Please join us at Base on Saturday, June 21 for a new work by Alia Swersky and Hannah Rice.

Base Residency Entry Point: Alia Swersky and Hannah Rice
Sunday, June 21 at 8:00 PM
Pre-show begins at 7:30 PM
Purchase tickets here

WHAT IS HOLY is a performance collage of shared histories, rooted in the evolving creative collaboration between Alia and Hannah. The piece weaves together material from past projects while unearthing the emergent question: What is holy?

Over the past several months, Alia and Hannah have worked with sound, choreography, video, and improvisation scores to explore their artistic connection—one defined by transition and transformation—beginning to end and a beginning again.

Their relationship began when Alia was Hannah's professor at Cornish College of the Arts. Over the past seven years, that connection has developed into a rich and sustained creative partnership. As Rice prepares to leave Washington for graduate school this summer, WHAT IS HOLY marks a meaningful threshold—both a closing and an opening. It is an opportunity to honor a collaboration that has deeply impacted them as both artists and individuals.

The work draws on their personal and professional relationship, their physical and emotional journeys, and the ongoing evolution of their shared practice. Alia's recent experience navigating breast cancer has left a powerful imprint on the process—altering how they move, listen, and create. It is a reminder of the urgency of presence, and the significance of making work in times of deep change.

Collaborators Wade Madsen, Greg Mares, Rachel LeBlanc, and Casey Adams have all contributed essential elements to the development of this performance.

Audiences are invited to gather on the solstice evening to witness and co-create a space brought to life by this collective of artists—through movement, sound, and shared experience.

[ Alia Swersky and Hannah Rice in primary colors sitting on chairs looking down. High heeled shoes in foreground].]