Becky Valls
Becky Valls
Stage projection by Camilo Gonzalez

Artist Statement

 

As a choreographer, the stage is my canvas where I work visually designing space with movement, sculpture, video, and objects. I mine memories from childhood to reveal personal stories that I can distill, abstract, or elaborate to find interest in the mundane. I juxtapose dancing sequences with theatrical vignettes to offer different perspectives layering meanings that are literal and obvious with deeper psychological, spiritual, and aesthetic aspects. I give the audience work that is visually interesting and provocative, sometimes dark, often humorous so that they can respond on a visceral level.

 

Most recently, I have worked with my sister and sculptor, Babette Beaullieu, and a documentary film artist, Deborah Schildt, in producing evening-length performances (Memoirs of the Sistahood series). It is the "not knowing" where we are going at the start of our projects that intrigues me and challenges us, and makes the journey and arrival more authentic. The process is like climbing a mountain. The collaboration begins with many images, ideas, and ideals then as we spiral upward, we converge onto one or separate peaks in a finished product that no one could predict.

 

Our goal is to create work that is entertaining as well as visually stunning and thought provoking that can be enjoyed by all. We want to keep delivering the unexpected, mature well-developed dancing and memorable imagery that speaks to the human condition and that sends audience members to their homes seeking their own personal interpretations of the performance.

 

My personal choreographic style fluctuates between a post-modern minimalism to a full-bodied movement vocabulary. My dances are fluid and organic with an athleticism that sends the dancers charging through space. I use gestures that are quirky and rhythmically dynamic to expose the personal nuance in a character and reveal private meaning.

 

I draw from the rich experiences of my past of being one of seven children in a Catholic family in Louisiana born in the 1950s. I find personal meaning in my own narrow stories and strive to relate them to more contemporary issues. I am a daughter, sister, mother, and wife and use my place in the nuclear family to connect to a universal sisterhood.

 

News

Becky received tenure at University of Houston and is now an Associate Professor. 

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