EMOTIONS PHYSICAL THEATRE

Unwelcome Guests

A new work by Emotions Physical Theatre

Choreographed by Shawn Rawls

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In </span>Unwelcome Guests<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, choreographer Shawn Rawls dives into the emotional landscape of growing up as the dark-skinned stepchild in a light-skinned family. Through a fusion of contemporary dance, physical theatre, and psychological storytelling rooted in Internal Family Systems (IFS), this work confronts the parts of ourselves we’re taught to silence.</span>

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Each dancer embodies a different “part” of a single person—The Protector, The Performer, The Judge, The Exile, and others—manifesting the inner voices shaped by colorism, family rejection, and cultural survival. Drawing from the theory of double consciousness, the work moves between outward performance and inward rupture, exposing how identity is both masked and fractured in spaces where we’re told we don’t belong.</span>

Unwelcome Guests<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> is raw, intimate, and unapologetically honest—a kinetic portrait of internal healing, collective memory, and the act of naming what was once denied.</span>

Shawn Rawls<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> is a choreographer, performer, and educator whose work lives at the intersection of contemporary dance, physical theatre, and Afro-surrealist narrative. He is the founder and Artistic Director of </span>Emotions Physical Theatre<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, a company dedicated to creating emotionally charged, socially engaged works that explore identity, masculinity, and healing through bold physicality and storytelling.</span>

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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">At The Angel Nyack </span>

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Running time: 75 minutes </span>

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