UNM assistant professor is a storyteller in motion

Annmarie Garcia Sheahan, Ph.D., spends her days as an assistant professor of secondary literary education within the College of Education and Human Sciences (COEHS). But she spends her free time dancing with her troupe, BreakingEven.

Garcia Sheahan founded the group in the early days of the pandemic in 2020. While she was in Washington for work, she was able to connect with women who shared the same passion for dance over Zoom.

"The idea for the company came to me because we were using our weekly meetings not just as a means of dancing, but as a means of connection. It was a beautiful space in a time that was really difficult," Garcia Sheahan said.

It eventually motivated her to return to Albuquerque and officially start the company. "We're made up of all adults, all women of all ages and levels who just want to get together and use dance as a means of storytelling," Garcia Sheahan said. "At the heart of what we do is produce original narrative shows that are retellings of historical literary works. It's a way to interrogate works of the dominant classics through dance, usually privileging queer and diverse stories."

One of the troupe's most recent shows, Sing to Me, Muse, won an Orley Award from the Albuquerque Theater Guild for Outstanding Non-Play/Musical.

BreakingEven's newest project, The Serpent Underneath, is being supported by the City of Albuquerque by way of the Urban Enchantment Trust Funds (UETF) Artist Resiliency Residency Award. The UETF Resiliency Residency Program is a self-paced, "at-home" residency that encourages artists of all mediums and disciplines to play, experiment, research, and create.

Developed as a response to COVID-19's impact on the Albuquerque arts community, the artists who receive the residency are invited to use the funds to further their artistic practice and are asked to show a public presentation of the work at some point in the residency period.

The cycle will fund 16 artists at $5,000 each with FUSION and Working Classroom acting as Fiscal Sponsor organizations and as mentors and support systems for each artist.

The Serpent Underneath is loosely inspired by MacBeth, Hamlet, The Crucible, and the show Yellow Jackets. It will be set in northern New Mexico on a matriarchal utopian commune with themes of ambition, love, and betrayal.

"Dance is for everyone, and it doesn't matter your age or your body type or your skill level. You can use movement to tell stories in beautiful ways," Garcia Sheahan said. "For the longest time I was scared to go into academia because I didn't want to divorce those two sides of myself-the dancer, creative side and the more scholarly, academic side. It's one of the things that I'm glad to see changing in academia and I hope I can add to that change in some way."

Garcia Sheahan is in the process of writing the script and choreographing over twenty dance numbers. The company will begin performances of The Serpent Underneath in January of 2027.

"The arts thrive when people come out to support them. There are so many great things at work here in Albuquerque theater, dance, and music scene," Garcia Sheahan said.