FOR WHICH IT STANDS
A POLITICAL PERFORMANCE PIECE (2018)
Crafted in 2018 and consisting of 9 episodic dances that seamlessly blend humor and reality, this work uses themes ripped from the headlines to satirize the Trump Administration and invites audiences to confront the contradictions of modern political discourse, tear down the walls that divide our country, and reject the normalization of nonsense.
Met with glowing reviews and standing ovations, FOR WHICH IT STANDS made its world premiere at the Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn in 2018, toured to St. Louis for five performances, and was featured in Time Out New York, Brokelyn Magazine, and the Dance Enthusiast.
"McQueen and her scrappy young company take on the madness of the Trump era in an anthology of nine satirical dances on political themes, including the solo "Plunge the Swamp" - Time Out New York
"McQueen's powerful solos -- which combine mime, slip-and-slide pratfalls, Pennywise leers, and a mini toilet plunger to perverse effect -- are as riotously funny as they are sadly accute." - The Dance Enthusiast
PERFORMANCE HISTORY
New York Premiere
February 2-3, 2018
Center for Performance Research-CPR
361 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
St. Louis Premiere
November 1-4, 2018
Satori, An Artist Space
Presented by ANNONYArts
3003 Locust Street, St. Louis, MO 63103
Virtual Premiere
October 15-17 & October 22-24, 2020
Smashworks Dance presents a slice of history in its encore virtual premiere of FOR WHICH IT STANDS. With only weeks until the 2020 presidential election, let us revisit this devilishly witty snapshot of history retooled for the virtual stage.
Plunge the Swamp
Plunge the Swamp first premiered at a choreographic buffet in New York City called "One 1 Condition," where choreographers were required to create any type of dance performance on the condition they incorporated a toilet plunger. Choreographer Ashley McQueen created a sound score of Trump's pre-2016 election audio and incorporated a little plunger for "little hands." The video projection element was created as part of her Digital Media class while in graduate school at Hollins University.
Plunge the Swamp toured nationally and has been performed over 20 times, from Santa Barbara, CA to Kalamazoo, MI.
"From choreographer Ashley McQueen’s “Plunge the Swamp,” a memorable commentary on Trump’s tendency toward diarrhea of the mouth”
- Maggi Yates, Santa Barbara Independent