Thomas Choinacky

Thomas Choinacky (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist with attention to movement. They are excited by textures, tastes, and feeling it deep in their muscles. Their current practice asks questions about legacy, architecture, and queerness, which has led to experimental performances in stairwells (Magnitude, 2013), go-go dances (Speakeasy Go-go, 2021), and building kinky mummies from duct tape (Home is the Body, 2023). Their practice centers pleasure and each piece is a slow undoing of the shame and flawed beliefs/ systems that were ingrained in them at an early age—raised in a conservative household. They create dances to avenge their own silence, invisibility, and erasure as a kinky, expressive human. Speakeasy Go-go and Home is the Body articulate alternative, personal narratives teaching BDSM practices which express vulnerability, identifying boundaries, and pleasure in pain. Their new evening-length dance Forehand Down the Line will premiere in September in Philadelphia. Choinacky is a founding company member of Applied Mechanics and a part of the New Philly Aesthetic. They have performed across the USA, Estonia, and Greece. And have been a writer for thinkingdance.net. Recent projects with Ron Athey, The Operating System, Theatre Horizon, Folsom Street Fair, Fierce! Queer Festival, Simpatico Theater, and Pink Noise Projects. They are based in Philadelphia.

Home is the Body
This “duet” asks: How can I learn empathy from my own body? The dancer, in formation with their duct tape mummy explores a slow, reflective movement score continually asking themself to breathe into all parts of the body to find home.

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