Bainbridge Island Pilates ,Gyrotonic, Herbal Medicine
Bainbridge Island Herbal Medicine, Herbalist, somatics, pilates
ACHILLEA DANCE THEATER
A PNW island-based modern dance & performance company under the artistic direction of Abby Rappoport
MISSION STATEMENT
We are a community of local artists working together to create interdisciplinary dance performance.
We create collaborative work incorporating technique, skill & chance.
We work within a diverse textural landscape to create engaging immersive performances.
We create beautiful things with an impactful and unique point of view.
CURRENT PROJECT
We are currently in rehearsals for a new work exploring the idea of walking. Who walks? Why do they walk? When is walking a necessity vs. an obligation, vs. a privilege?
Folks gather to walk in protest as an attempt to assert their frustration, needs and desires.
Large groups of people migrate en mass on foot as a fervent search for peace and a better quality of life.
Buddhist monks walk as a prayer in motion for peace.
Some walk for exercise. Some walk for enjoyment. Some walk out of necessity. Some roll, and some can't walk at all...
There is great privilege in being able to walk and move freely in this world without restriction.
Thus we wonder: what are the effects of walking, how long does one walk, why do we walk and when does it end? This work examines movement as a non-violent radical act.
This piece will be set in nature, with the intention that the viewer will stumble upon the work like public art.
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
MAY 10, 2026
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Day-Long event/ SITE SPECIFIC WORKS
When: Sat August 29, 2026
Where: Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island
DETAILS COMING SOON!!
Sat AUG 29, 2026
THE COMPANY
Abby Rappoport (she/her) Artistic Director/Choreographer
I create interdisciplinary and highly collaborative modern dance work. I strive to construct an immersive experience where the viewer can get lost in the art. I enjoy working with sound artists to create beautiful scores with which movement will both flow with and challenge the composition. My movement training is rooted in Cunningham technique, contact improv, qi gong, somatic healing modalities, and release technique.
After a childhood of suburban sprawl, I headed to the redwood forest at 18 and received my BA in Movement, Dance and Choreography from UC Santa Cruz. After graduation, I danced briefly with Mel Wong before his passing. I soon moved to San Francisco where I co-founded Subject to Change Dance company with Cara Rose DeFabio, creating work throughout the Bay Area for nearly 10 years.
in addition, for well over 20 years I have worked as a somatic movement practitioner, and dedicated my life's work to helping folks connect with their authentic movement patterns to change how they hold on to pain and discomfort allowing them to move more freely in their bodies. This deep exploration of somatic and healing modalities including Qi Gong, Gyrotonic, Dance, and Pilates, can be seen in the movement quality of my choreography. Every individual has a unique movement signature, and my goal is to allow this to be my guide in creating choreography.
Eli Backer (she/her) Sound Designer/technical Director
Eli Backer (b. 1992, Seattle) is an artist, composer, and engineer. Her practice is not media specific, carrying threads of memory, loss, and community across sculpture, design, photography, glass, printmaking, film, textiles, ceramics, metal, and music. She is driven by the people and machines she surrounds herself with, and is interested in the communities they form, be it humans or machines, singular or plural. No matter the form or medium, she fervently believes that sharing what is closest to her heart makes a place for others to feel less alone in their struggles.
Three weeks after her birth, Backer moved to Bainbridge Island, and her work has been greatly informed by this geographically isolated upbringing, and the freedom and restrictions island subculture offers. She holds a MFA in Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design, as well as a BS in Computer Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Recent collaborations include: Shock Workers (2024; engineering, electronics, programming), with Inga Chinilina (composer); δ (2021, photography & writing, design, printing, machining), with Niyati (poetry & drawings); Parallel Prints (2022, film), with Marcel Zaes (composer & producer), and BPA's Highest Tide (2026, lighting design).
Brie Anderson (she/her) dancer
I am somatic psychotherapist, movement artist and mother shaped by
20+ years in Boulder, Colorado before moving to the PNW. While in Boulder, I was core faculty in the Somatic Counseling Psychology program at Naropa University while dancing with such companies such as Helander Dance Theater, Hannah Kahn Dance Company, and Speaking of Dance. Today, as a clinical supervisor, mentor/ therapist, and dancer, I support others in listening more closely to the quiet intelligence within them. At its core, my work is an ongoing exploration of the vast, messy, beautiful landscape of being human-where healing is not about fixing, but about re-membering, reconnecting, and coming more fully alive.
Maxwell Gecas (he/him) dancer
art making is world making.
Helen Heaslip (she/her) dancer
Helen was born and raised in Cork, Ireland. She began studying ballet at the age of three, and went on to train with the Cork City Ballet before moving to London where she gained a BA in Dance and Drama, and continued her studies with the Rambert Dance Company. In addition to working as a professional dancer Helen also works as a Movement Director/Choreographer and Actor.
PC: Nadia Nervo
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Kiplinn Sagmiller (she/her) dancer/choreographer
Kiplinn Sagmiller is a local Bainbridge Island performing artist and teacher at Bainbridge Dance Center. She received her BFA in Dance and Spanish from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa and went on to dance with various companies from Hawaii, San Diego, Seattle and San Francisco. She is trained in ballet, modern, jazz, aerial silks, acrobatics, parkour, belly dance, AcroYoga and FeetUp. In 2012 she joined Seattle based company The Cabiri as an aerial dancer and choreographed alongside guest choreographer Marshall Garfield of Cirque Du Soleil. Kiplinn loves to share her passion for movement with others and dedicates her free time to honing her skills in dance trapeze, paddle boarding, strength training and climbing trees with her two young boys.
WHY ACHILLEA?
Achillea millifolum (aka Yarrow)is one of the most potent and medicinal plants on the planet. It is the healer. It keeps the body strong. It honors our weaknesses and supports our strengths. It is a medicine for everyone. It is a hardy plant that grows prolifically throughout the planet. Named after Achilles, believed to have been used to heal soldiers during the Trojan War, this medicinal heals, restores, and brings about courage in vulnerability.
Achillea Dance Theater was created for artists on a life-long journey of discovery and devotion to their craft. This is a space for dance artists to heal, explore, and grow as performers.