Prokop Presents Bedroom Monologues

Travis Prokop, assistant professor of dance at Lamar University, has been selected to showcase a work as part of “Bedroom Monologues,” a live virtual performance series created in response to COVID-19. “Bedroom Monologues: a hard place” may be viewed on Instagram Friday, April 17, at 7 p.m. (CDT) by following @jennykeimdance. This is a live, one-time-only performance.

The brainchild of Rob Alvarez, an adjunct professor of dance at Texas Women’s University, grants artists the opportunity to create, hone and adapt their artistic process during a time of great uncertainty and limited resources. Without rehearsal or performance spaces, “Bedroom Monologues” forces dance makers to question how they can continue to research, develop and present their work.

The series includes performances created by Nikolas Bermea, Tiffany Bierly, Najwa Seyedmorteza and Lamar University’s Travis Prokop. Performances are released weekly on Instagram – a nontraditional and completely experimental platform for dance and dance makers. Prokop notes this process as an opportunity to utilize many online forums such as email, messaging and video conferencing programs to create a new work with senior dance major, Jenny Keim, confronting the idea of isolation. “A hard place” deals with the difficulty one may face when stationed between two unsatisfactory options – social distancing and quarantine.

“In times when live performances are being taken away, this piece was developed to create our own opportunity and nurture our own create paths,” said Prokop.

“This work has been my light during this time of darkness. It’s an outlet where I can fully express my emotions of what is going on. Each movement provides a different story of how I have been processing and living through quarantine as a senior who graduates college in Spring 2020,” said Keim.

For more information on the Department of Theatre and Dance, please visit lamar.edu/dance.