Be The Media! Workshop: the Process Behind Choreographing Grief

September 23, 2026 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm EDT

This collaboration with EMPAC looks behind the performance WAKE.

Join composer Micaela Tobin, choreographer Jay Carlon, and their team to learn how they draw on personal experience and shared culture to generate interdisciplinary media in performance. Their collaborative project, WAKE, is a celebratory ritual for grief that centers queer, Filipino life and processes both personal and community loss through a combination of sound, dance, and video projection. Tobin uses electronics to dissect her vocals, creating dense sonic worlds that blur opera, drone, and noise; Carlon’s visual language stages bodily movement and video projection to mediate between performers, audience, and memory. Joining together, screen video material from the work, and lead attendees through aspects of their process.

Just after the hour-long workshop, hang out with the artists over a bite to eat. The following day, September 24, 7PM, visit EMPAC to experience a live excerpt of the work in progress.

Black Atlas is presented in partnership with iEAR Presents, with support from RPI’s Department of Arts and the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Science. iEAR Presents and EMPAC programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.