Program for Unbecoming - Coming Soon!
Program
UNBECOMING:
A Story Told in Form & Fashion
Red Nightfall Dance Theatre
March 19–21, 2026 | East Side Performing Arts
979 Springdale Rd, Austin, TX
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A Note from the Artistic Director
Unbecoming is new territory for me. I’ve spent my whole life in concert dance - ballet, contemporary, modern — and I’ve had the privilege of commissioning and presenting original music alongside that work. But this past year I’ve challenged myself to move beyond what I know into something truly interdisciplinary: film, audience interactivity, and now fashion as narrative.
The fashion element is something I’ve wanted to explore for years — ever since I lived in New York and experienced the designs of Alexander McQueen for the first time, especially that transcendent exhibit, Savage Beauty. I made a pilgrimage there more times than I can count. In Unbecoming, we’re using fashion not as decoration, but as visible evidence of a character’s transformation — and that vision has been brought to life by the extraordinary Robby Durand of EmmaSis Designs.
The story we are telling is deep. It asks difficult questions about power, belonging, and the compromises we make when we are afraid. It is not trivial work. But something I always come back to is that our job is to take our struggles and turn them into beauty. We look at profound things from a place of lightness, levity, and joy. There is too much heaviness in the world. Art does not have to add to it. Art can metabolize it.
My hope is that Unbecoming is a transcendent experience: beautiful to watch, alive with music and movement, and grounded in community and connection. We share this space together. We share this story together.
This production is new, and it is risky. I am playing with elements I haven’t used before: projection design, grand-scale fabric as architecture, fashion as narrative structure. You never know if it will work. But I am honored and humbled to be building this alongside a group of extraordinary artists who have devoted their lives to their craft: Robby Durand of EmmaSis Designs; Trent Brown and Katy Hallee of Doghouse Productions; our composer Sofia Josephine, cellist SoJo Gonzalez and pianist Finn Dickens; our projection designer Scott Gregory; our six fashion models; our remarkable cast of dancers; our stage management and front-of-house team; and the leadership and team at East Side Performing Arts.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for showing up for live performance, for independent art, and for this community. It means everything to us.
With love,
Dorothy O’Shea Overbey
Founder & Artistic Director
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About the Work
*Unbecoming* merges concert dance with theatrical fashion presentation, drawing inspiration from the runway productions of Alexander McQueen. The work follows three archetypal figures as they are recruited by The General — each representing a different vulnerability that makes authoritarian belonging seductive. One is offered recognition. One is offered certainty. One is offered safety.
Each story unfolds through a sequence of spoken word, fashion presentation, and choreographed dance — revealing the transformation of identity through the symbolism of garments on the human body. Models enter in a “before” state, the dancers perform the journey of recruitment, and the models return altered: absorbed, armored, changed.
Rather than condemning those who are seduced by power, *Unbecoming* seeks to understand them — examining the internal fracture that precedes external transformation, the moment when one self gives way to another.
*Unbecoming* is the third chapter in RNDT’s interdisciplinary performance series building the universe of CRONE — a fantasy mythology exploring resilience, transformation, and the archetypal feminine. Previous chapters include *Rituals of Light* (July 2025) and *Fractured Dawn* (November 2025).
Show Order
Choreography by Dorothy O’Shea Overbey, in collaboration with the dancers, and Music composed by Sofia Joesphine, unless otherwise indicated.
I. The Dark Birth
II. The Prodigy
III. The Zealot
IV. The Follower
featuring selections from Rachmaninov’s Études-Tableaux, No. 2 in A minor
V. Interstice
choreography by Alexa Capareda
VI. The Mother Rises
featuring “Nimrod” by Edward Elgar
Runtime: approximately 60 minutes, no intermission.
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Cast & Models
THE PRODIGY — danced by Megan Davidson
modeled by Aurora Banks & Georgia Garner
THE ZEALOT — danced by Kanami Nakabayashi
*modeled by* Neha Mambapoor & Jonathan Oliver Foster
**THE FOLLOWER** — *danced by* Rachel Culver
*modeled by* Laney Phillips & Juniper Darrow
**THE GENERAL** — Ty Lyons Graynor
**THE MOTHER** — Cellise Brown
**The Follower’s Lover / Caster** — Clay Moore
**Caster** — Elaine Fields
**Caster / Artistic Assistant** — Jessica Siclari
*The models carry each figure’s transformation visibly — entering as one self, returning as another. The dancer lives the journey between.*
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## Creative Team
**Concept, Story, Writing & Direction:** Dorothy O’Shea Overbey
**Choreography:** Dorothy O’Shea Overbey, in collaboration with the dancers
**Guest Choreography (*Interstice*):** Alexa Capareda
**Spoken Word:** Dorothy O’Shea Overbey, Ty Lyons Graynor & Madeleine O’Shea Robb
**Costume Design:** Robby Durand, EmmaSis Designs
**Composer:** Sofia Gonzalez
**Live Music:** Finn Dickens (piano) & SoJo Gonzalez (cello)
**Lighting Design:** Trent Brown, Doghouse Productions
**Projection Design:** Scott Gregory
**Story Consultants:** Elaine Fields & Madeleine O’Shea Robb
**Artistic Assistant:** Jessica Siclari
**Production & Communications Associate:** Cellise Brown
**Producer:** Whitney Rowlett
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About Red Nightfall Dance Theatre
Red Nightfall Dance Theatre is an Austin-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to liberating the human spirit through transformative, immersive performing arts experiences.
*In the face of a chaotic world, the creation of beauty is an act of liberation. The creation of beauty is not the privilege of the pedigreed, but a birthright to us all.*
RNDT champions artists who don’t fit traditional molds — the brilliant creators working beyond conventional stages, whose unique perspectives and authentic voices are essential to the future of performing arts. The company operates as a creative hub where disciplines converge, weaving together dance, live music, film, fashion design, and audience collaboration into experiences that transcend traditional artistic boundaries.
Red Nightfall Dance Theatre was founded by Dorothy O’Shea Overbey, who spent nine years on the faculty of UT Austin’s Department of Theatre and Dance before leaving to lead RNDT full-time. The company performs at East Side Performing Arts, co-owned by Overbey and AJ Garcia-Rameau.
**@rednightfalldancetheatre** | rednightfallproductions.com
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Our Donors
**Production Design Underwriter**
Nancy Scanlan
**Season Supporters**
Andrew Schwartz & Sylvia Arabian
Marvin Brittman
Jaelene Fayhee
Laura Galt
Joel Hobbs
Blair Johnson
Richard Kahn
Brad King
Nancy Lesch
Leath Nunn
Karin Richmond & Associates
Peter Rock
José Velazquez
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Special Thanks
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## ASL-Interpreted Performance
The Friday, March 20 performance is ASL-interpreted, with interpreters present throughout the evening to facilitate communication between Deaf and hearing audience members.
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*Unbecoming* was developed at East Side Performing Arts, Austin, TX.
Photography and video documentation of this performance are not permitted.