Getting Undressed is a multi-faceted artistic piece, fusing modern dance, experimental theater, writing and jazz music.

Based on a short story by author Shawn Wong, Getting Undressed traces a fashion designer, her boyfriend and their neighbors interacting between adjacent apartments. Addressing voyeurism, fashion, personal and public identities, youth — expressive and stimulated — the pulse of this piece is tangible.

This performance blurs the boundaries of young adulthood and seeks the potential of expression and the desire of fulfillment in contemporary life.

Literally and figuratively, this story is about getting undressed, where both the characters and stage are deconstructed, disrobed and broken down. The pacing is brilliant, where some scenes speak to the impersonality and isolation of life in the city, and others focus on the inner turmoil of personal characters.

In an exploration of how movement and conversation craft personal identities and relationships, the cast, dancers, musicians, writer and directors shaped the story together. Every scene has gone through multiple rewrites and it is this artistic collaboration, the cohesion between music, theater, dance and written word that has successfully created a sensuous, edgy and exciting performance. The artistic fusion lends for a visually sensuous, compulsive frenzy and sincere momentum, a truly awesome collaboration of artistic medium.

Getting Undressed is funded by the Mary Gates Endowment Venture Scholarship, directed by UW dance graduates Shannon Narasimhan and Leah Schrager, with Emerald City Scene’s Ben Rapson, composer and performer Evan Flory-Barnes, and costume designer Erin Skipley of Yoshimi Designs.