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By Rush Johnston
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Published on December 9, 2025
Peter Alfred Elizalde and Dancers; Photo: Owen Burnham
And Don't Miss the Final Version of "THAT SHOW" at Judson Church On Friday, December 12th
Producers Kayla White, Taylor Schmuelgen
Choreographers Em Papineau and Sofia Engelman (in collaboration), Peter Alfred Elizalde, Rachel Ha-Eun Lee and Stephanie Shin (in collaboration), Alicia Steeves
Performers Em Papineau, Sofia Engelman, Peter Alfred Elizalde, Faride Henaine Gutierrez, Hunter Sturgis, Gabby Gubitosi, Rachel Ha-Eun Lee, Stephanie Shin, Alicia Steeves, Emma Olivier, Emma Weiss, Tessa Russ, Bryanna Strickland, Sundari Joseph, Kimie Parker
Original Sound Ali IRL, Seowon Hyun
August 21-22 and September 25-26, 2025
Tickets for the final "THAT SHOW" of 2025 -- The Gym at Judson-- Friday, December 12th Eventbrite
Many concert dance spaces come with a set of expectations: enter the theater and quietly take your seats, sit silently and stare at a proscenium stage throughout the performance, then, leave the same way you came. THAT SHOW, half-performance, half-party, founded in 2024, takes this notion and turns it on its head entirely. The pieces featured in their semi-annual events are often genre-expansive and include some form of audience engagement. Plus the overall environment created is relaxed. Almost every performance concludes with a DJ set by resident DJ Peet the Scholar , turning the stage into a dance floor and the performance space into a party.
Traditionally, each iteration of THAT SHOW is a compilation of shorter works by a small cohort of independent artists curated by producers Kayla White and Taylor Schmuelgen. However, this fall, they expanded into THAT SHOW (long form) consisting of two longer split-bill shows, each with two 30-40 minute works in The Gym at Judson.
In the first program, which ran from August 21-22, 2025, choreographers Em Papineau and Sofia Engelman (in collaboration) and Peter Alfred Elizalde presented new works. Papineau and Engelman’s duet “train” centered around themes of effort and interpersonal relationships, while high-intensity contact-based movement explorations support and punctuated the piece.
Within the world of “train”, the back wall of the theater becomes a third dance partner as Papineau and Engelman dance both against it and with it, allowing the wall to support their weight and keep them safe as they climb it and each other. While exploring ideas of implosion, bodily architecture, and the notion of props as performers,“train” aligns with THAT SHOW’s value for experimental performance and beautifully began this new long form iteration.
Peter Alfred Elizalde, also known as Peet the Scholar, shared the second work of the evening entitled “the discotech is where i go to experience unmatched joy and profound sadness.” This work, set in a night club, explores the discotheque as a place of exhilarating movement, queer night life, sex and sensuality, but also one of softness and community. The music and sound by Ali IRL effortlessly glides through genres such as House, Techno, and 2000’s club classics, underscoring the choreography perfectly. What strikes me the most is the participatory nature of this work. There are interludes between choreographed sections where the performers engage directly with the audience by taking polls, offering snacks and water, and even inviting us to dance on stage alongside them. All this feels very THAT SHOW.
Peter Alfred Elizalde's “the discotech is where i go to experience unmatched joy and profound sadness" ; Photo: : Owen Burnham
In the second program of THAT SHOW (long form) Rachel Ha-Eun Lee and Stephanie Shin’s collaborative work also breaks the fourth wall to engage with us as more than spectators. “Mom Always Liked You Best” is a heartfelt study of sisterhood that allows audience members to take part in the games and anecdotes Lee and Shin share as we watch them grow up throughout the work.
Shin and Lee take risks that feel aligned with the broader goals of THAT SHOW, as does choreographer Alicia Steeves who rounded out the second bill. In Steeves’ work “Ecdysis,” the choreography follows the molting patterns of lizards, exploring struggle, discomfort, shedding, and ultimately the process of finding a renewed self. Through gestural and visceral movement vocabulary, the dancers move through different stages of ecdysis, and Steeves investigates shedding and subsequent renewal as symbolic of a queer rite of passage.
All of the works featured are poignant and genre-bending. Curators Kayla White and Taylor Schmuelgen bring a clear vision to their effort, with risk-taking and innovation central to every iteration of THAT SHOW.
I’m excited to see what's in store for the final show of the year. Don't miss it this Friday, December 12th, 2025 at The Gym at Judson Memorial Church. (ticket link).
