Non-Zero-Sum (2025)
“Non-Zero-Sum,” co-choreographed by Stephanie Mizrahi and Mizuki Sako and set to an original score by Taylor Briggs, examines the competitive world we live in and how it informs interpersonal relationships. In a society that seems to have limited room at the top, caring more about what individuals are accomplishing rather than who they are as people, how do we remain authentic to both ourselves and those around us? How can we push ourselves to reach our goals while resisting the instinct to push others down along the way? Given that conformity inherently breeds scarcity, how can we withstand the urge to adhere to a singular idea of “making it” and instead explore the way diversity creates more space for different versions of success? This piece was created during Brockus Project Studios’ Shift/West Residency, supported in part by the CA Arts Council. See excerpts here:
VULGAR (2025)
Featuring spoken passages read on stage from an original copy of the 1914 book Modern Dancing, “VULGAR” offers the audience a window into the social dancing culture of the 1910s. This satirical piece explores the stifling societal and gender norms of the time, wherein lies the notion that dancing, replete with morality and purity, can stave off the vulgar tendencies of the American youth. The performers interact with pieces of furniture, as well as an array of other small items, to invite the audience into an intimate atmosphere. The choreography includes actual popular dances depicted in the book, contrasted with both dynamic and sassy contemporary choreography to highlight just how much styles have changed in the past century. The piece ends with the trio of women reveling in their femininity and togetherness, rebelling against what would have been denounced as “vulgar.” VULGAR was created for Pyschopomp Dance Theater’s “Chaos Festival” at Highways Performance Space. See excerpts here:
Stepping Out (2024)
“Stepping Out,” co-choreographed by Stephanie Mizrahi and Lydia McDonald, explores how a relationship can withstand the hardest of challenges yet also dissolve in an instant. The piece begins in a cyclical nature portraying the reliability of a relationship, but progresses into a pattern of leaving and being left, fracturing trust. It takes a dark yet playful turn when the two individuals decide to maintain the relationship, expecting different outcomes from the same destructive choices. This duet has been performed at Stomping Ground LA and will soon be performed at Austin Dance Festival. See excerpts here:
Handle With Care (2024)
Using a huge cardboard box and multiple rolls of bubble wrap, “Handle With Care” examines a generation shaped by a culture of normalized mass shootings and apathy towards a dying planet, and a pandemic-inspired demystification of “the grind.” Members of “Gen-Z” are often left wondering whether there is even a future worth fighting for. How do we feel the spectrum of human emotion without letting the pain and chaos of our world overtake us? How do we find strength in self-expression and ground ourselves through connection with others? See excerpts of “Handle With Care” here:
still here (2023)
This piece explores a relationship between two women who have distinctly different emotional backgrounds, but both seek commitment and companionship. Through the push and pull of the relationship they grow to trust each other and persevere through the inevitable highs and lows of loving one another. This concept is put into movement with dynamic partnering choreography emphasizing risk-taking, connection, and instability. still here has been performed at Stomping Ground LA, Brockus Project Studios, Orange County Dance Festival at the Rose Center Theater, and the beautiful outdoor Forest Theater in Carmel-by-the-Sea. See excerpts here:
Ferrets Around a Rabbit Burrow (2021)
This piece, choreographed to recorded passages from Janet Frame’s novel, Faces in the Water, calls attention to themes of both alienation and solidarity experienced in mid-twentieth century women’s mental hospitals. These women, with symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, fainting, loss of appetite, and sexual desire, were routinely diagnosed with “hysteria,” a “women’s disease,” and treated with electroshock therapy, sedatives, and lobotomies. “Ferrets” has been presented at Atwater Village Theater, in Mashup’s IWD Festival at LA Dance Project, and won the award for “Best Emerging Choreography” at SoCal Dance & Choreography Festival. See the full piece here:
Tethered (2021)
Created and filmed in June 2021, "Tethered" explores a relationship between two women who have experienced a trauma together. They are uniquely able to support one another, but simultaneously keep each other from moving forward. This duet examines how the two women navigate both safety and danger, helping and hurting, trust and fear, and try to break free of a cycle that keeps pulling them back in. See excerpts of the piece here:
Tumbalalaika (2020)
An evening-length work created and premiered in New York City in early 2020 sharing Stephanie’s grandparents’ Holocaust story and her family’s experience after immigrating to Canada. See excerpts of the piece here:
Check out Stephanie’s dance film, created for Zoetic Dance Ensemble’s Mixtape 2020 Festival. All footage was filmed during quarantine, with dancers from across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada.
Directed, choreographed, and edited by Stephanie Mizrahi, in collaboration with Michaella Barron, Melina Bezanis, Hannah Howell, Coriselle Martinez, Lauryn Masciana, Morgan McDaniel, Reché Nelson, Sophie Qin, Samara Steele, and Kayla Thomas.
There Must Be More (2020)
Quarantine Projects
Here are two samples of solo work.
Photo Credit From Top to Bottom of Page:
George Simian, Denise Leitner, Kelly Mustapha, Sarah Takash, and Kassandra Carrettini