Shapes of Change: Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance 25th Anniversary Season

For two-and-a-half decades, choreographer and her ensemble have been creating stunning spectacles that illuminate the relationship between the human body and the natural world while reckoning with climate change realities. Since 2022, Sperling and company have been Eco-Artists-in-Residence at the, co-presenting programs that embody an ethical and ecological ethos. Shapes of Change celebrates the 25th Anniversary of Time Lapse Dance and the 150th Anniversary of the New York Society for Ethical Culture with two unique performances (come to both!) featuring a world premiere and repertory favorites at the Society’s historic Adler Hall.

The world premiere,,is a poetic reimagining of humanity's relationship with water in the wake of rising sea levels. Performed by the company’s six exquisite dancers, the dance delves into somatic experiences of submersion and conjures a misty realm between sea and sky. The work continues a decade-long collaboration between Sperling and Emmy Award-winning environmental composer. For the season, Burtner performs live and conducts a quartet ofvocalists to evoke a hauntingly luminous sea of sound.

Program A (Friday) features two other Sperling-Burtner collaborations:, originally created for the documentary Obsessed with Light, which traces the entanglement of bodies through time; and, a romp about plastic proliferations.

Program B (Saturday) features the Sperling-Burtner collaborations:, visualizing patterns of atmospheric disturbance; and excerpts from the visually-hypnotic, dwelling on the intimacy of trees. Saturday’s performance is followed by an artist talkback.

All of these works feature transformative costumes that abstract human movement into elemental and organic forces, with the dancers appearing to conjure the oceans eddies, a growing forest, or hovering storm clouds. The company's unique style of movement draws inspiration from and furthers the art form created by dance icon Loie Fuller (1862-1928) a century ago.

In keeping with an ethical ethos, all performance tickets are offered at pay-what-you-can pricing.

Program A - Friday, April 24
+Ticketed Reception

Program B - Saturday, April 25
+Artist Talkback

Dancers: Frances Barker, Elinor Kleber Diggs, Tessa Fungo, Anika Hunter, Maki Kitahara, Lo Poppy, Sarah Tracy, and Rathi Varma

Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance programs are made possible in part by an ongoing eco-artist-residency at The New York Society for Ethical Culture, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, with support from the Heinrich Böll Foundation Washington, DC, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Adler Hall at The New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 W 64th Street, New York, United States

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