Rebecca Patek is a New York-based choreographer and performance artist creating work that synthesizes dance, theater and comedy. She is a 2024 Artist in Residence at Center for Performance Research, a Greater New York Artist 2015-16 and a 2014 Brooklyn Arts Exchange Space Grant recipient. She is a inaugural recipient of The Award as well as a 2014 Queer Art Mentorship Fellow. Patek has been an Artist in Residence at Movement Research, Atlantic Center for the Arts and at Dance Theater Workshop (New York Live Arts) as part of Fresh Tracks Performance and Residency Program.

Patek’s work has been presented at MoMa PS1, Impulstanz Vienna (winner of the Prix Jardin D’Europe Fan Award 2014), The Kitchen, The Museum of Arts and Design, The Chocolate Factory Theater, Abrons Art Center, Dance Theater Workshop, 92nd Street Y, Movement Research at Judson Church, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Josee Bienvenu Gallery,  Glasshouse, Chez Bushwick, Triple Canopy, Prelude Festival, The Joyce Soho, Dixon Place, Mulberry Street Theatre, The Tank, Aunts, Triskelion Arts, Studio 303, and The Overture Center, among other venues.  She has contributed video and written work to online and print journals: Bomb Magazine, Animal New York, The Performance Club, and Movement Research Journal.

Artist Statement

I am interested in reclaiming elements of performance that are considered wrong, awkward, uncomfortable, overlooked and that are frequently dismissed. Using satire I incorporate the marginalized facets of performance, making them the central focus of the work. The un-choreographed events in the performance environment: inter-relational dynamics both onstage and between performer and audience, power dynamics, emotional subtext, things that are felt but not publicly acknowledged. I am interested in discomfort and embarrassment of the performer. Situations onstage which create an emotional conflict that is funny and absurd, but also frightening or disturbing.