about Pele Bauch
Pele Bauch is an interdisciplinary choreographer who weaves dance, theater, and installation design into unique performances. Bauch’s work has been selected for presentation at many New York venues. She has received residencies from The Joyce Theater Foundation; Dance Theater Workshop; Chocolate Factory; and 92Y Harkness Dance Center. Funders include the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; Brooklyn Arts Council; and Harkness Foundation for Dance. Trained as a modern dancer, Bauch draws from additional studies in fine arts, Oli (Hawaiian Chant), and Hula, as well as from her Hapa Haole Kanaka Maoli (multi-racial Native Hawaiian) heritage.
Her evening-length solo, A.K.A. Ka Inoa (also known as the name), premiered at La MaMa (2022) and was performed again in the EstroGenius Festival (2023). This work delves into the weight she bears being named after one of Hawai‘i’s most significant and beloved deities. It grapples with 300 feet of rope and a heiau (temple) of paper bags along with questions of identity, self-reclamation, and belonging. Funded in part by LMCC, workshops of this piece appeared at New York Live Arts; International Human Rights Arts Festival; and Movement Research at the Judson Church.
Commissioned by Women in Motion, The Distance Process / Dear Kanaloa is a collaboration with Kealoha Ferreira. Drawing from their Native Hawaiian experiences in diaspora and the navigation of connection, Bauch and Ferreira live streamed in New York City and St. Paul for simultaneous in-person audiences in each city.
Commissioned by the Chocolate Factory, H to Oh utilized copious amounts of laundry and a kiddie pool to create a dance-scape of surrealist vignettes. The iDanz Critix Corner stated: “The strength of [H to Oh] is its ability to engulf the audience in the atmosphere; you completely forget you’re sitting in a theater.” H to Oh was conceived at White Oak where Bauch led a group residency for The Field, and was developed in a year-long residency from the Joyce Theater Foundation.
Bauch’s choreography has also appeared at Joyce SoHo; HERE; Brooklyn Museum; and Danspace Project, among other venues. Pele resides in the unceded land of the Lenape people, New York City.
Artist Statement
I investigate inner questions through sensation, movement, and imagery. Beginning with quiet, deep physical explorations. Building installations that color and contextualize the performance space. My work asks: Who am I? What is distance between people, between cultures? What is change?
I choreograph individualized movement, specific to the person and inherent to the moment. The history behind the gesture, the history of that person. The presence of the objects on stage and the meaning that they bring.
I manifest my questions in visual design. Everyday objects used in unique ways and beyond the expected quantities. Thousands of indecipherable name tags. Wax paper costumes. A temple of brown paper bags. These installations disrupt our expectations and create context with meaning.
