Keen [No. 2] grows out of an open-eyed exploration of that which we uncomfortably avoid: the contours of grief. Juxtaposing ancient rites of mourning with threads inspired by such disparate sources as Paul Klee’s illustrations for Voltaire and Irish traditions of keening and windalls, as well as new rites, inherited and invented, the dancers mine the emotional and physical experience of loss, memory, and holding love. Adhering to and departing from formal dance structures, the dancers cultivate a world that shifts between seemingly opposing states: mundane and otherworldly, human and animal, lamenting and salutary.

Keen [No. 2] is co-commissioned by the Abrons Arts Center, The Chocolate Factory Theater, and The Joyce Theater. Additional support has been provided by the Jerome Foundation, William and Karen Tell Foundation, Ivy Baldwin Dance Commissioning Circle, and residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Mount Tremper Arts, Abrons Arts Center, and Chashama.