) off-stage where as in all good Greek tragedy, the execution takes place. But instead of the usual offstage scream we are given a quiet dignified dance by Fate.” --Mary Murfin Bayley, The Seattle Times

“Agamemnon..a collaboration between composer Garrett Fisher and choreographer Christy Fisher… had kernels of real power.” --Alice Kaderlan, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Sally Hemings (2003)
Music/Words by Garrett Fisher
Artistic Direction by Alan Maskin
Movement Direction by Christy Fisher
Cinematography by Tim Bies
Video Editing Theo Lipfert

This video opera is based on the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings.

!!ArtsLaunch!! is a biannual event supporting works-in-progress by emerging and established Seattle artists. In each performance, a selection of 7-9 artists working in a variety of media present current ideas based on their studio work. The events are open to the public with $5-$15 suggested donation. Each performance is followed by an informal discussion where presented work offers a window into the creative process.

The goal of !!Artslaunch!! is to provide artists from a variety of backgrounds an opportunity to show work without the pressures of more formal venues, and to enjoy inter-disciplinary dialogue.

Interested artists in all disciplines are encouraged to participate in upcoming events.
Sponsored by the Allied Arts Foundation.

CURRENT:

Eva and the Language of Things
The Chapel Space, Seattle, WA September 30th, 2009
Choreographed and Performed by Christy Fisher
Words by Eva Zeisel
Recorded by Christy Fisher and Eva Zeisel
Exploring the musicality of language, friendship and age.

At the Hawks’ Well and Kocho
Two Noh Plays
Music by Garrett Fisher
Co-Direction and Choreography by Christy Fisher
Co-Direction and Dramaturgy by Ken Cerniglia
(garrett, I’m not sure who I should put for “words”?)

The Chapel Space, February 27, 28th , 2010
The Judson Church, NYC Spring 2010

PRESS PAGE:

Psyche

“Best Re-interpretation of a Greek Myth” Best of Seattle 2008, Seattle Magazine 2008

“Garrett Fisher and his first-rate team of collaborators throw a lot at you in his latest opera, a Greek-myth feast of song, dance, spoken word, beats, electric viola, and elaborate puppets/costumes.” --Seattle Weekly, August 2008

“Psyche takes the prize for disarming novelty.” Richard Campbell, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Moon in the Bucket

“a haunting, ineffably lovely choreographed oratorio” --Time Out NY

Agamemnon

“Agamemnon..a collaboration between composer Garrett Fisher and choreographer Christy Fisher… had kernels of real power.” --Alice Kaderlan, Seattle Post-Intelligencer