Artistic Director
Bio click here to view Deborah's curriculum vitae Artist’s Statement Upon my return to my home state of Connecticut in 2002, I became acutely aware of my need for a community of like-minded artists through which
my creative work would be nurtured. Scapegoat Garden, a collaborative dance theater, is the manifestation of that need fulfilled. I believe the creative process is most fulfilling
when it is generated by a community of creative individuals who act as advocates for one another and for the work produced among them. As an artist, I have faith in my vision. As a
director, I am equally convinced that my vision can only grow in the presence of other great ideas and perspectives. With a mixture of time and the commitment of a creative
community, these visions incubate and are allowed to grow to full size. My work and the work of Scapegoat Garden, has flourished through this openness. Since Scapegoat Garden’s inception, I’ve used the word “fledgling” to describe our present stage of development.
Fledge: v. 1. To grow the feathers required for flying. 2. To provide with feathers. 3. To prepare for flight, or independent existence.
I find it valuable to remain aware of my youth as a choreographer and director. I am still very much in my formative years as an artist - learning to understand, accept and cultivate
the depth and breadth of my identity, abilities, vision and experience. Each new work reveals new information about who I am and how I am growing as an artist. Through the experience of creating Studies in Empathy, Scapegoat Garden’s
third evening-length work, a pattern has begun to emerge. First, this work was created over a period of two years. During that time, I engaged the company in discussions
and experiments, while building a structure and developing its content. I sought opportunities to perform each section as they took shape, receiving feedback from peers and mentors.
We rehearsed for concentrated periods of time which were separated by times for ideas to simmer slowly. After performing Studies in
Empathy in its entirety for the first time in April 2006, it has become clear that in order to reach its potential, the work required the time we allowed. This respect for time has become
a challenging and essential part of my creative process. I believe performers are courageous beings in the way we explore the internal in full view of the public. This belief was reinforced and
deepened through the creative process with Studies in Empathy, and the works that have followed since. When we, as performers, are sincere, an exchange is possible
between us and those who witness what we produce. Pushing the body and psyche to new limits and deep exploration has uncovered new truths, degrees of strength, and great physical
effort - human beings expressing human experiences, longings and fears. The audience shifts from the role of spectator to that of witness. Invited into a heightened experience, both performer and audience (witness) are able to see themselves
and each other from new perspectives. By fusing multiple media with this committed collaborative process, I have come to embrace a form of dance theater that is layered with
multi-sensory stimulation, attention to detail and athleticism. I am drawn to works that cultivate a rich, dense environment
where the audience is enveloped by the experience -
an environment experienced through the nose, eyes, skin, ears and mouth. While much of popular media aims to desensitize the observer through a barrage of images and ideas, I look to music,
film and television for their ability to engage and, on occasion, to move, inform and transform in innovative ways. In this, a total theatrical experience – movement, text, video,
music, costume, light, sound and set design – I set out to soften by way of sensation and introspection. My hope is that audiences leave each performance more tender and aware than
before the encounter. Fledge:
v. 1. to grow feathers required for flying 2. to provide with feathers 3. to prepare for
flight, or independent existence Creative:
adj. productive; original Deborah
Goffe 810 Tower Ave Hartford, CT 06112 860.881.9943 Site designed by Jeff Mathew Design
Deborah Goffe (Artistic Director)
is a performer, choreographer, dance educator and video artist.
She is Founder and Artistic Director of Scapegoat Garden, a collaborative dance theater based in Hartford, Connecticut,
driven to create daring interdisciplinary dance performance that goes in through the nose, eyes skin, ears and mouth
to stir those who witness and participate. Since earning her BFA in modern dance from the University of the Arts and an
MFA in dance performance and choreography from California Institute of the Arts, Scapegoat Garden has served as the
vehicle and creative community through which she cultivates artistic innovation, exploring dance and its intersection with other media.
She has created video works and sound designs for Scapegoat Garden, the Judy Dworin Performance Ensemble (with whom she performed for many years),
the Greater Hartford Arts Council, and others. She has received Artist's Fellowship Grants from the Connecticut Comission on Culture and Tourism as well as
from the Greater Hartford Arts Council for her choreographic work. Deborah has taught dance and related courses in a number of institutions, including Belmont High School
in Los Angeles, CalArts, CREC's Center for Creative Youth, Hartford Conservatory, University of Hartford/Hartt School/Community Division,
and Trinity College. She is currently on the faculty of CREC's Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and CulturArte, a
youth arts summer residenct program in Cape Verde, Africa.
deborah@scapegoatgarden.org