Foundation for Contemporary Arts

Nature Theater of Oklahoma

New York, NY

Theater Company Founded in 1995 by Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper

Nature Theater of Oklahoma is a performance group under the direction of Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper. Since Poetics: a ballet brut, our first dance piece created as an ensemble, Nature Theater of Oklahoma has been devoted to making the work we don't know how to make, putting ourselves in impossible situations and working from our own ignorance and unease. We strive to create an unsettling live situation that demands total presence from everyone in the room. We use the readymade material around us, found space, overheard speech and observed gesture, and through extreme formal manipulation and superhuman effort, we affect in our work a shift in the perception of everyday reality that extends beyond the site of performance and into the world in which we live.

Pavol Liska

Born 1973, Skalica, Slovakia

Lives in New York, NY

2005 M.F.A., Columbia University

1995 B.A., Dartmouth College

Kelly Copper

Born 1971, Gainesville, FL

Lives in New York, NY

2007 M.F.A., Brooklyn College

1993 B.A., Dartmouth College

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

2010 Teachers, Akademi for Scenekunst, Fredrikstad, Norway

2009 Teachers, P.A.R.T.S., Brussels, Belgium

SELECTED WORKS

2009 Life and Times: Episode 1, premiered at Burgtheater, Vienna, Austria

2008 Romeo and Juliet, premiered at Kampnagel Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; also performed in the US and internationally

2008 Rambo Solo, premiered at Kampnagel Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; also performed internationally

2008 Choregraphie, premiered at Tanzquartier Wien, Vienna, Austria; also performed internationally

2007 No Dice, premiered at Soho Rep, New York, NY; also performed in the US and internationally

2005 Poetics: a ballet brut, premiered at the Theatre of the Riverside Church, New York, NY; also performed in the US and internationally

SELECTED HONORS, GRANTS AND AWADS

2008 Salzburg Festival Young Directors Project Prize for Romeo and Juliet

2008 OBIE Award Special Citation for No Dice

2007 The MAP Fund Award