On Tension (2024)
Movement Director: Xenia Mansour | Photography: Bekah Wriedt | HMU: Traci Fine | Wardrobe: Mel Romanski | Models: Lucci Rashaed & Caje of One Management Chicago
Amy Jacobus Marketing → Grounded Growth Marketing | Rebrand Photoshoot (2024)
Hillary Weiss Presswood, Creative Direction
Studio 5800, Photography
TODO STUDIO, Photo/Video Studio
JVALLDI Styling, Hair & Makeup
Christopher Duggan/Nel Shelby Productions, Video Footage
Philoxenia Movement (Xenia Mansour), Movement Direction & Wardrobe Consultant
Swail Studio, Visual Identity
Beth Sullivan, Web Design & Development
Explore more of this work at www.groundedgrowth.marketing
Test shoot with One Management Chicago (2022)
Photographer/Director: Gabriela Chavez | Movement Director: Xenia Mansour
Comfort in Repetition (2023)
Comfort in Repetition was commissioned by MOMENTA Dance Company for their spring performances. I got to work and collaborate with the company’s high school seniors. With all of them graduating a few months later, I decided to tackle the question of “home” and how home in the body, and in their training comes from repetition.
Choreography Xenia Mansour | Music by Jamal Moss | Commissioned & Performed by MOMENTA Dance Company | Length: 5 minutes
Maunawili (2021)
Composed by Kalia Vandever | Choreography & Performance: Xenia Mansour | Commissioned & Performed by: Hats + Heels duo for their “Women Are…” project. | Length: 5 minutes
Nostos (2019)
“Nostos” is the ancient Greek concept of “the homecoming.” Groundwork for Nostos stems from my own exploration of identity shaping, specifically growing up as a Greek American. I struggled to find community and commonality with those within the Greek Orthodox Church and truly grappled with the notion of being Greek without being Greek Orthodox. This yearn for articulation and clarity of self is investigated through a deeper research of my own movement vocabulary layered with the sounds of my childhood, classic Greek tracks and ballads. “The homecoming” is a reconnection, a chance to attach back to those earliest pillars of identity.
Choreography & Performance: Xenia Mansour | Sound: Apostolos Kaldaras & Pythagoras, “Pire Fotia to Kordelio;” Bouzouki Kings, “Fragosiriani;” Bouzouki Kings & Anastasia, “Pote Tin Kiraki” | Length: 8 minutes
One From Three (2016)
One From Three is inspired by a passion of mine: sports, specifically hockey. I grew up in a household of die hard sports fans who follow their teams with such dedication, passion, and love you'd think they were on the team themselves. Growing up in this environment while dedicating myself to my main passion of dance, I recently became fascinated at how watching a sports game can elicit the same kind of emotional response as an effective and thought-provoking piece of dance or artwork. I believe there is a real beauty in hockey, from the aesthetic of the players gliding across the ice to the passion of the fans themselves. The way the players check each other, skitter back and forth on their skates during the national anthem, the plays they create as a team to score a goal, or the individuality and creativity of each player’s shootout goals – ideas like these about the form of hockey helped generate the movement of the piece. The audio – splices of different sounds one might hear at a sporting event gives the viewer a context and a sense of familiarity while seeing the piece in its entirety. The title touches on the idea of a gestalt: the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Each individual has to do their job for the group to succeed; ultimately, the group is greater than the self. Although the three dancers are unique and separate beings, each of their individual selves connect to a greater whole, therefore getting “One From Three.”
Choreography: Xenia Mansour | Sound: “Dallas Stars vs Chicago Blackhawks 04.01.15 Full Game;” The Fratellis, “Chelsea Dagger;” Cool&Classy “Hockey Arena Organ Medley (Take on Hockey Arena Organ); “Let’s Go,” recorded by Andy Teirstein’ “Shootout: Bruins vs Blackhawks” | Performers: Rebekah Krulee, Jared McAboy, Maggie Westerfield | Lighting Design: Abigail Hoke-Brady | Length: 8 minutes
Architecture as Media: Final Case Study (2016)
As part of my "Architecture as Media” final case study I decided to explore dance, architecture, and media through movement based research in the Schwartz Plaza (the pathway between Bobst and the NYU welcome center). I played with the concept that architecture suggests togetherness while media suggests we can do it apart, using dance as the medium to illuminate and guide us through specific spaces. In addition, this video was also live streamed via Facebook, adding another layer of exploration into the dance world's growing interest in site specific work while hopefully making it more accessible to the public.
Choreography/Conception/Performance: Xenia Mansour | Length: 13 minutes
Cyclical Chaos (2014)
Choreography: Xenia Mansour | Music/Composer: Isaiah Rock’s original track "Midnight in October" | Performers: Camille Delaney, Stanley Gambucci, Rebekah Krulee, George Mani, Jared McAboy, Samantha Ostwald, Natalia Sanchez, Maggie Westerfield | Lighting Design: Reza Behjat | Length: 7 minutes