Directed by Nancy Keystone
Choreography by Comfort Fedoke and Zoe Rappaport

How do we reveal the story within a story? And what lies do we tell ourselves to avoid seeing our complicity in supporting false narratives? When and how did we become – each in our own way - masters of subversion? How do we distinguish personal fact vs. fiction to lighten our heavy spiritual load and ultimately heal? 

Such essential questions ground Masters of Subversion: Confronting Cigar, a multidisciplinary public arts program that uses music, dance, spoken word, scholarship, and data to examine questions around trauma, persona, and loss of identity.

Nancy Keystone (director) is a Los Angeles-based theatre and visual artist, filmmaker, and educator. She is driven by big questions that explore individuals and their place in history and within systems. As the artistic director of Critical Mass Performance Group (CMPG), she's the company's chief investigator, playwright, director, scenic designer, and producer. The ensemble is known for exuberant theatricality and electrifying collisions of ideas. through epic historical projects, re-inventions of classic texts, interactive salons, social practice art. As a freelance theatre artist, she has directed and designed productions across the country. As a visual artist, Ms. Keystone works in mixed media, creating paintings and collages, and unique scenic environments for her productions. Ms. Keystone is the recipient of a Doris Duke Artist Award, United States Artists Hoi Fellowship, MacDowell Fellowship, Theatre Communications Group's Alan Schneider Director Award among many other honors. She is on the visiting faculty at UCLA and CalArts, and is a frequent university guest lecturer.

Comfort Fedoke (co-choreographer) is a Nigerian American creative force—an Emmy Award-winning dance artist, choreographer, movement coach/director, actor, and singer. She is the Associate Choreographer for the two-part Universal Pictures film Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu, bringing her visionary movement expertise to one of the biggest musical adaptations of our time. Comfort first captivated audiences as a standout competitor on So You Think You Can Dance season four and returned for several seasons as an All-Star, choreographer, and mentor. Most recently, she served as a judge on the latest season of the iconic show. Her live stage and performance credits span an extraordinary list of global artists, including H.E.R., John Legend, Florence and the Machine, Harry Styles, Kanye West, LL Cool J, Chaka Khan, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Missy Elliott, Gwen Stefani, Travis Scott, Drake, JLo, Jason Derulo, Lizzo, and Wale.

Zoe Rappaport (co-choreographer) is an LA/NY-based movement director/choreographer, creative producer, and interdisciplinary artist grounded in the belief that movement was born to unify us as a people and communicate on a deeper level. Working with global brands, GRAMMY-winning artists, and pop culture icons over the last fifteen years, Zoe has worked across many worlds from editorial, fashion, and tv/film to music videos, live performance, and site-specific immersive work. She has performed and/or shown work at venues such as The Museum of Contemporary Art LA, Human Resources LA, World of Dance NY, Webster Hall, Dance New Amsterdam, LaMama Experimental Theatre, and The Hatch Shell. For the last six years, Zoe has served as the Creative Producer for Dare to Dance in Public Film Festival (D2D) and is currently on faculty at AMDA College of Performing Arts.