ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
Origin Story:
While both hail from the high peaks region of the Adirondack Park, Simon and Caitlin's artistic collaboration, as well as the creation of The Space We Make, began over many cups of coffee in Caitlin's small Brooklyn kitchen, along with numerous fire escape brainstorming sessions. They bonded over shared childhood experiences in a mountain community where sense of place is at the fore of local identity, as the community's survival in every sense of the word is both dependent upon and in spite of the landscape.
This innate sensitivity towards the connection between "space" and those who inhabit it spurred their decision to create a performance collective in which the exploration of non-traditional audience/performer relationships exist, and where performance can be experienced in unique, historical, surprising and non-traditional spaces.
Thus, The Space We Make was born, and they haven't looked back since. While Simon's passion for raw physicality and storytelling drives his continued participation in the project, and Caitlin's interest in collage and fluency across mediums keeps her hooked, both share a deep commitment to collaboration and doing the deep work that makes their partnership and the collective's projects both so challenging and rewarding.
Caitlin Scholl:
CAITLIN SCHOLL is a writer, musician, and multidisciplinary artist living in Maine. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University, is the author of three books of poetry and fiction, and her writing has appeared in numerous other publications – from anthologies to literary journals, zines to divination decks.
All of Caitlin's writing, art, and performance hinges on the creative tasks of world-making, collage, and collaboration; her most recent work examines questions and dynamics nested within the psychospiritual realm. For the past 10 years she has collaborated with performance groups, directors, choreographers, dancers, musicians and filmmakers, creating original sound scores – both live and recorded – for performance and film. Her debut solo album, Following the Light, is forthcoming in summer/fall 2021, as is a collaborative album, GLIMMER.
In addition to co-founding THE SPACE WE MAKE in 2012, and co-directing their complex and immersive projects with her cohort Simon, Caitlin is also the creative director at FRIEND ENERGIES, a creative company that fosters collaborations between artists and culture makers of all stripes. Learn more about her work at www.friendenergies.com (@friendenergies) and www.caitlinscholl.com (@caitla).
Simon Thomas-Train:
SIMON THOMAS-TRAIN, originally of Keene Valley, NY, is a choreographer, dance artist, and educator currently living and working in New York City. He received his BA in Dance with a minor in Architectural Studies from Middlebury College in 2009. Simon’s introduction to dance came through an extensive past in competitive athletics and an interest in the visual arts. After competing nationally and internationally as a cross-country skier, Simon was recruited to ski for the Division 1 ski team at Middlebury College. Shortly after reaching Middlebury Simon wandered into his first dance class.
He continued his dance education there under the direction of Andrea Olsen, Penny Campbell and Tiffany Rhynard. His dance education was also profoundly affected by numerous summers at the Bates Dance Festival and the American Dance Festival. He studied at the MADE in France program, interning and creating with various European dance and theater artists including Compagnie Au Cul du Loup and Cie Blicke, and spent a semester studying under David Dorfman and Lisa Race at Connecticut College.
Post-college, Simon has worked professionally with dance companies around the US and abroad, including Big Action Performance Ensemble (Big APE), Brussels-based dance company Studio Eclipse, Attack Theatre, Alexandra Beller/Dances, Megan Bascom/Dancers, Kendra Portier of band|portier, Tiffany Mills and company, David Dorfman Dance, Third Rail Projects, & more.
Simon currently works at Grace School in NYC, as a dance educator and admissions staff, and continues to make work both with his students, independently, and with a variety of NYC-based artists and choreographers.
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