Statement

Thea Little's dance and performance works are very abstract yet they relate to the audience on a very humanistic and moving level. Having an emotional connection with the audience while upholding obscurity and individualism as well as humor, zaniness, and joy are central to her work. Thea is primarily interested in and inspired by feminism, queer understanding, transcending social class and status, and interacting with the audience in a playful manner. Psychological and sociological memories and situations are often the impetus of Thea’s works. Her abstract aesthetic is paired with a meaningful anchor - expanding the personal to the universal.

Thea is inventive with movement, often arranging recognizable steps in a bizarre and unpredictable way. The influence of ballet, Cunningham, and Forsythe techniques can be perceived, and the clean lines and direct simplicity are the architectural structure of her work.  This architecture is blanketed with an accepting and collaborating warmth that is experienced by the performers and palpable to the audience.

Collaborating with other artists is paramount to Thea's process.  When she collaborates with dancers, visual artists, video artists, writers, musicians, and the audience, each multi-media element is as effective and influential as the other. Sets and props are often incorporated, and are often even the first thing that Thea visualizes before the movement or music is made. Thea's work often includes her performers’ stories and visceral expressions.  Explorations from games and improvisations in rehearsals are sometimes integrated into the choreography. This sets the tone for an intimate and open space where the audience is invited to enter a world of sharing and exploring.

Text is often used in a very direct and open way that is revealing yet nontheatrical. In Thea's overall works, there is a plain-statement quality, balanced with a lot of understated flair and flashes of pizzazz. Thea likes to see images, emotions, situations, and characters transform, and these developments are mysteriously emphasized without choreographic buildup. Her scenes progress very smoothly with each shift being both unexpected yet still related.

Thea enjoys composing for her dances and makes musical instruments for some of her works as well. Usually the music is supportive to the movements and overall concept and is always in equal importance to the dance and other media elements. Sometimes Thea is concerned with creating melodies and harmonies and other times with collecting sounds and turning them into rhythmic symphonies that are visually and sonically connected to the environment or story.