Malleus Maleficarum

I have just finished an amazing first year of my MFA program at CSULB! My professors and mentors are amazing, brilliant, generous and so supportive, the other MFA's are fantastic and super talented, and the undergraduate dancers are fabulous and a pleasure to work with!

One of the highlights of the year was the MFA year end showing! I created a 27 minute long work called Malleus Maleficarum, which explored the superstition-steeped history of witchcraft and the phenomenon of persecution based on fear and the struggle for power which unfolds before us even today. Set to an original found-sound music score (which I composed also), the all-female cast uses kaleidoscopic and unfettered movement blended with sweeping and convulsive accents to invoke classic female archetypes and explore the boundaries and parallels between religion and ritual, seduction and mortification, and the primal power of unbridled femininity and the violent means by which others try to exert control. Magic, mystery, religion, reason and survival come together under the probing inquistor’s eye.

As I delved into this project, I realized how truly complex the concept I was working with really was. I had opened a very explosive Pandora's box. I felt like the end result was a solid draft, which, when presented in front of an audience, gave me valuable information as to how to proceed to further explore this subject. I am excited to continue to work on this rich project and hopefully tour the end result.