Escape was always meant to be an artistic indulgence, created from a place of heartbreak. When the opportunity arose for our team to film in Pike National Park, I knew the setting would become just as much of a character in the story as much as the lovers. I escaped my heartbreak by turning to art for refuge and to satisfy my need to create something good during that time. I hope the message you can relate to in Escape is you can always find refuge in art to whisk you away and give you bliss.

A huge thank you to High Country Cabin for generously trusting us to film in their home. Thank you to Kierney McAllister, whose emotional coaching brought Troy and I’s acting to life. Another to Ki Smith Gallery for allowing us to take over their space for our premiere and Pollinator Spirits for keeping our guests’ glasses full. Thank you to NOPLACE, Kazuki Mitsunaga, Sadé Murray, and Lily Cosgrove for putting in the time and dedication to create a lovely live experience to pair with the premiere - and so many more to thank and images to come from the celebratory evening on February 1.

Lastly, thank you to the cast and crew, Troy Kelley and Gabi Broekema, for trusting my madness, committing to the concept with impressive artistic vigor, and bringing Escape to life.

“You were my escape.”

With love,
Kasey Broekema, Founder of Project III

Project III (People’s Performance Project) collaborated with 2theFuture to produce a campaign featuring the emerging New York and Chicago-based designer’s ULTRA VIOLET line.

Upon seeing 2theFuture’s designs, Kasey Broekema (she/her) - founder of Project III and creative director for Dancing Through the Digital - immediately knew the concept design had to be eclectic, upbeat, and vibrant to match the unbridled, future-forward energy of the ULTRA VIOLET line. To Broekema, fashion and dance go naturally hand-in-hand, so she wanted to ensure this collaboration was executed as uniquely as possible. To match the maximalist, futuristic, yet nostalgic vibe of the Gen-Z brand, Broekema immediately envisioned the set of movement artists interacting with live playback of themselves on vintage television screens.

In the spirit of sustainability, all of the screens used in the project were upcycled from waste bins or donated from collaborators’ homes for use for the day. To unleash the true spirit of movement collaboration with fashion, Broekema encouraged the dancers to execute a mix of improvised and choreographed prompts from movement director, Shannon Harkins (she/her), captured live on camera by videographer and editor, Esther Health (she/her). The shot was wired to computers, transmitted onto the screens, and played back at varying times and speeds. The movement artists then rebuilt the same shot with their past selves on playback on the screens.

2theFuture’s designs are made from upcycled clothing by the founder Olive Jenkins (they/she). Sustainability is a pillar of the creative collective’s community.

“We’ve seen the fashion and dance collaboration a million times, so I really wanted to ask myself how we could make this different,” says Broekema. “Project III has had the welcome challenge of working with brands instead of solely artists before, but this was our first time tackling a full-fledged campaign.”

“The synergy with 2theFuture was inspiring and Project III appreciated the trust they invested in us to take an idea from their brand and have the creative freedom to run with it - and after the shoot day, 2theFuture took what we produced and articulated the ideas to a whole new level to fuse with their brand. Every Project III collaboration has been unique and it is always a treat to see how the process unfolds,” Broekema concluded.

Dancing Through the Digital dropped everywhere online via Project III and 2theFuture platforms on December 1. Shop the ULTRA VIOLET line on 2theFuture’s website: https://welcome-2thefuture.com/ and learn more about Project III’s 2024 collaborations: https://piii.tilda.ws/.


CREDITS:

Clothing and Design:
2theFuture - IG: @wearit2thefuture

Creative Direction and Production:
Project III - IG: @project.iii
Kasey Broekema - IG: @kasey.broekema

Creative Ideation:
Kasey Broekema - IG: @kasey.broekema
Khepera Lyons-Clark - IG: @codekhepra
Gigi Guerandi - IG: @giuseppeguerandi
Olive Jenkins - IG: @olivefromthefuture

Videographer, Photographer, Editor, Original Music Mix:
Esther Heath - IG: @esthaus__

Social Media Video Editor:
Kasey Broekema - IG: @kasey.broekema

Movement Director:
Shannon Harkins - IG: @shannonharkins

Stylist:
Khepera Lyons-Clark - IG: @codekhepra

Makeup Artist:
Bodhi Scott - IG: @_ugotkly_

Set Managers:
Hannah Ferguson - IG: @hc.ferguson
Nicole Jackson - IG: @_nicole.jackson_
Gigi Guerandi - IG: @_guiseppeguerandi

Sustainability Facilitator:
Nicole Jackson - IG: @_nicole.jackson_

Movement Artists:
Sarai Daniels - IG: @saraidiance
Shizu Higa - IG: @shizuhiga
Desiree Figueroa - IG: @desireenirvana
Torey Wyman - IG: @toreyrenz
Ashley Cassetta - IG: @ashcassette98
Benin Gardner - IG: @whereisskyferreira
Emmy Wildermuth - IG: @wild.em
Aurora Vaughan - IG: @auroralvaughan

Tharathip (Kazuki) Mitsunaga describes NOPLACE as a frame of mind one occupies when growing up between multiple cultural spheres. Representing the experience of a Third-Culture-Kid, it's easy to lose one's sense of self during your developmental years while moving between multiple countries. Existing between cultural paradigms such as those of your parents, the country you live in, or your nationality concurrently grows a sense of freedom as well as insecurity. For the privilege of a multinational perspective comes at the cost of short-lived friendships, a diminished sense of family, and the recurring question of where is home?

NOPLACE, however, is a celebration of this phenomenon, as the figure is created against the ever-changing backdrop of its context - it gains a sense of personhood. While the door, the paint, or the artist may come from different places it isn't bound by the labels borne by its creator. It is an amalgamation of all the forces which lead to its creation and to deem it anything beyond what it deems itself would be an empty truth. By the end, the figure stands independent of its creator eager to experience what the world has to offer.

Project III facilitator Lily Cosgrove met Mitsunaga at the DIS architecture program in Copenhagen. Cosgrove became inspired by Mitsunaga's work and sparked the concept of collaboration with fascination around the intersectionality and potential interactions between art, movement, and process.

NOPLACE is available exclusively on Instagram as Project III continues to explore more accessible and engaging performance opportunities in the digital world.

NOPLACE
Concept and Art by Kazuki Mitsunaga
Project III Facilitator and Movement Direction by Lily Cosgrove
Production, Videography, and Editing by Kasey Broekema
Music by Gray, Murcof, and The Books Mixed by Kasey Broekema

Project III celebrated our official launch as a 501(c)3 performing arts nonprofit at Monet's Garden: Immersive Experience in New York City on Monday, April 10, 2023.

Performers included Spark Movement Collective, Troy Kelley, Shannon Harkins, Sarah Allen, Kenzie Ginter, Alex Ware, Ashley Cassetta, Sarai Daniels, Melody Tai, Jaya Collins, Aurora Vaughan, Michelle Thompson Ulerich, Caleb Patterson, Isabella Aldridge, Isabelle Evans, Jennifer Gerken, and Kasey Broekema.

PROJECT III LAUNCH
Production and Direction by Kasey Broekema
Videography and Editing by Esther Heath
Music Titled Contain (In Key) by Plastikman & Chilly Gonzales

As Monet was inspired by the twisting streets of Paris, Lily is inspired to create Free Form by the grid-like, machine, nine-to-five drive of the streets of New York and is interested in exploring that juxtaposition in the attitude of a flâneur: framed in the context of impressionist artists creating free from structure and rebelling a call to conform.

Project III is dedicated to making fresh and exciting works through collaborative efforts with artists working with other artists outside of their comfort zone. Along with collaborating with Monet’s Garden team and design artists, the founder of Project III Kasey Broekema is working closely with photojournalist (and sister) Gabi Broekema to direct the storyboard and visual conception of Free Form. Lily is working with freelance dancer Paulo Gutièrrez from Ecuador and former Chilean-American Oklahoma City Ballet ballerina, Caitlin Rogers. Free Form released on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook free of charge to audiences everywhere on January 7, 2023.

On January 7 and February 18, and March Project III visited Monet’s Garden Immersive Room to display a bare-bones version of the movement behind two of their video film collaborations, Free Form and Heaven. Free Form will be performed by Caitlin Rogers and Paulo Gutièrrez while Heaven will be performed by Kasey Broekema, Lily Cosgrove, and Sadé Murray.

FREE FORM
Production, Direction, and Editing by Kasey Broekema
Choreography by Lily Cosgrove
Dancers Caitlin Rogers and Paulo Gutièrrez
Videography by Gabi Broekema
Music Title Gimme Some by Weval

Either as artists or as humans, we all experience - to some degree - a loss of self; a loss of identity. BODY(IES) is a movement exploration trying to place a feeling to what a loss of identity is in our art, lives, dreams, and fears.

Filmed in Paris and Marseille, France, Project III's first international production features actress Kierney McAllister and founder Kasey Broekema.

BODY(IES)
Direction, Production, Movement Direction, and Featuring Kasey Broekema and Kierney McAllister
Filmed by Kasey Broekema, Kierney McAllister, and Gabi Broekema
Edited by Kasey Broekema
Music Titled BODY by Gazo