From the sediment

**“And to the altered landscape. Altar, this river, for the built and unbuilt worlds, tangled. No river is a love story. It is an archive, becoming.”**
**– from *Elegy for a River Dammed* by Caitlin Scarano**
Photo by Douglas Beasley

From The sediment: A site-responsive performance on the river’s edge

From the sediment is an elegy to the Upper Mississippi River. through improvisation based movement and music, this work unearths the tensions between nature and industry, freedom and confinement, evoking a world in flux. As movement and live music converge, we manifest a living metaphor for a river that refuses to be tamed, channeling its unstoppable force.

This work speaks to the spirit of resilience and the delicate balance between destruction and renewal, carrying the audience through time like the current of the river itself.

you are invited to join in the procession movement or simply follow in line as we move down the hill. you will know when its time.

Direction, Design, & Choreography: Elizabeth Flinsch

Collaborator in movement: Jesse Schmitz-Boyd

Collaborator in Procession: Connor Berkompas

Musicians: Morgan Schoonover and Oliver Moon-Pendragon

Additional movers: Mem Awad, Halie Bahr, Kendall Edstrom, Nathan Gehrenbeck-Miller, Meghan morgan

Elizabeth Flinsch

Elizabeth Flinsch (she/they) is a transdisciplinary artist and choreographer based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Their work takes the form of performance, interdisciplinary sculpture, and imagined realities in which chance, desire, and impulse are among the cornerstones. Rather than scoring sequences of movement, they create minimalist frameworks and then invite spontaneous decision making and impulse to drive the work. Relieved from the burden of mental recall, the movement is steeped in bodily presence and intention. Their practice is informed by their ongoing recovery from a traumatic brain injury in 2019.

Flinsch studied dance at Oberlin College with Nuscha Martynuk. They hold a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MFA in media performance from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Their work was featured in the Walker Art Center’s 2022 Choreographer’s Evening. They have presented their work at the Southern Theater, DanceBarn, Soiled Dance Series, Red Eye Theater, Dances at the Lake, and Silverwood Park.

Jesse Schmitz-Boyd

Jesse Schmitz-Boyd (he/him) is a St. Paul based dance artist and performer whose work is rooted in presence, curiosity, and collaboration. He has spent twelve seasons as a company member of Alternative Motion Project, performing in a wide range of repertory and original works. He is also a longtime performing artist with Off-Leash Area, appearing in multiple original productions and Neighborhood Garage Tour performances, including Stardust Rendezvous, a project recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2025. He has performed in Elizabeth Flinsch’s Shorelines: Dredged and Dammed and collaborated with many Minnesota based choreographers including Erinn Liebhard, Brenna Mosser, and Jennifer Glaws. Through Rogue & Rabble Dance, Jesse creates and performs original work; his full-length dance-theater piece TRAITOR received a Golden Lanyard Award at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. He holds a BA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.

Connor Berkompas

Connor (he/him) is a theatre-maker, designer, and movement artist. He is the founding Artistic Director of NERVOUS THEATRE, a nomadic theatrical collective creating ensemble-driven work in Minnesota and around the country. Productions include DANCING ANIMALS (Southern Theater), A MARVELOUS PARTY (Surel’s Place), STRANGE MATING CALLS (Tinworks Art), and MOMMY’S DEAD AND THEY BURIED HER IN MOSCOW (Derek Award, Edinburgh Fringe 2021), as well as radically reimagined productions of Genet’s THE MAIDS and Brecht’s CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE. His work with NERVOUS THEATRE has been presented at the Candybox Dance Festival, Tinworks Art, The Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, Westside Theater, The Boston Conservatory, and Gloucester Stage Company.