Testing²

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Testing² is a dance-theatre duet by Soomi Kim and Laura Peterson built from outtakes, bootlegs, and behind-the-scenes recordings of iconic musicians at their most unfiltered. Kim and Peterson lip-sync and physicalize these raw fragments—rants, meltdowns, musings, and accidental brilliance—moving through the absurd, the ridiculous, and the unexpectedly profound.

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The stage is a shifting landscape of black and silver mylar—piled like trash, tossed and adorned, glittering overhead, and resembling the tangled tape of a cutting-room floor. The material becomes both costume and debris, a comic and strangely moving partner in this collage of non-linear, celebrity-driven chaos.

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Described by critic Tom Philips as “a deep and funny dive into the weeds we wade through to make art,” Testing² invites audiences to tune their senses: to detect sincerity from sarcasm, professionalism from tantrum, and genius from glorious bullshit. What’s thrown away becomes the spark of invention—evidence that discarded material can still yield new form.

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Created and directed by Soomi Kim

Performed by Soomi Kim and Laura Peterson 

Choreography by Laura Peterson 

Sound design by Soomi Kim

Set by Laura Peterson

Original music by Adam Rogers

Lighting designers-  Lucrecia Briceno and Emmanuel Delgado

Stage Manager- Monica Athenas ​​​

 

Development history: 2014 Mabou Mines Artist in Residence program, led by Sharon Fogarty, Joanne Akalaitis and David Neumann. June 2022:  Dixon Place's "Fast Forward" Dance series with Zoe Stewart.

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Link to Stage Whisper podcast

Link to "Truth and Tinsel" review by Tom Phillips

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