The Warehouse Art Center is proud to welcome back JoAnna Mendl Shaw, Choreographer and Artistic Director of the Equus Projects, and the dancers of the Equus Projects to the Northwoods.
JoAnna Mendl Shaw and the dancers who perform with the Equus Projects will be visiting Eagle River and surrounding areas March 12-18, offering a number of events and performances for the community. The Equus Projects will continue its stay in the Northwoods until March 25, holding a residency at the Conserve School. This will be Ms. Shaw's second visit to the area, and the full company's first. This series' are co-presented by The Warehouse Art Center and ArtStart, and is supported by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest, generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts with additional contributions from Wisconsin Arts Board and the Crane Group.
The Equus Projects is a New York dance company known for its indoor and out-of-door performances that often bring dancers and horses into shared landscapes. The innovative choreographic structures emerged from their creation process with equines and is taught in master classes and workshops calibrated for a broad range of populations ranging from dancers to educators, therapists to engineers and physicians. The Equus Projects has created commissioned works in 16 States and in Europe.
On Monday, March 12th, come meet the members of The Equus Projects in a Meet and Greet at The Warehouse from 7-8pm. Mingle with the dancers and ask 
them questions about their training, passions, and lives!
Join The Warehouse for Arts on Tap at NOW AT THE OLSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY Wednesday, March 14th from 6:30-8:30. JoAnna Mendl Shaw will screen the documentary, HÄSTDANS på HOVDALA. This documentary is a film about a unique creation process. In July 2013, The Equus Projects spent three weeks in a Swedish forest creating an evening length theatre work that brought together four dancers, four horses and a cast of Swedish performers with autism. Filmmaker David Fishel follows the progression of the creation process, the equine training and the deepening connection that developed between the Swedish and American performers and the human and equine performers.The documentary will be shown and Shaw will answer questions about the process. Arts on Tap is FREE to the public
Performances of Breaking Ring
The Equus Projects will hold their first public performances, entitled, The Breaking Ring, in the gallery spaces at ArtStart in Rhinelander, WI Friday and Saturday, March 16th & 17th starting at 7pm, and again on Sunday, march 18th at 2pm. There will be a post-performance discussion after the performances on Friday and Sunday.
Created especially for the Northwoods engagement, The Breaking Ring is an indoor, gallery adapted work focused entirely on human behavior. Although Equus Projects sometimes performs with horses, this program will use them solely as inspiration while the company uses choreography to reveal how humans operate with the same immediacy as their animal partners. The viewers will be invited into the action (if they would like) by the dancers in a way that the audience will determine content the outcome. Every performance will be slightly different, and those who have experienced “interactive theater” will be familiar with this style of performance, which has been growing in popularity in Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, and many places in Europe. Suggested donation of $10/adult and $5/child for the performance. No one will be turned away.
To close out Equus' time in the Northwoods, join The Warehouse in a very special dinner and demonstration at Serenity Ranch. Experience a picturesque dinner served family style in the heated stables, followed by the first public demonstration of Equus' work with horses, a taste of what is to come on future visits of the company to the area. $35 per person or $60 per couple, with the proceeds going toward future visiting artist events in the Northwoods.
For more information about the Equus Projects and its other activities including the residency at the Conserve School, visit equus-onsite.org.
This event series is supported by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest, generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts with additional contributions from Wisconsin Arts Board and the Crane Group.
Local sponsors include
