RAWdance will be using the residency time to explore the early seeds of a brand new work, “Echo,” a dance installation project that will premiere in fall 2026 through a residency commission from San Francisco’s 836M Gallery. The work draws its inspiration from the tragic Greco-Roman myth of Narcissus and Echo, in which the cursed Echo is able only to repeat the last words uttered to her, and the beautiful Narcissus dies after becoming obsessed with his own reflection. The tale feels freshly resonant in our current era of proliferating reflective technologies, from social media algorithms to AI feedback loops, that center a user’s data, patterns, belief systems, and desires. “Echo” asks: how do these multiplying reflections and refractions shape the way we see ourselves and each other? In this initial phase at Jane St. Art, the company will begin playing and exploring ideas, working towards honing the direction of the fall’s creative process.

Where: Jane St. Art Center, Saugerties