Founded in 1999 by choreographer Tina Heuges (Bracciale), Winged Woman (WW) is a Philadelphia based ensemble dedicated to in depth collaborations between visual artists/musicians/dancers to create narrative based works that are initiated from formal technique but with a post modern aesthetic. We exist as an ensemble so that we can continue to create works inspired by humanity, myth and history. Educational outreach through master classes and choreographic residencies is at the heart of this ensemble. Winged Woman is made up of a dedicated group of dancers who volunteer their time to be involved in projects. Project based works is central to our mission and usually on average span an entire year of creative endeavors.

ARTIST STATEMENT by Tina Heuges, Choreographer

My passion for visual art; primarily painting, sculpture and architecture has always been where I allow my choreographic tendencies to saturate. I noticed that the specific works I researched began transferring themselves into my choreographic motifs. These images became the symbols that began to mark the work as my own. As time progressed, I felt challenged in areas of composition, use of space, color, lighting and more specifically, the number of dancers and their relationship to the musical composition. When using visual arts as an impetus, I find that there are no limits to the inspiration you can harbor and cultivate.

The sole intention of my work is to affect audience members on a physical level by using gesture phrases that originate from the “point of interest.” This allows audiences to make their own assumptions to the underlying narrative of my work, which is always my place of departure in building a work. After establishing the choreographic parameter, I use paintings, sculpture, poetry and film as the tools to create innovative movement arrangements.

My compositions grow out of changes that the dancers make to positions, direction, timing and spatial clarity on the stage. My emphasis is on structural design, spatial pathways and relationships. I enjoy the roughness and uneasiness that can be captured by dancers with different abilities and backgrounds. Using dancers who are different in body type, age and technical ability complements my individual approach. I believe this an exciting aspect of how my work takes shape. Often, my completed work does not directly relate to the original “point of interest,” yet the enhanced structural elements, seen through the abstracted gestures, allows the work to reach a new level.

My choreographic style does not fit into one category and I am often pleased that I get mixed responses from viewers. A recurring comment of my work is, “there is always so much going on.” I believe that we ask too little from audiences. We need to challenge them on more than just an intellectual level, but on an intimate level, by using complexity in ideas and structure. My choreography is clean, specific and extremely detail oriented specific to each individual dancer. Often my work requires several viewings because each time there is a new element to be discovered. Much like an art patron, who visits the museum to re-view the same painting over and over, dance should make the leap to this type of meditative viewing process. I focus not only on the choreography, but also on the progression and execution of these movements, which is crucial to the work’s success.