Dinner Party is a multidisciplinary cross between a dance and a play. Text and movement intertwine to convey intimate storylines that touch on everyday and challenging topics. Growing out of Michelle Thompson’s interest in the choreographic structure of the duet, the work builds as a series of conversations between couples, highlighting the ways in which the conflicts and closeness of these intimate relationships reveal themselves in more public settings. Thompson, in collaboration with Scott Illingworth of Society Theatre Company, has partnered with playwrights, actors, and dancers to bring you multiple storylines that will collide at the same dinner party. Original music by Michael Wall intertwines through these storylines to guide and enhance the journey of the characters. The individual characters on stage are unaware of the struggles and baggage that each relationship holds but ultimately the storylines start to collide and cause the party to implode. Come see the stories unfold at 3AM Theatre in Queens September 18th-21st.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, CHOREOGRAPHER, PRODUCER
MICHELLE THOMPSON is currently a professor at SUNY Purchase in New York. She received her training from San Francisco Ballet, and danced for 14 years with Ballet Austin. She performed in works by George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Ulysses Dove, Stephen Mills, Sidra Bell, Greg Dolbashian, Nelly van Bommel, Amy Seiwert, James Gregg, Gina Patterson, Thang Dao, Jennifer Hart, and more. Also during her time in Texas she earned her undergraduate degree from St. Edward’s University, and began her choreographic career with an emphasis on site specific and immersive dance experiences. Michelle was the Artistic Director of New York based Spark Movement Collective from April 2020-April 2024. Michelle grew this company for 4 years, and was awarded grants by The Flushing Town Hall for programming for children and The Queens Council on the Arts for her work Armenian Voices. She is currently a freelance choreographer in New York, and has recently shown work at The Mark O’Donnell Theater, Pageant, Green Space, Dixon Place, and Art On Site. She was chosen as the Women’s Choreography Project winner in 2017 by Avant Chamber Ballet in Dallas and was featured in Dance Magazine. Her commissions include NuVu Festival, Create ART, Style Pointe for New York Fashion Week, Ballet Hartford, J Chen Project, Ballet Austin II, Harvard Ballet, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Ballet Spartanburg, TY&CO, Counter Pointe, Prelude Projects at Carvalho Park Gallery, and SUNY Purchase. Michelle has worked closely with Grammy award winning musician Johnny Butler and creative partner Caleb Patterson on projects performed at The Visionary, Mercury Lounge, Ace Hotel in Brooklyn, C'mon Everybody, and the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY. Michelle’s Illusory Impressions collaboration and co-directorship with composer Catherine Davis was given an award by the Austin Critics’ Table for excellence in a Site-Specific work. She also creates for film and music video projects including music video "Let You in" by Pete Muller. She teaches at Peridance, NY Community Ballet, and Steps on Broadway. Michelle has also performed with XAOC Contemporary Ballet under the direction of Eryn Renee Young at Battery Dance Festival amongst other New York venues. Michelle teaches yoga, and she is a mother of two. Michelle recently premiered a new commission in Dallas for Pegasus Contemporary Ballet in June 2024 in collaboration with Grammy award winning musician Scott Tixier. Michelle was selected to be part of the Mix MATCH festival in Houston in January 2025 for her work Dinner Party, which will premiere in New York September 18th-21st in 2025.
Photo by Margherita Andreani