EMOTES
Performance
- June 25-June 27 | 7pm
- Keith Haring Theatre
EMOTES, a new work by Nazareth Hassan, is a dance in four movements exploring hyperreality, simulation, gnosticism, and avatars.
How does virtual life reduce and distill our experiences?
How do we manage our impulse to control through self-(re)creation?
What is the residue of digital conditioning on our bodies?
What happens to us when we perform our virtual avatars in real life?
In gaming, an emote is a physical command given to your avatar, like a dance or gesture.
On text-based platforms, these commands are written out, i.e.: *jumps for joy* or *model pose*. Often, colloquial dances become programmed into various gaming and social media platforms, with the gamified versions of the dances becoming viral memes that are performed again in the real world. Often, these dances change when moving through this algorithmic equation, and the original version of the dance is forgotten all together.
EMOTES is supported by a 3D developmental residency taking place in September 2026 at Mercury Store.
Written and directed by Nazareth Hassan
Choregraped by Joëlle Santiago
Music and Sound by Ryan Gamblin
Designed by Dyer Rhoads
Nazareth Hassan is an interdisciplinary writer, director & musician. Their play Bowl EP was a 2026 Pulitzer Finalist and won the 2025 Obie Award for Outstanding New Play. Other performance and theater works include Practice at Playwrights Horizons, Untitled (1-5) at The Shed (text published by 3 Hole Press), VANTABLACK at Theatertreffen Stückemarkt in Berlin, and Memory A at MUAC in Mexico City. Their first book of poetry and photography, Slow mania, was published in December 2025 by Futurepoem. In 2022-23, they were the dramaturg at Royal Court Theatre. They are a 2026-27 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University.