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His "Great Big Bellow" Makes its World Premiere at The Joyce This November
You can see Sean Howe's World Premiere of Great Big Bellow when GALLIM performs at The Joyce Theater November 11–15th. For info and tickets Click here .
As the days dwindle before my choreographic premiere at the Joyce Theater, I find myself fine-tuning every last detail and racing against the clock to enhance my work. Every now and then, I can’t help but zoom out for a second to appreciate the full-circle nature of this moment.
My name is Sean Howe. I’m originally from Toledo, Ohio, and this November, I’ll premiere a new work as part of GALLIM’s fall season at the Joyce Theater. The occasion is momentous for two reasons. First, GALLIM is going to be celebrating its 20th season next year -- an extraordinary achievement in a field that requires relentless dedication, resilience, and creativity. Andrea Miller and the community she has cultivated have built something truly remarkable. Second, I have the immense honor of becoming the company’s first-ever guest choreographer.
My relationship with GALLIM began much before I joined the company. When I was in high school, I stumbled upon the trailer for Andrea’s BLUSH on YouTube and dreamed of one day dancing in a company like hers. I was entranced, inspired, and moved. Fast-forward to April 2017: weeks away from graduating from Juilliard, recovering from the first of what would eventually be three knee surgeries, and auditioning for GALLIM. Six days before graduation, I received an invitation to join as a full-time company member. That felt like my big break, yes!
Beyond the excitement, many things immediately felt aligned. Andrea and I connected instinctively, establishing a mutual trust that would grow into a mentorship lasting nearly a decade. Shortly after joining, I underwent my second knee surgery. Rather than allowing my injury to distance me from the work, Andrea invited me to assist her rehearsals during the creation of Stone Skipping at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. GALLIM became a home, a place I belonged, where my artistic voice and spirit were nurtured and encouraged.
Sean Howe and Andrea Miller in GALLIM's Studio: Photo: Courtesy of Artist
In 2018, after just one year, I made the difficult decision to leave GALLIM for Batsheva. Despite our strong connection, Andrea understood. She encouraged me to pursue the opportunity, suggesting that perhaps our paths would converge again when my time at Batsheva came to an end. Her generosity only deepened my appreciation for our relationship.
I spent the next eight years with Batsheva, performing and touring internationally, participating in creations by Sharon Eyal and Ohad Naharin, teaching, and developing my own choreographic practice. Andrea and I remained close, catching up over coffee whenever I visited New York. She periodically invited me to assist with her commissions, but the timing never quite worked.
In 2024, I created Shiitake Highway 5D, a solo for a graduating SUNY Purchase dancer, Victoria Chassé-Dominguez. Andrea saw its premiere, which eventually became a talking point in conversation, including discussing further opportunities to share this work somehow. Meanwhile, the solo began its own journey, traveling to festivals in New York, Germany, Italy, South Korea, and Turkey.
Earlier this year, I decided to leave Batsheva. It was a leap into the unknown. My contract would end in July, my husband and I had a cat and a life to consider, and I had no concrete plans for what came next. Just dreams, conviction, and a willingness to trust the uncertainty.
Then, amid an escalation of war, Andrea reached out to check on our safety. I told her about my decision, and the following day we were able to catch up. She asked what I dreamed of doing next. I told her I wanted to choreograph, teach, be a rehearsal director, be an artistic director, and ultimately live many different lives within the dance field.
As fate would have it, Andrea was looking for a full-time rehearsal director. We agreed to begin with a trial period in the fall. What started as an experiment quickly grew into an unbelievable dream. A change in GALLIM’s programming prompted Andrea to accelerate a vision she had for the company’s future: inviting another choreographer to create for GALLIM for the first time in its history.
That choreographer was me.
I was floored.
Now, with the premiere approaching, the work is nearly finished– although I suspect I could keep working on it forever. Sleep has become elusive, and anticipation has made room for the occasional unwelcome guest: imposter syndrome. I sometimes wonder how this opportunity landed in my lap, knowing so many are deserving of this life-changing opportunity. But I return to my belief in my choreographic voice, my responsibility to keep developing it, and the extraordinary trust Andrea has placed in me. I know what this moment means, and I don’t take it lightly.
Perhaps the most gratifying part of returning to GALLIM has been stepping into the studio as rehearsal director, learning to cultivate the same environment of trust, curiosity, and artistic freedom that Andrea showed me. The dancers are the heart of any company, and working alongside them every day is a privilege.
My new work, Great Big Bellow, is a 20-minute piece for eight dancers, unfolding across four musical tracks. Text has long been central to my choreographic language, so for this creation, I wrote a monologue recorded by my five-year-old nephew.
Beginning with the seemingly trivial experience of a paper cut, the text wanders into questions about mortality, the impermanence of the body, and the playful resilience of a child’s spirit. It is the voice of our own inner child, confronting life’s unanswerable questions.
How do we transform difficult experiences, both individual and collective, into growth, magic, service, love, or gratitude? How do we take action in the face of fear? How do we make room for rage, grief, and despair without losing our capacity for joy?
We laugh, we love, we cry, and we dance. Together.
Great Big Bellow is the roar of a child coming to terms with reality, and a celebration of life in all its beauty, absurdity, and adversity.
