ON STAGE 2026
Juliana May, Optimistic Voices
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About the Performance
Acclaimed choreographer Juliana F. May is renowned for creating thrillingly elaborate cycles of song, text, and movement from the wreckage of difficult experience. In Optimistic Voices, May delves into the tangled contradictions of family, eroticism, and motherhood. Influenced by postmodern dance and musical theater, she uses repetition and off-kilter rhythms in pursuit of a new performative language. In this captivating ensemble work, May creates a dreamlike landscape from the quagmire of everyday life.
Access Information
English CART captioning is available for the performance on Saturday, July 18. To request additional accessibility services, please contact us at [email protected] or 312-397-4076.
Billing
Choreographed, written & directed by Juliana F. May
Performers:
- Justin Faircloth
- Wendel Gray II
- Lucy Kaminsky
- Gwendolyn Knapp
- Kayvon Pourazar
- Anh Vo
Original Music/Lyrics: Juliana F. May
Music Composition: Clara Hunter Latham
Special Music Contributions: Lucy Kaminsky
Synthesizers: Jonah Sollins-Devlin
Set Design: Juliana F. May
Lighting Design: Chloe Z. Brown
Costume Design: Mariana Valencia
Dramaturgy: Hilary Clark
Dramaturgical Consultation: Matt Shalzi & Iris McCloughan
Development Manager/Special Projects: Amanda Hamline
Production Manager: Shana Crawford
Company Manager: Miranda Brown
About the Artist
A Guggenheim and New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow, Juliana F. May has created nine works since 2002, including eight evening-length pieces with commissions and encore performances from Dance Theater Workshop, New York Live Arts, The Chocolate Factory Theater, Barnard College, The New School, Joyce SoHo, The American Realness Festival, and Abrons Arts Center. May has been awarded grants and residencies through The Map Fund, The Jerome Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Gibney Dance In Process, and The Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography. In 2002, May received her BA in Dance and Art History from Oberlin College, and, in 2012, she received an MFA in Choreography from the University Wisconsin-Milwaukee. May served as the Artistic Advisor for New York Live Arts’ Fresh Tracks Residency Program 2017–2019 and has been on faculty at Sarah Lawrence College since 2017. May’s work Folk Incest was nominated for a 2019 New York Dance and Performance Award for outstanding production as well as touring to ImpulsTanz in Vienna, Austria. Juliana’s most recent work, Family Happiness, co-commissioned by The Chocolate Factory Theater and Abrons Arts Center, premiered in May 2023 and had encore performances in 2024 at The Chocolate Factory Theater.
Funding
Lead support for the 2025–26 season of MCA Performance is provided by Elizabeth A. Liebman.
Generous support is provided by Anne L. Kaplan; and Carol Prins and John Hart/The Jessica Fund.
The MCA is a proud member of the Museums in the Park and receives major support from the Chicago Park District.