Improvisor and performance artist Melissa Birch ignites a GenX perspective on graduated gender spectacle and the absurd systems it both profits from and resists in this audacious post-feminist romp.
As a performance-maker and vocalist in pre-Gaga America, Melissa produced live theatre shows and experimental works, authoring 7 full-length shows and forging collaborations with such notable jazz pianists as Drew Jansen, Eugene Huddleston, Chris Johnson (NY), and Dan Chouinard. She helped introduce femme drag and other tasteful transgressions to a generation of dancers and performers.
In 2001, Birch returned to Minneapolis from 4 years in NY to produce, curate, and emcee Mpls-St Paul’s ‘Best Cabaret’, a weekly cabaret showcasing new experimental forms. In 2003, her own live work continued populating the interdisciplinary edges of performance theatre, live music and improvisation, producing a dozen solo shorts, multi-media projects and rock operas.
In July 2012, Melissa will continue her research into new improvisation and physical performance practice for a second year at Ponderosa’s PORCH program in Stolzenhagen, Germany.
