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This month our blog features Vice Versa Co-Founder Elena Collins! Reflect on your current artistic practice: What are you working on? What are you passionate about? How does your work relate to Vice Versa’s mission? In November of 2021, my grandmother Ione Collins passed away. It was sudden. No one was ready. I went to the funeral where what seemed like hundreds of people gathered at her and my grandfather’s farm in Michigan. And then I went back to school in Indiana to finis

Vice Versa co-founder Brendan Sweeney talks about how the ideas and collaborations inside the collective have influenced his creative process. if it's not obvious, he took this himself I remember the first time I really felt freedom expressing myself as a performer. It wasn't - and hasn't been - playing repertoire works of classical music with highly prescriptive notation. That always felt like taking a test, where the goal was scoring a perfect 100, and any deviation from t

As we enter July, and freedom is the topic of conversation in our homes, in our cities, and in our country, we close out our mini-series reflecting on our Philadelphia production FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT with multi-instrumentalist Asia Mieleszko answering one question: Can you improvise intention? Improvisation is funny. An unprompted, unscheduled jam session can yield something so compelling you come back to it again and again for weeks, years even. Lyrics that arrive fully forme

Summer is just around the corner and in this mini-series we ask our artists to reflect on the our philly production - FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT - from this past spring. Next up is visual artist and death doula, Lindsay Luna, writing about their first Vice Versa project. Creative collaboration feels so important, especially in times of collective chaos. Collaboration is key to sustaining a healthy community and I believe creativity is the foundation of our culture. Creatives are sto

May is here already! In this series we will head back to March and ask our artists from FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT to share their thoughts on their creative process in conceptualizing the show, and experience of being immersed in an interactive performance space. Leading us off is Vice Versa founding partner and Philly native, Daniel Townsend! Reflect on your process of creating an interdisciplinary, interactive show with Vice Versa. What did you learn? What was easy and what was di

Choreographer and proprietor of Long Island City venue Green Space Valerie Green share's her experience hosting our New York debut show last may. It was my pleasure to be a collaborator and venue host for last May’s Vice Versa at Green Space. I loved exploring the concept of Rock/Paper/Scissors through the medium of dance, music, and visual art. I truly enjoyed meeting the other visual artists, musicians, and dancer. All were so talented, open and invested in bringing their

This month, we hear from New York-based choreographer and mover Sarah Albee! In this blog, Sarah reflects on the Vice Versa New York pilot show, and the adventurous spirit of jumping head first into a collaborative improvisatory process. Please shed light on where your art is rooted and how improvisation relates to your artistic process. How does your creative process shift when collaborating with others? I began my personal material with three solo studies inspired by our t

This month, we continue our series on creative process and interdisciplinary work with an article from Asia Mieleszko reflecting on photographing Vice Versa's New York show last May. Catch Asia as a performer and creator at our upcoming production on Philadelphia next month! Please shed light on where your art is rooted and how improvisation relates to your artistic process. How does your creative process shift when collaborating with others? It’s 10:04 A.M. I’m chest-down on

Happy 2026! In this series of posts, we will have different collective members sharing their perspectives on art, performance, collaboration, improvisation, and creative practice. This month we hear from mover, choreographer, Director of CLOUDS dance company, and immersive parachute builder Olivia Emert! photo by Brendan Sweeney Please shed light on where your art is rooted and how improvisation relates to your artistic process. How does your creative process shift when colla

In this series of posts, we will have different collective members sharing their perspectives on art, performance, collaboration, improvisation, and creative practice. This month is the last our founders; composer, arts technologist, and beach enthusiast Brendan Sweeney! photo by Asia Mielezko Please shed light on where your art is rooted and how improvisation relates to your artistic process. How does your creative process shift when collaborating with others? I’ve made thi

photo by Asia Mieleszko In this series of posts, we will have different collective members sharing their perspectives on art, performance, collaboration, improvisation, and creative practice. This month is one of founders; clarinetist, composer, rock climber, and fountain of good ideas, Elena Collins! Please shed light on where your art is rooted and how improvisation relates to your artistic process. How does your creative process shift when collaborating with others? D

Photo by Asia Mieleszko In this series of posts, we will have different collective members sharing their perspectives on art, performance, collaboration, improvisation, and creative practice. Kicking us off is one of our fearless leaders and perpetual good vibes machine, Dan Townsend! Please shed light on where your art is rooted and how improvisation relates to your artistic process. How does your creative process shift when collaborating with others? All I do is improv