The Company

Scott/Powell Performance is a contemporary dance company whose vision is rooted in a dedicated 14-year collaboration between choreographer Mary Sheldon Scott and composer Jarrad Powell. Created in 1994, Scott/Powell Performance has a history of strong artistic vision, and has gained recognition as an important creative force in the Pacific Northwest. Their performance research, marked by strong formal elements devoid of pop-cultural references, has resulted in a series of "mysterious and beautiful works filled with oblique references to the natural world." (The Seattle Weekly) Central to their concerns are man’s estrangement from Nature and wounded struggle to retain humanity. Scott and Powell resist addressing these issues frontally – rather they are revealed through disciplined actions that are abstract and non-literal in their essence. Scott’s choreography uses the rigor of a technical and charged movement vocabulary to expose a physical voice that is elemental and visceral. Powell’s sound scores, lyrical and haunting, create powerful and evocative sonic landscapes that challenge and shape the performance space. Robert Campbell, installation artist, digital print maker, filmmaker and video artist, is a frequent collaborator with the company. Scott/Powell Performance features a powerful cast drawn from Seattle's most compelling modern dance artists.

Scott/Powell Performance has been presented through On the Boards, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Dance Theater Workshop/NYC, Western Washington University, American College Dance Festival, Bumbershoot Festival, Velocity Dance Center, Cornish College of the Arts and Composer/Choreographer. Projects of Scott/Powell Performance have received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the National Performance Network Creation Fund, Artist Trust, 4Culture/King County, The Mayor’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs/City of Seattle, the Washington State Arts Commission, and the Washington Composer’s Forum.