Graham Cole

Comfort Tone is a solo work presenting both the humor and horror in obsession. Combining increasingly absurd text-to-speech “agents”, compulsive repetition, and multiple versions of Pink Martini’s earworm song Sympathique, Comfort Tone displays the effect of being “on a pedestal”, both literally and figuratively.

Comfort Tone was one of three pieces premiered at A-WOL (Portland, OR) on January 26-30, 2022, as part of Solo Trips, Graham Cole Performance’s first production in Portland.

Choreography and Sound Design: Graham Cole

Lighting and Scene Design: Christopher Annas-Lee

Costume Design: Virginia Belt

Performance: Lindsay Dreyer

Music: Pink Martini

Additional Sound:

”Dial Tone Panned 10 min .wav” by freesound.org user gggtrew

”Telephone Pick Up.wav” by freesound.org user Analog Bleep Ten

”Flushing a Toilet” by freesound.org user deleted_user_7146007

”Dial Tone String.wav” by freesound.org user reactorplayer

”estate February NL Haanwijk 130217_00.flac” by freesound.org user klankbeeld

Photography: Jingzi Zhao

Exhaustion pulls a variety of self-care techniques into the absurd, answering the question: at what point does abundant self-care become stressful? Layering breathing techniques, tea brewing, guided meditation, and so much essential oil, this solo dance work follows the progression from winding down to coming unwound.

Exhaustion was one of three pieces premiered at A-WOL (Portland, OR) on January 26-30, 2022, as part of Solo Trips, Graham Cole Performance’s first production in Portland.

Choreography and Sound Design: Graham Cole

Lighting and Scene Design: Christopher Annas-Lee

Costume Design: Virginia Belt

Music: Ryan Wolfe

Performance: Jordan Kriston

Additional Sound:

”Rainstorm V2” by freesound.org user esh9419

”Tea kettle boiling whistling.wav” by freesound.org user sethlind

”Water, carbonated, pouring into glass” by freesound.org user giddster

”Harmony Bell” by freesound.org user newagesoup

”Lotus music.wav” by freesound.org user nemaavla

Photography: Jingzi Zhao

Good.Grief.Gil picks at the universal frustration of wading through the American healthcare system on a telephone. Artificial, disingenuous voices are reminiscent of hours spent on hold. Repurposed protective gear captures the hard shell we develop as a result of struggling through life injured. The work culminates in a song sung to escape.

Good.Grief.Gil was one of two pieces premiered at Gibney (New York, NY) on June 25th, 2019 during PROUD/weak, Graham Cole Dance’s first self-production.

Choreography and sound design: Graham Cole

Performance: Zoe Warshaw and Graham Cole

Sound:

"Four, as in X" by Zendesk and "Busy office-call center" by Freesound.org user dnlburnett, with text-to-speech generated by TTSMP3.com and filtered through voicechanger.io

"Knock me Off the Chain" by Graham Cole

Photography: Jeremiah Cumberbatch

Crestfalling uses a tube of toothpaste and a bottle of water to highlight the lows and highs of a manic mind. The performer drives through cycles of singing, coughing, gargling, and choking to arrive at a state of spent absence. Crestfalling was inspired by the hours spent in front of a computer screen during a debilitating injury.

Crestfalling was one of two pieces premiered at Gibney (New York, NY) on June 25th, 2019 during PROUD/weak, Graham Cole Dance’s first self-production.

Choreography, costume design, and sound design: Graham Cole

Performance: Rebecca Van Dover

Sound:

‘All Star’, by Smash Mouth
(1) Remixed by Youtube.com user Meme Suprememe
(2) Arranged for recorder by Fiverr.com user John Mann

Photography: Jeremiah Cumberbatch

Auto Bon is a multi-disciplinary work combining dance, theater, and poetry to tell a story. Michelle and David, two interdependent siblings, embark on an interstate road trip to illegally retrieve medication through Oregon's Death with Dignity law. Auto Bon highlights the empathy and care within their relationship, while also digging out layers of what remains unsaid between them.

Auto Bon was originally performed Dec. 16-17, 2016 in Lincoln Center's Clark Studio Theater.

Writing, Direction, and Choreography: Graham Cole

Additional direction: Ethan Nienaber

Cast:
Samaria Nixon-Fleming
Mason Hensley
Vanessa Knouse
Honza Pelichovsky
Ethan Nienaber

Lighting Design: Jennifer Fok

Musical Selections: Dinah Washington

Sound: Courtesy of Soundjay

Additional sound from Freesound:
Ambience, Night Wildlife by InspectorJ
Car Burning by Hssmusic
Car Crash by squareal
Rbh Mpls Bird by RHumphries

Sound arrangement and editing: Graham Cole

Production Management: Leigh Walter

Auto Bon was produced as the culmination of Graham Cole's William R. Kenan Jr. Performing Arts Fellowship with Lincoln Center Education. The Kenan Fellowship is an initiative of Lincoln Center Education and University of North Carolina School of the Arts. The Fellowship is made possible by generous support from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust.

Origami Night is a multi-disciplinary work utilizing poetry, dance, and sensory design to trace a woman’s life from working class navy brat to radical feminist to mother, and explore aging, love, loneliness, and the revolutionary act of self-examination. The driving force behind Origami Night is the poetry of Pamela Annas, a Boston-based poet known for her role in formalizing the pedagogy of Working Class literature in the United States.

Created by Christopher Annas-Lee and Graham Cole

Elenaluisa Alvarez, performer

Pamela Annas, author

Christopher Annas-Lee, lighting, sound, and scenic designer; librettist

Virginia Belt, costume designer

Graham Cole, choreographer & producer

Luz Nicolas, narrator

Sound sourced from the public domain on freesound.org