Zoe Scofield is a choreographer and dancer best known for her work with Juniper Shuey as co-directors of zoe|juniper, a Seattle-based dance and visual art company. Her work is characterized by multi-media, cross-genre works utilizing stage performance, video installation, photography and complex technical elements.
Early life and education
Scofield was born and raised in Gainesville, Georgia, began ballet at a young age and attended Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Massachusetts. receiving a Monticello Choreography Fellowship and graduating with high honors in dance. After, she spent a year at the Boston Conservatory while also dancing with Prometheus Dance in Boston where she performed in three new works. In 1999 she moved to Toronto, Canada to study Ashtanga Yoga and dance with Atlas Moves, directed by Bill James. Working with James was her first introduction to works with elaborate visual and sonic elements and the use of unconventional spaces as a choreographic element. In 2002 she moved to Seattle and began creating and presenting small scale solos, in 2005 she met and began collaborations with video artist Juniper Shuey and musician Morgan Henderson, and by 2006 they formed their company zoe|juniper.
Collaboration with Juniper Shuey
Since Scofield's move to Seattle she has been performing with other choreographers and showcased her work at On the Boards, Spectrum Dance Theater, Velocity Dance Center, and the 2005 Northwest New Works Festival, where she began her collaboration with video artist Juniper Shuey and musician Morgan Henderson. At the start of their collaborative relationship they presented their works in visual art galleries, museums, and theaters. They have been commissioned and presented by national and international arts centers such as, On the Boards, , , Dance Theater Workshop, Bates Dance Festival, NYLA, Spoleto Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, , , Yerba Buena Center, Columbia College Chicago, , and many more. They have taught workshops and given lectures on dance, photography, collaboration and installation throughout the US and internationally.
"BeginAgain" – Co-commissioned by On the Boards and The Joyce Theater in partnership with 3-Legged Dog. Premiered in 2014 at On the Boards and presented at The Joyce Unleashed, PS 122's COIL Festival, Dance Place, REDCAT, and FringeArts
"No one to witness" – Performed at Velocity Dance Center, Frye Art Museum, City Arts Festival, gloATL, TanzFarm.
"A Crack in Everything" – National Performance Network Creation Fund Project, co-commissioned by the Bates Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow, On the Boards, DiverseWorks, PICA, and New York Live Arts.
"The devil you know is better than the devil you don't" – Premiered at PICA's TBA Festival 2007 and presented at On the Boards Bates Dance Festival, Dance Theater Workshop, ICA Museum/CRASH ARTS Boston, Wesleyan University, and The Myma Loy Center.
"Old Girl" – Premiered at Spectrum Dance Theater 2008 and at On the Boards in 2009.
"There ain't no easy way out" – Premiered at On the Boards 2006 and presented at Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out, SCUBA Tour: The Southern Theatre, ODC Theater, and Velocity Dance Center, bumbershoot, MOVE! Performance and Smoke Farm.
Commissions, residencies and awards
Since 2009 Zoe's career has gained support and momentum with commissions and residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Jacob’s Pillow Creation Residency, Trafo House ofContemporary Art, The Body Festival, National Dance Production Grant, Mellon Foundation, National Performance Network Fund and a Princess Grace Foundation Choreography Fellowship for A Crack in Everything, performance and video installation. Other commissions and presentations include Dance Theater Workshop, On the Boards, Bates Dance Festival, TBA Festival, Myrna Loy Center and Yerba Buena Center for The Devil You Know, On the Boards, New York Live Arts, Bates Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, TBA Festival, Diverseworks Art Space, Columbia College Dance Center, Joyce Theater, Spoleto Festival, The Body Festival, American Realness, and Trafo for A Crack in Everything, On the Boards, Joyce Theater/3Legged Dog, Frye Art Museum, City Arts Festival, TanzFarm, Velocity Dance Center for BeginAgain, performances at PS122 COIL Festival, Danceplace, RedCat, and Fringe Arts. Other commissions and performances include Pennsylvania Ballet, Spectrum Dance Theater, Cornish College, CalArts Dance, Frye Art Museum, SOFA Gallery, Winston Watcher Gallery and Springboard Montreal. Other awards and grants include National Dance Project Production Grant, National Performance Network, Alpert Award Residency, The Strangers Genius Award, Princess Grace Foundation Special Projects Award and Works in Process BAC Residency.
Acclaim
Scofield, especially within her recent collaboration work with Juniper Shuey and Morgan Henderson, has gained praise and reviews in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Seattle Times, and Dance Magazine. She has also received reviews by art critic Nate Lippens who frequently contributes columns to many Seattle publications, particularly The Stranger. Dance Magazine, one of the largest publications in the dance industry, has also reviewed Scofield's current works that premiered in the Northwest New Works Festival. "Where is Dan", one of her less acclaimed works, received the William T.L. Buckles Award despite its late arrival. Her pieces have also received recognition by dance critics Sandra Kurtz, Alice Kaderlan and Seattle Choreographer Laura Curry.
"This troupe is definitely one of the best in the Northwest. Scofield is a powerful performer and choreographer." Nate Lippens, Art Critic
"...Zoe Scofield has created a kind of feral ballet." Sandra Kurtz, Dance Magazine ( July, 2005
" have created a haunting piece whose powerful effects linger long after the curtain goes down." Alice Kaderlan, Dance Critic
