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Title: Below the Bottom (Ending Section)
Venue: LaGuardia Performing Arts Center

Date: 04/25/25

Choreography: Susanne McHugh

Dancers: Kristen Hedburg, Caitlin Knowles, Susanne McHugh, Emily Tarrier Roxy

Music: Federico Albanese (edited by Susanne McHugh)

Video: Garrett Parker

 

This is final section of Below the Bottom, offering a distilled glimpse into the piece’s emotional and thematic core. This excerpt explores the ambivalent process of masking one's true identity and inner emotional landscape in order to align with societal expectations. Through its physical vocabulary, the section reflects the broader work’s interrogation of visibility, internal struggle, and the dissonance between outward appearances and lived experience. It leaves the viewer with a quiet provocation: how might empathy shift if we recognized the unseen weight others carry beneath the surface?

Title: My Sigh (Full)
Venue: Hudson Guild Theater
Choreography: Susanne McHugh

Dancers: Susanne McHugh and Morgan Hurst

Premiered: 5/18/18 & 5/19/18

Music: Olafur Arnalds, Max Richter, edited by Susanne McHugh

 

“My Sigh” highlights the connection between two individuals that are both grappling with anxiety and depression. This work illustrates how those who struggle with mental illness can become a support system for one another.

Title: Oblivion (excerpt)

Choreography: Susanne McHugh

Dancers: Morgan Hurst, Roza Savelyeva, Diane Auriol

Music: Yann Tiersen V

Venue: LaGuardia Performing Arts Center

Date: 2019
 

This excerpt was performed as part of Mare Nostrum Elements' Emerging Choreography Series 2019.
 

Title: Seven Three Zero (Full)
Venue: LaRussa Dance Theater

Choreographer/Dancer: Susanne McHugh

Video: Yejin Lee

Music: "Introduction II" & "Tristesse/Escapism" by Julia Kent and David Wennegren (edited and voice by Susanne McHugh)

Date: 2020
 

Title: Lost Sense (Full)

Venue: Chen Dance Center

Choreography: Susanne McHugh

Dancer: Yejin Lee

Music: Olafur Arnolds

Date: 2019

 

This work was created during CHEN Dance Center NEWSteps Series 2019.

Title :25: (Full)

Venue: Hudson Guild Theater

Choreographer/Performer: Susanne McHugh

Video: Connor Thompson

Music: Max Richter Original

Premiere: 2017

Title: Choke (Full)

Venue: The Drake Theater (Philadelphia)

Choreography: Susanne McHugh

Dancers: Emily Rose Cannon, Donovan Reed, Colin Heininger, Casey Olejar, Jocelyn Rajkumar

Music: Yann Tiersen

Date: 2014

 

"Choke" was the winner of University of the Arts' Nadia Chilkousky Nahumck Award for Creativity and Dance-Making. The work was created to shed light on issues within the psychiatric medication industry. It abstractly illustrates the imprisoned feelings of those who are trapped in a system that may or may not have their best interest in mind. This was Susanne McHugh's senior thesis at University of the Arts.

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