SEA CHANGE (premieres april 2026)

Choreography: Jody Sperling
Music: Matthew Burtner
6 Dancers | 4 Vocalists
Anticipated Premiere Date: April 24, 2026
Venue: New York Society of Ethical Culture

Sea Change is a multidisciplinary, sensorial performance exploring our evolving relationship with water in response to sea level rise. Choreographed by Jody Sperling and performed by her Time Lapse Dance (TLD) ensemble, the work draws on oceanography, ecoacoustics, and breath somatics to consider how we adapt as water remakes our world.

The work was inspired by Sperling’s study of freediving and underwater dance, as well as consultations with oceanographer Dr. Larry Pratt on ocean circulation patterns. The music is by Sperling’s long-time collaborator, ecoacoustician, and climate-change composer Matthew Burtner.

This work deploys TLD’s signature costuming after performance innovator Loïe Fuller (1862-1928) which transforms and abstracts bodily motion into elemental forces. As TLD’s six dancers swirl gossamer silks into anti-gravity undulations, they move and in harmony with Burtner’s music. The composer will conduct a vocal quartet with live mixed electronics at the premiere.

Together the dancers and singers produce a tapestry of breath and rhythms. In the final section, Sea Change rides the ocean’s surface, or interface, as a dynamic and expanding site of elemental exchange. The choreography explores the charged state of the interface and suggests entry into a liminal transcendent space.

Sea Change is being developed through Sperling’s ongoing Eco-Artist-Residency at the New York Society for Ethical Culture with creative work began during a 2025 residency at The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard.