b. 10-27-1950 Nacogdoches, Texas
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Master of Fine Arts in Choreography, 1992
University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX
Bachelor of Science in Religious Education, 1974
Polly Motley began making dances in 1974. Her work has been presented in New York by the Asia Society, the Baryshnikov Art Center, Danspace Project, The Kitchen, Dance Theatre Workshop, Movement Research, The New York Improvisation Festival, The Jack Tilton Gallery and Zone Chelsea. It has also been presented at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Colorado Dance Festival, The Indonesian Dance Festival, Morishita Studios/ Tokyo, Bellet Freiburg/ Pretty Ugly, Mouson Turm Frankfurt, the Flynn Theatre in Burlington, Bates College Museum of Art, the Edge Festival/ San Francisco, the Contemporary Arts Museum/ Houston, and DIVA/Paris. Collaborators include: dancers Steve Paxton, Dana Reitz, Simone Forti and James Clouser; composers Charles Amirkhanian, Takehisa Kosugi, Fred Frith and DJ M. Singe; video artist Molly Davies, and poets Anne Carson and Jack Collom. Motley's current work is focused on performance installations for museums and out-of-theater spaces. She also makes dances for a diversity of dance/ theater companies and teaches performance-making and improvisation in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
Motley was Associate Director of James Clouser's Space/ Dance/ Theater in Houston, and served as Clouser's choreographic assistant for the Houston Ballet Company, the Pittsburgh Ballet, and the Dallas Ballet.
She has served on the faculties of the University of Houston, Loretto Heights College, Regis University in Denver, and Naropa University in Boulder. She was a guest artist at Naropa University where she studied dance ethnology with Allegra Fuller Snyder and worked with Barbara Dilley in improvisation, creative process, and contemplative dance. Motley earned an MFA from the University of Colorado with a thesis on the interactive relationships of video and performance.
She lives in Vermont and has developed partnerships with presenters and arts organizations in her home area working to enhance the cultural vitality of the underserved local communities.
Museum & Gallery Performances
2010
River Arts, Morrisville, VT
Critical State
Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, VT
Go Tell Aunt Rhodie
2009
Baryshnikov Art Center, New York, NY
Go Tell Aunt Rhodie
Flynn Center for the Arts, Burlington, VT
Go Tell Aunt Rhodie, with Diane Madden
River Arts, Morrisville, VT
3 works in progress with NYC and Malaysian guest artists
Alliance for the Visual Arts, Lebanon, NH
Go Tell Aunt Rhodie
2008
MassMoCA/ Regional Dance Development Initiative
Go Tell Aunt Rhodie
2007
DIVA/ Paris
Go Tell Aunt Rhodie
Bedford-Stuyvesent Event Center, Bronx, NY
Go Tell Aunt Rhodie
2006
Asia Society, New York, NY
Asia Society, New York, NY
Traditions, Inventions and Exchange a collaboration with Mugiyono, Kota Yamazaki, Molly Davies
2005
Zone Chelsea, New York, NY
Drawing From the Body, a performance/installation with video by Molly Davies and sound by DJ M. Singe
2004
Smith College Fine Arts Department, Northampton, MA
Smith College Fine Arts Department, Northampton, MA
Drawing From the Body
2002
The Kitchen, New York, NY
The Kitchen, New York, NY
The Mirror of Simple Souls, an intermedia installation with images by Molly Davies, text by Anne Carson and sound by Fred Frith
2001
Newcomb Art Gallery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Newcomb Art Gallery, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Drawing From the Body
1999
MousomTurm, Frankfurt, GR
MousomTurm, Frankfurt, GR
Drawing From the Body
1998
Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, NY
Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, NY
Drawing From the Body
1995
The Kitchen, New York, NY
You Can Sing Anytime, multimedia collaboration with Molly Davies and Charles Amirkhanian
1990
Boulder Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO
Boulder Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO
The Bale Light Stories, with installation by architect, Vaida Daukantas
1989
University of Colorado Art Gallery, Boulder, CO
University of Colorado Art Gallery, Boulder, CO
Ladder, with installation by Vaida Daukantas, video by Janice Tanaka
1988
Spark Gallery, Denver, CO
Spark Gallery, Denver, CO
Articulating the Spark Space, with installation by Vaida Daukantas
1978
Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX
Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX
My Fair Lady, performance/installation
Other Performances
2009 Atlanta, Georgia - Charmed Romantics, quintet for CORE Performance Company
2007 Canaldanse, Paris - Large Open House, with Olivier Besson and Mike Vargas
2004 Danspace Project, NYC - Dancing the Numbers, solo evening
2002 Indonesian Dance Festival, Jakarta - Field, solo
Ballet Freiburg/ Pretty Ugly, Freiburg, Germany - Director, The Dancer’s Mind
1997 The Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, NYC - evening of new works
Flynn Center for the Arts, Burlington, VT - Apple, with Simone Forti
1995 Indonesian Dance Festival, Jakarta - set by Molly Davies, sound by Charles Amirkhanian
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Lee, MA - Folk Dance; Stand By Your Man
Morishita Studios, Tokyo - Waiting: Walking and Standing
1993 Dance Theater Workshop, NYC - Indigenous Culture, solo evening
Edge Festival San Francisco, San Francisco - Stand By Your Man and Point of Rescue
1992 The Naropa Institute, Boulder - DeChirico’s Daughter, with Molly Davies and Takehisa Kosugi
1991 Justus Liebig Universitat, Giessen, Germany - Night of the Senses, directed by Molly Davies
1989 Pepsico Summerfare, SUNY Purchase - Suspect Terrain with Dana Reitz (director), Steve Paxton, Laurie Booth, Jennifer Tipton, and Hans Peter Kuhn
