Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing

Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing is an award-winning project that examines womanhood through darkly comedic contemporary dance theatre

About this Event

Everyone’s got baggage—mortifications that will haunt us forever, a regrettable high school look, that hug that turned out to be a handshake, the time we self-censored or observed a morally-corrupt act and didn’t say something, that time something beyond our control made us feel like absolute garbage. Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing is a glimpse through the many transparencies of life experience, specifically womanhood, as a vessel for carrying unnecessary shame. How can we accept life’s discomfort and awkwardness, and learn to celebrate all past iterations of ourselves, even if they contradict who we are now?

August 8 & 9 at Riverside Theatre Works in Hyde Park, MA

Doors Open for Bar & Pre-Show 7pm, Show @ 7:30

Meet and Greet with the artists after the show on August 8

Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing is built on over 60 one-on-one interviews with women, trans women, and nonbinary folks that have experienced gender based shame, violence, and self-loathing, and has been in development since 2018. Weaving together real-life stories donated from our interview subjects, the community, and the performers, the show speaks to past mortifications and mistreatments, motherhood, domestic labor, the male gaze, societal expectations on aesthetic, bodies, and behavior, and much more. While the production explores some heavy topics, the work also strives to capture the life stages at which we let ourselves be free, silly, and joyful. 

This work is supported by The Boston Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Boston Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture, NEFA, Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Association, the Krolak/Ries Fund, the Dedham Cultural Council, and more.

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