This performance is Part Four of a series in which Bindler’s scars speak candidly about trauma and desire. Imagine Mister Rogers had a scooter accident, a thyroidectomy, a brain injury… and the puppets in his neighborhood were the remnants of these calamities. Welcome to The Case For Invagination!

This collection of solos arose out of Bindler’s somatic Body-Mind Centering® research on the embryology of the genitalia from a nonbinary perspective. From these ideas she developed a series of interactive performances based on the practice of allowing space/situations/people to invite us in, rather than injecting ourselves into spaces. This practice has social and political implications around embodying consent culture and as an antidote to the ways many of us have internalized capitalism, colonialism, sexism, and ableism.

After the third version, performed at last year’s Cannonball/Fringe festivals, many audience members reported that Bindler’s brain scar was the most poignant for them. This was the newest addition to her chorus of scars, and seemed like the most compelling one for her to explore more deeply in the fourth version.

The brain scar is a personification of the remnants of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) she suffered in 2018. In their monologue, brain scar describes what it’s like to be a TBI, “Some people were so freaked out and disgusted by her inability to fulfill her professional commitments, they looked at her like she was a demented grandma.” Brain scar ponders their identity, “What is me? Am I brain? Am I a scar? Am I Nicole?”

For the past year Bindler and her director, Mark Kennedy, have delved into her experience of TBI through the voice of the brain itself. Like previous instalments, this edition includes tragicomic autobiography told through monologues and dancing with an underlying politics around feminism, decoloniality, and Disability Justice.

Appropriate for ages 13+

Interested in a not-necessarily-romantic way to connect over art? Select the Blind Date ticket at checkout and Cannonball will pair you with another audience member for a pre- and post-show experience. Blind Date is only available for this show on Wed, Sep 28, 2022 10:00 PM. Check out https://www.cannonballfestival.org/blinddate for more information.

This show is presented as part of Cannonball Festival, Philly’s artist-centered performance hub, packing in 65+ full length shows and 300 performances in two nearby venues. Discover risk-taking theater, dance, circus, music, and comedy alongside a vibrant garden bar with a free nightly cabaret, pop-up events, workshops, artist talkbacks, and more. September 1–30 at the Maas Building (1320 N 5th St) and Icebox Project Space (1400 N American St). Learn more at cannonballfestival.org.

Content Considerations

This performance contains brief suggested language.

Health & Safety

Proof of vaccination is required to attend this event, and masks must be worn for the duration of the performance. Audience members will be asked to show proof of vaccination before entering the venue. Both digital and physical proof of vaccination are accepted. Please plan accordingly.

Credits

Choreographer, Writer, and Performer: Nicole Bindler, Director/Scar Wrangler: Mark Kennedy, Composer: Dustin Slaughter

About the Artist

Nicole Bindler–dance-maker, Body-Mind Centering® practitioner, writer, and activist–has practiced contact improvisation for 25 years, and her work has been presented on four continents. Recent projects include curating an evening of Palestinian dance films at Fidget Space; somatic research on the embryology of the genitalia from a non-binary perspective; workshops on Disability Justice, Neuroqueering Embodiment, and Polyvagal Theory and Protest; conference presentations about rebuilding in-person dance and somatics communities in ways that tangibly address the inequities laid bare by the pandemic; co-producing the Consent Culture in Contact Improvisation Symposium at Earthdance; and a solo dance, The Case for Invagination, in which her scars speak candidly about trauma and desire.