Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener, Open Machine rehearsal, Al Held Foundation, July 17, 2025.
In July 2025, acclaimed choreographers Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Reiner presented Open Machine (an intimate preview) in and around Al Held’s historic studio complex during Upstate Art Weekend. Performed by nine dancers and featuring a transportive electronic vocal composition by Charmaine Lee, the work aims to blur the lines between brain, body, and machine. Thank you to all involved for activating Held’s studio in surprising and moving ways. A full video of the performance appears below.
Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener are New York-based dance artists. Their work involves the building of collaborative worlds through improvisational techniques, digital technologies, and material construction. They met as dancers in the Merce Cunningham Dance company and since 2010 they have created over 25 multidisciplinary dance works including site-responsive installations, concert dances, gallery performances and dances for film in venues such as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Barbican Centre, REDCAT, The Walker Art Center, and MoMA/PS1. Throughout they have maintained a commitment to queer culture and aesthetics. Their partnership intentionally blurs authorship and maintains a deep commitment to collaboration with a diverse community of dancers, performers, artists, and cultural institutions.