MATHEW HEGGEM, Artistic Director/Curator of Bushed/Gay Wars, Brooklyn-based artist:

"Every time I hear someone talk about Mathew Heggem or I talk about him myself--words like 'one to watch' come out." – Eva Yaa Asantewaa, InfiniteBody.  

Gay, naughty - sometimes nice - and always a little nasty, Heggem delves into the cross currents of gender politics, pop culture, and truth-seeking to uncover the unusual circumstances of this American life.

Heggem has presented work throughout the East Coast: Including, the Performance Mix Festival at the Joyce SoHo, Dance Conversations @ The Flea, Dixon Place, Movement Research’s Open Performance Series, The Gowanus Arts Center, and Sublet Series all in New York; and, the National's Theater in D.C., the Baltimore Theater Projects, Baltimore's Transmodern Festival, the Gloucester New Arts Festival (MA), and the CEC/New Dance Alliance Exchange in Philadelphia, PA. He has been an artist-in-residence at Trinity College’s Urban Arts Semester in NYC, the acclaimed Djerrassi Residence Artist program in California, and throughout the Baltimore/D.C. region.

As a performer, Heggem has danced on NYC’s stages from P.S. 122 to The Joyce and throughout the U.S.  He has performed with Nicholas Leichter Dance, Jennifer Monson, ClancyWorks Dance Company, Clyde Forth Visual Theatre; and, was a soloist for the historic reconstructions of Doris Humphrey and Ted Shawn works through the “Art of the Solo.” Heggem is the co-founder of a research-based company, Kinaesthesia, with fellow artist Wendell Cooper; and, has been entertaining audiences at Cabaret Cataplexy, under the stage name Artifice Hunting, since April 2009. He graduated from Goucher College (MD), with a degree in Dance and Religion.  [www.matheggem.com]

ASHLEY BROCKINGTON, the sensual, evocative and twisted, is a producer of small theater and hostess extraordinaire.  She co-curates the Cabaret Cataplexy, a sexy glittery and glamorous cabaret emphasizing politically and socially charged experimental performance and burlesque; is the creator of an annual performance project called Black Girl Ugly, a meditation on Black Girl-ness & self-esteem; and, is a member of the Rivers of Honey performance team and the WOW café Theater collective.

MONSTAH BLACK is “a whirling cyclone of genius," says Ishmael Houston Jones.  He brings his gender fuckery, falsetto vocals, digitized beats and elevated shoe clad persona to the stage. Black co-presents and co-hosts with his glam partner Ashley Brockington at Cabaret Cataplexy. He has received generous support from Dance Theater Workshop, Movement Research, Topaz Arts Center, Thelma Hill Performing Arts, Mason/Rhynes Productions, DC Commission On the Arts and Humanities, The Field and is a candidate for a graduate degree at Long Island University’s New Media Art and Performance Program.

EMMA BATMAN is a dance artist and performer. A recipient of the Goldstein Scholarship in Dance from Goucher College, she completed her BA in 2008. In the summer of ‘08, Emma received a choreographic scholarship to participate in Summer Stages Dance in Concord, MA. Today, she is based out of New York City and has worked with Roger C. Jeffrey, Illana Webber Dance, Banana Peel Dance, and Mathew Heggem (a.k.a. Artifice Hunting). Internationally, she has presented work at the Accademia Dell’Arte in Arezzo, & the House of Dino in Cortona, Italy.

WENDELL COOPER, is modern shaman and creative artist based in Brooklyn, NY. A graduate of the George Washington University (Dance/Religion), he is also a certified practitioner of energy bodywork and Thai Yoga Massage. He has taught, performed, and choreographed in China, Kenya, Russia, and the Netherlands. Cooper creates all of the elements of his interdisciplinary multimedia works that include both choreographed and improvised dance, original music, and video installation. He has worked with Nicholas Leichter Dance, the Maida Withers Dance Construction Company, Grisha Coleman, and the Magpie Music Dance Company. Wendell also self- produces as well as collaborates on projects with Mathew Heggem (as Kinaeathesia), Monstah Black, and Yozmit. SEA GLASS is his latest collaborative project.  [www.complexstability.com]

With a purely astounding vocal range, CHARLIE DEMOS is able to fuse his natural affinity of soul and R&B with punchy electro-pop, creating a musical style that is clearly his own. Since March 2006, the prolific musician has already released three chart-topping albums, including his eponymous debut album; 2008’s How to be a Boi and his current album, Anatomy 1, the first half of the Anatomy Project. The music video to the first single from Anatomy 1, “Insane,” shot to the top of the charts shortly after its world premiere, and was named to the LOGO Network’s “Ultimate Queer Videos of All Time” list, as well as being nominated for “Video of the Year.” Charlie is currently in the studio working on the follow-up album, Anatomy 2, for release this year.

AUDREY LANE ELLIS earned a B.A. in both Dance and Philosophy from Goucher College in 2006,. In the past year she has both choreographed and directed operas for Metropolis Opera Project and has presented works at Dixon Place, Trisklion Arts Festival, and the Baltimore Annex.  She is currently dancing with Tara Burns Dance,  Headless Horse Dance, and has performed with Kelley Donovan and Dancers and El Gato Teatro.  CHRISTOPHER HOLLOWELL is an Ithaca College graduate and has been acting and modeling in the New York Area for over a year. Recent credits include Bully Pulpit, Cougar the Musical, and Hamlet. Christopher and Audrey have been collaborating creatively for over 10 years.