"Risa's Subjects...

...are modern, urban, and random; unified by a sense of isolation, a reaching out to touch, connections made and broken, connections made and held until they descend into chaos. 

Her style is both highly emotional and funny-her pieces ride the edge between irony and mania. The work shows both great humor and fierce discipline."

- Barbara Morin
Theater Department Chair
MN. Center for Arts Education

Show Archive

Two WorldsTwo Worlds

Southern Theater/Walker Arts Center, 2005

Two Worlds utilizes six distinct elements—silks, steel hoop, rope and harness, Spanish web, triple trapeze, and ground dance—in a work that weds physical extremes with metaphorical meaning. Fabric becomes a door, a hoop becomes a barrier, and a harness turns into the physical manifestation of an interpersonal power struggle in this graceful meditation on movement.


The Angel and the TowerThe Angel and the Tower

Icehouse Studio, 2004

The Angel and the tower, co-produced by Circus Juventus, is an aerial-dance fairy tale about an imprisoned soul searching for the love of an angel. Voted top 5 show of the Minnesota Fringe Festival 2004.


Self StorageSelf Storage

Southern Theater, 2002

Self Storage is an exploration of the various ways our fears constrict and contain us. The piece is filled with images and movements intended to take the audience on an emotional journey into the inner corridors of ones psyche.


UnraveledUnRaveled

Minnesota Fringe Festival, 2001

Unraveled grapples with the dichotomy of being a feminist and the search for a religious Judaism. The piece pays homage to the many millions of forgotten and unknown jewish women who have been saviors, rebels, and leaders – women whose names have been long lost, forgotten, or never acknowledged.


GiselleGiselle 2000

Red Eye Theater, 2000

The show depicts adolescence by examining issues of conformity, rebellion, control and impulse.


Gardens and SpiritsGardens and Spirits

Minnesota Fringe Festival, 1999

A 35 minute piece which questions the conceivability of soulmates.  Gardens and Spirits follows the struggle of two individuals in search for a soulmate.


BabbleBabble

Red Eye Theater, 1999

Babble is about reaching for something, a word, a friend, or a triumph that is just beyond grasp. The project is comprised of three pieces that reflects my personal experience growing up with dyslexia.


Squeeze PlaySqueeze Play

Bryant Lake Bowl, 1998

Squeeze Play takes place in a classroom, where verbally challenged students struggle with the trials of being entrapped in a world where they cannot communicate.


Stolen CircuitryStolen Circuitry

Loring Playhouse, 1998

Kinetic Theater Work at the 1998 MN Fringe Theater Festival.


Risa's PiecesRisa's Pieces

Southern Theater, 1997

A story of one man's search for passion. The work uses the body as a powerful vehicle for expressing the struggles and joys of human life.