S H E S H I
a new evening-length dance
Premiering at Kestrels | October 22-24, 2026
Brooklyn, NY
Sheshi is a playful approach to transmuting intergenerational trauma through dance. Rekindling reverence for elders, this duet between choreographer and interdisciplinary artist lily gold and her mother features sound design by artist dani derks, lighting by opal ingle, performances from both designers and surprise guest performers. Tuning to ancestral resilience and reviving parts lost to assimilation, their scores are transparent with tensions and explore family stories they’ve been told, as well as ones their bodies have begun to tell.
With our dynamics on display - and countless hours of 90s Jazz class stored in our cells - my mother and I meander through time, embracing back-handed humor and coaxing aggression out of exile. Helped by science fiction, outdated pop culture, Lilith, and you, we traverse varying shades of honesty, offering up our intimacies for resonance.
Sheshi is a big thank you - that has demanded the most patience - and we’re excited to share this with you.
choreography, installation and text: lily gold
performers: Sheri Gold and lily gold, with guests
sound design: dani derks
lighting design: opal ingle
directorial collaborator: jennifer kjos
Sheri Gold finds satisfaction and inspiration in her work as a psychotherapist, caring for her plants and home, practicing Latin dance, and deepening connection with friends and family. She lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY with her husband, Robert, a loving source of support and admiration.
dani derks is part of the day-to-day operations at monome in upstate NY and a member of the extended universe of whimsical raps -- dani assembles instruments and creates documentation for ways to engage with them. Their personal projects are centered on coding through improvisation, creating their own environments for playful and exploratory music performance gestures.
opal ingle is a trans artist and the founder of Opal’s Flowers, a small flower farm project growing on a parcel of land called Velvethorn Kinship in Walton, NY. Their aim is to participate in regenerative growing practices and be a responsible steward of the land, in community. Some of their current creative practices involve communing with trees, growing and arranging flowers and writing queer speculative fiction. as a performer they have collaborated with Heather Kravas, Tere O'Connor, Neil Greenberg, among others.
jennifer kjos hails from the sunny southeast where she cut her teeth studying and performing ballet and flamenco. Since moving to New York she's led a charmed life of dancing and performance. Other vocations include embodiment work with elder women, and spreading the word of death positivity. jennifer currently splits time between Brooklyn and the Catskills, where she frequents creeks and hot rocks.
Thanks to generous support from the O’Connor Foundation, facilitated through fiscal sponsorship from the Roxbury Arts Group, there will be a studio exhibition of Sheshi at Bushel on The Third Floor in Delhi, NY on September 5th. More info here.
This work has been in development since 2022, made possible through residencies and showing opportunites from Arts on Site, Bennington College, Chocolate Factory Theater, Kestrels, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Pillow Fort Arts, Sundays on Broadway, and The Third Floor.
