natasha Adorlee
First-Generation Asian American Female Choreographer, Filmmaker, Composer, and Educator.
Movement is the language I speak most fluently. The creative expression of movement has carried me through the most challenging points of my life and into the vitality of the most joyful.
SELECTED WORK SAMPLES
Got Soul
Created for BalletX
Got Soul is a dynamic dance work that celebrates the timeless melodies of soul music, including hits by Sam Cooke, Bill Withers, and other soul singers, and performed by Grammy-nominated singer Jac Ross. Dancers interpret the lyrics, exploring love, resilience, and social justice themes. The work captures the essence of the American experience, celebrating the enduring power of soul music to unite and inspire.
Blooming Flowers and the Full Moon
Winner of 2024 Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Performance and Grand Prize Award at the Palm Desert Choreography Festival
Blooming Flowers and the Full Moon explores the ache of lovers in their first encounter and the shared experience of life-changing love. Based on my parent’s meeting in Taiwan, my father has luck to thank. As a member of the Air Force in the ‘60s, he played a game of Rochambeau with a friend; The winner would receive the base spot in Taiwan. He went on to live in Taiwan for nearly two years, met, and fell in love with my mom. The rest is history.
“The chemistry grew palpable as the two considered each other from a distance. When they touched, it was with an oppositional tension. Their physicality was as fluidly athletic as it was sensuous…It was clear the couple had become more attuned to each other when the music moved from a syncopated tango into Roberta Flack’s famous lyrics, “The first time ever I saw your face.”-Karen Hildebrand
OCTANE
Created for Houston Contemporary
OCTANE is a relentless exploration of momentum, control, and collapse. It delves into the cycles we live in—how tension builds, breaks, and rebuilds, how power shifts, and how movement becomes both survival and inevitability. Communication fractures, bodies push forward, energy combusts, and still, the pattern repeats.
“The full company of nine circles up, breaks away, and crashes together with kamikaze-style partnering as the hypnotic electronic score steadily intensifies…They smile and exchange flirtatious glances as Paul Anka croons, “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” wrapping up the song and the dance with a couple of clamorous but futile bids for romantic attention.”
GlōAm
Created for Kansas City Ballet
The fragility of connection unfolds in a single moment in time. Through surrender and resistance, glōam offers a raw glimpse into a couple’s life.
Liminal Space
"A liminal space is a time between the 'what was' and the 'next.' It is a place of transition, a season of waiting and not knowing. It is where all transformation occurs if we learn to wait and let it form us". -Tereza Swanda
The work was about the many facets and chambers in which grief presents itself.
“What has stayed with me are the three sections of text written by Adorlee herself and delivered with voice-over as if a journal entry. Poetic and haunting, it captured an image of the narrator’s long lost father—his face lit in such a way that one eye is obscured.”- Rachel Howard
KomoRebi
Created for Kansas City Ballet
"Komorebi" is a Japanese word that describes the visual sensation of sunlight filter through the leaves of trees. It’s a term that embodies the beauty of nature, particularly the play of light and shadows created by the sun shining through the foliage.
To truly appreciate warmth and light, one must come to know the depths of shadows.
Momoda (Kiss Kiss)
Created for Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works Program
Momoda (kiss kiss) or 么么哒 is Chinese slang for “mwah.” It expresses endearing affection, not just with lovers, but with all people who come into our life, friends and family alike. In the work, I explored impermanence and the sweetness that exists through states we inhabit through life.
“It is the answer to the view of some, “that modern ballet is nonsense or a set of strange movements.” Watch the whole ballet, and you will see how perfect it is”- Ath Samaras
Take Your Time
Created through Concept o4
Obstacles can often pull us apart, but they can also be the force that binds us.
This is the framework behind ‘Take Your Time,’ a raw and powerful performance art piece. Using time and motion as a vehicle, the film attempts to examine how navigating spaces & obstacles together can strengthen any partnership.
“The U.S. is also well represented, not least by “Take Your Time.” Created by ODC and Concept o4 dancer Natasha Adorlee and co-director Max Sachar, this music video for the band Lender was choreographed backward, shot in one take and replayed in reverse” -Claudia Bauer
BFFM Immersive Experience
Created through Amy Seiwert’s Imagery
This evening length experience shared my mother’s story of immigration from Taiwan to the United States. We utilized 3-D projection mapping to transform the space and transport the audience to 1960’s Taiwan.
“The slower pace and poignant texture of the dance which continues between McFalls, as Dai-Gwa-Sen, and Hernandez, as her husband, even after she is widowed is beautiful. It echoes earlier phrases but with renewed tenderness. Allowing the dance to continue demonstrates how sustaining his love was for her…Adorlee makes thought-provoking movement which deserves our full attention.”- Jen Norris
Film and Creative Direction
Created for Concept o4
Experienced film and creative director with a passion for crafting visually stunning content infused with cutting-edge design, technology, and innovation. Recognized for my work showcased in acclaimed platforms like Pixar, National Geographic, and Oculus. I maintain longstanding collaborations with SFDFF (San Francisco Dance Film Festival) and have garnered numerous awards for my contributions to the field.
LayTana
Created for Ballet22
Laytana, a contemporary solo dance work, investigates what it takes to harness our internal power both as a construct and as a method to navigate the changing landscape of our world. Set to the music of Le Trio Joubran, it is a raw and vibrant journey within.
The Dromer
Created through Concept o4
The Dromer is a five-part dance short film that recontextualizes what it means to live in the “American Dream.”
With a cast representing unique refractions on this concept, it is through a found community that the dancers strive for a better life for themselves and the common good of the whole.
Complete Work Samples and CV Available Upon Request
Get in touch
I am available for commissions, workshops, and films.
Direct Contact: NatashaAdorlee@gmail.com
(415) 218-7257
