Click here to download a press kit. (28 MB) Click here to view a resume. (pdf) Press: "...solid technical facility, a postmodern sensibility, a fondness for minimalist music and a strong sense of the theatrical... hypnotic" -- The Boston Globe, 2001 "Nicole Bindler’s name is ubiquitous in the local dance community as an active organizer of dance events as well as a freshly innovative performer" -- The Jewish Advocate, 2002 "One of the most impressive young women on the local scene" -- The Boston Herald, 2002 "hilarious... caused a small uproar" -- Distortion Music Magazine, 2003 "The festival's most stirring performance... eerie intensity" --Signal to Noise, 2004 "among the most extraordinary things I've ever witnessed" -- Cadence, 2004 "Nicole Bindler’s “Print” is the most engaging – if most confounding – performance on the docket" --Philadelphia City Paper, 2005 "...an avant-garde event that comments on cultural and political issues, as Bindler did in her well-received solo show Print, which explored wartime media." --Philadelphia Magazine, 2006 "When's the last time you saw the Pennsylvania Ballet dance to worldwide famine?" --Philadelphia City Paper, 2006 "It takes a certain kind of dance group to have members improvise a performance for five hours. Nicole Bindler... ...is the mastermind behind such a company." --South Philly Review, 2006 "Nicole Bindler is a frequent contributor to the avant-garde creative energy of Philadelphia." --Teresa Shockley, Director of the Community Education Center, 2007 "If you're into performance that's informal, experimental and in-progress, then you'll appreciate Studio 34's StudioSeries, where no-frills productions are all about giving new ideas a whirl." --Philadelphia City Paper, 2009 "Where most of dance artists make use of improvisation as an aspect of broader artistic explorations and choreography, Nicole has focused a majority of her career on exploring improvisation as a unique form, and has amassed a particularly celebrated roster of musical collaborators." --Bowerbird, 2010 "A fixture in Philadelphia’s experimental dance scene... ...Nicole Bindler is known for riveting performances." --Philadelphia Weekly, 2010 Biography: Nicole Bindler, (b.1977), choreographer, improviser, educator and bodyworker, is an experimental dance artist whose work ranges from personal and political commentaries to abstract explorations of form. Her dances are always site-specific, seeking to activate and enliven all performance spaces, whether they are theaters, studios, homes, places of business or the outdoors. Her movement vocabulary is inspired by her studies of new dance, dance-theater, butoh, contact improvisation, yoga, body-mind centering, feldenkrais and martial arts. She has choreographed over twenty original dance works and has performed over 200 improvised dances in cities throughout the U.S., Canada, Argentina and in Berlin, Tokyo and Beirut. Some notable venues include, Links Hall, Williamsburg Art neXus, The Joyce Soho, The Somerville Theater, The Creative Alliance, The Theater Project, The Kennedy Center. In August 2004, her solo "Places I've Never/Been" was performed in Quito, Ecuador by dancer, Stephanie Sherman. Bindler has performed in The High Zero Festival, The Transmodern Age Festival, The Shawinigan Street Theater Festival, The Imagine Festival of Arts, Issues and Ideas, The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, the D.C. Improvisation Festival, Fireside Festival, the Performance Mix Festival, the nEW Festival and Irtijal09'. Her work has been supported by Philadelphia Dance Projects, Foundation for Contemporary Arts and Dance Advance. Bindler holds a degree in Muscular Therapy from the Muscular Therapy Institute and a BA in Dance and Poetry from Hampshire College. Some of her most inspiring teachers have been Wendy Woodson, Felice Wolfzahn, Cathie Caraker, Rythea Kaufman, Jessica Newman, Deborah Butler, Debra Bluth, Miguel Guttierez, Deborah Hay and David Brick. She has taught New Dance, Improvisation, Contact Improvisation and Experiential Anatomy in Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Seattle and throughout Argentina. She has taught massage fundamentals at the Massage Arts Center in Philadelphia. Bindler has performed in the work of Linda Diamond, Heather Azano-Brown, Brenda Divelbliss, Jennifer Hicks, Debra Bluth, Ju-Yeon Ryu, Leah Stein, PIMA Group, Liza Clark, Willi Dorner, Zaitoun Dance Troupe, Sarah Gladwin-Camp, Michelle Stortz, Katsura Kan and has collaborated with dozens of experimental musicians, dancers and visual artists. Bindler recently completed a dance for the camera, "Rosemary, That's for Remembrance", with collaborator, Loren Groenendaal. She is a member of the Spontaneous Performing Artists Network, Mascher Dance Cooperative and she directs the 20 member company: "Amnesiac Music and Dance", formerly the Philadelphia New Dance and Music Ensemble, which was featured in the Sept 2006 issue of Philadelphia Magazine. Bindler is part of a duo with Andy Hayleck called "When We're Older" and she curates the StudioSeries at Studio 34 in Philadelphia. Awards: 2009 Foundation For Contemporary Arts, Emergency Grant: Participate in Irtijal09’, International Festival of Improvised Music, Beirut, Lebanon. 2008 Dance Advance Professional Development Grant: Katsura Kan residency at Mascher Space Coop. 2007 Dance Advance Professional Development Grant: New Dance/Japan residency with Corrie Befort. 2006 Philadelphia Dance Projects Grant: Support to commission a work for Nicole Bindler by Asimina Chremos Selected Performance works: (tech requirements available upon request) Invisible, 2008 (evening length) Music/dance improvisation duo with Bindler and composer/performer Andy Hayleck. Premiered at the Crane Arts Building Philadelphia, PA. “Invisible is "free improvisation", meaning we do not predetermine any aspect of our performance. In the years we have worked together, we have developed a strong rapport and common vocabulary which we use as we improvise. We also share similar aesthetic values, and a healthy sense of humor, which strengthens our improvisational rapport.” Pia Mater, 2007 (evening length) Choreography/Composition for a large ensemble, 12 dancers, 5 musicians. Premiered at Mascher Space Cooperative, Philadelphia, PA. Pia Mater, Latin for tender mother, is the anatomical name for the innermost layer of connective tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord. PM is inspired by both the anatomical image and the idea of a tender mother. PM is an evening length dance-theater work with live experimental music composed by Hayleck. PM is a tragi-comedy, a nonlinear, dreamlike narrative. PM is deeply psychological, visceral, transcendent and strange. The Drought, 2006 (15 minutes) Choreography/Composition duo with Bindler and Hayleck. Premiered at the Community Education Center, Philadelphia, PA. Inspired by J.G. Ballard's book of the same title this piece is about a worldwide drought. The movement, choreographed and performed by Bindler, is inspired by butoh and contemporary dance-theater. The music is composed and performed by Hayleck, playing bowed metal, electronics and invented instruments. Sand in my Sodapop 2003 (15 mins) Choreographed solo with sound score by Diane Ray, Dntel and Andy Hayleck Premiered at Links Hall, Chicago, IL A woman has an unrequited crush on the lifeguard at the beach. He doesn't even know she exists. Will she drown herself to get his attention? Ceiling Fan in Philadelphia, 2002 (9 mins) Choreographed dance duet with original prerecorded sound score by Bhob Rainey. Premiered at Green Street Studios, Boston, MA. Two lovers encircle one another as if tethered by an invisible string. They are both tied to one another and repelled. Their passion devolves to a sibling-like rivalry and the only way out of the holding pattern is to cut the string. Selected list Choregraphed/semi composed Works: 1999 -Urban Studies 2000 -Live Quintet 2000 -Dead Quintet 2000 -An Angel Inhabits 2000 -Ceiling Fan in Philadelphia 2000 -Playground 2001 -Curtain 2001 -Snow in May 2002 -Airport 2003 -Print 2003 -Sand In My Soda Pop 2003 -Forced Cuddling 2003 -Home Movie 2004 -Places I've Never/Been 2004 -Ceiling Fan Remix 2004 -Baltimore 2004 -P.S. 41 2005 -Wrong Boat 2005 -Blind Date 2006 -The Disappearing Floor 2006 -My Little Monstrosity 2006 -Games Without End 2006 -Rosemary, That’s for Remembrance 2007 -The Drought 2007 -Pia Mater 2009 -Vortical Philadelphia area presenters and performance series: New Edge Mix Philadelphia Livearts Festival Philadelphia Dance Projects nEW Festival Bowerbird Fire Museum First Person Arts Andrea Clearfield's Salon LURE Moles Not Molar Reading Series Influx Soundfield Philadelphia venues: The Table Space Highwire Gallery Kensington South Forum The Walt Whitman Arts Center The Parlor Vox Populi Community Education Center Christ Church Susan Hess Studio Nexus Gallery the Drake Slought Foundation Mascher Space Coop Performance Garage Studio 34 Broad St Ministry Spirit Wind Plays and Players Theater Welcome house Shofuso House Angler Movement Arts Center Soundfield Crane Arts Community Space Magic Garden World Cafe Live Collaborators past, present and future: Bhob Rainey, Greg Kelley, Jonathan Vincent, Vic Rawlings, Mike Bullock, John Berndt, Katt Hernandez, Chris Cooper, Kyle Bruckmann, Ernst Karel, Axel Dorner, Andrea Neumann, Annette Krebs, Dan Breen, Andy Hayleck, Kristen Toedtman, Audrey Chen, Le Quan Ninh, Carol Genetti, Susan Alcorn, Sean Meehan, Kate Porter, Helena Espvall, Leonel Kaplan, Leandro Barzabal, Jose de Diego, Cristian Carracedo, Tim Feeney, Dustin Hurt, Jack Wright, James Ilgenfritz, Tim Albro, Gene Coleman, Raed Yassin, Christine Sehnaoui, Mazen Kerbaj, Sharif Sehnaoui, The Signal Quintet, Ko Ishikawa, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Ryuko Mizutani, Bill Horist, Michael, Zerang, Gregory Reynolds, Reuben Radding, Dan Blacksberg, Mark Dwinell, Michael Anton Parker, Julius Masri, Michael, Zerang, Janene Higgins, Walter Wright, Paul Santoleri and Bilwa, James Peniston, Hana van der Kolk, Lailye Weidman, Alli Ross, Joe Burgio, Teresa Czepiel, Jessica Newman, Melisa Putz, John Luna, Emily Sweeney, Alissa Cardone, Ayako Kato, Asimina Chremos, Corrie Befort, Beth Graczyk, Ric Royer, Liza Clark, Cyrus Khambatta, Sharon Mansur, Daniel Burkholder, Michelle Stortz, Sheila Zagar, Loren Groenendaal Past members of Amnesiac, directed by Bindler: John Berndt, Katt Hernandez, Jon Barrios, Andy Hayleck, Dustin Hurt, Tim Albro, Gene Coleman, Michael Anton Parker, Paul Santoleri, Bilwa, Emily Sweeney, Jillian Bird, Daniele Strawmyre, Kilian Kroell, John Luna, Graeme McHenry, Sara Narva, Amberlee Woods, Liza Clark, Rebecca patek, Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, Michelle Stortz, Loren Groenendaal, Patricia Domiguez, Zornitsa Stoyanova, Shannon Murphy, Gabrielle Revlock, Molly Root, Eve Hanan, Naomi Pressman, Amberlee Woods, Ashley Deekus, Summer Schultz, Evan Lipson, Helena Espvall, Jesse Kudler, Dawn Pratson, Alban Bailley, Jenny Sawyer, Ruth Feinblum, Sean Mattio More Press: A fixture in Philadelphia’s experimental dance scene, dancer/choreographer/massage therapist Nicole Bindler is known for riveting performances during which she draws not only from modern dance traditions but yoga, butoh, healing arts and martial arts movements. Though Bindler has 15 original works to her name, it’s her improvisational dance that seems to get the most attention and acclaim; tonight she teams up with local composer and bass clarinetist Gene Coleman for a fully improvised presentation at Andrea Clearfield’s Salon—aka the performance space in the Center City home of local composer Andrea Clearfield—which should make for a unique event. As Bindler says, “My work is always site-specific in that I seek to activate and enliven all spaces that I dance in, whether they are theaters, studios, homes, places of business or the outdoors. I also seek to connect audience members to their own embodied, corporeal experience with the immediacy and spontaneity of performance.” --Philadelphia Weekly It takes a certain kind of dance group to have members improvise a performance for five hours. Nicole Bindler, of 22nd and Fitzwater streets, is the mastermind behind such a company and its latest show — its first Fringe appearance. "I find [improvisation] to be just a really intense process to sort of notice the mind and how the mind composes in the moment," the director of the Philadelphia New Dance and Music Ensemble said. Founded only a year ago, the company includes six musicians, 14 dancers and has conducted seven performances. "My goal is to really have the dancers be artists in their own right with autonomy and a sense of ownership in their work," the 29-year-old said. "Usually, I just perform in my own community … which is great because I love my community, but it’s always great to reach out to the larger Philadelphia community. --South Philly Review Nicole Bindler’s “Print” is the most engaging – if most confounding – performance on the docket. Based on Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others about the way we process war photography, dance improviser/choreographer Bindler has her way with the newspaper, constructing a performance that examines America’s relationship with – and ultimate subservience to – the media, especially in times of war (though you could stretch the interpretation to include times of national tragedy). --Philadelphia City Paper Bindler's Friday night solo performance was one of the festival's bigger suprises. It was a severely silent solo outing, the absence of music amplifying the sound of Bindler's feet hitting the floor, her legs gazing against the fabric of her clothing. She was illuminated by a single stage lamp, casting a skewed cone of light from one side of the room to the rear and turning her contorted poses and postures into towering shadows. What was so unexpected was the eerie intensity she established. Free-improv musicians rarely make direct eye contact with their audience; eyes closed or looking elsewhere is just the nature of the music. Bindler's frequent stares into the audience felt like a dare that no one accepted. --Signal to Noise The second piece was a solo performance by Nicole. Responding to ‘50s beach music, Nicole, dressed for the part, stared behind us into the imaginary eyes of a dreamy lifeguard, her expression cycling slowly from an anticipatory smile to the pain of rejection as she was advised by the song that she mustn’t talk to the lifeguard, then back again to delirium. The extreme contrast was hilarious and caused a small uproar as she cycled through again. --Distortion Music Magazine With five pairings of improvising musicians and experimental dancers, this Bowerbird-presented evening always faces the potential of feeling like Crash (the sex-and-car-wrecks one, not the schematic-diagram-of-racism one). But Philly dancer Nicole Bindler and Baltimore bowed metal/electronics manipulator Andy Hayleck are interpreting another J.G. Ballard novel, the close-to-home environmental apocalypse The Drought. When's the last time you saw the Pennsylvania Ballet dance to worldwide famine? --Philadelphia City Paper