Michele Brangwen on Finding Artistic Freedom at The Menil Collection

Choreographer Michele Brangwen reflects on how The Menil Collection and Rothko Chapel in Houston have shaped her artistic practice over 25 years. She recounts a pivotal 2003 performance of George Crumb's 'Black Angels' by the Miró String Quartet at The Menil, presented by DACAMERA, which inspired her to break conventional boundaries in dance-music integration. The amplified string quartet piece, written in 1970 in response to the Vietnam War, used unconventional techniques including upside-down instruments and chanting. Brangwen's own ensemble later created 'Confusion of Angels' (2005), inspired by Crumb's narrative of a soul's journey, filmed at the Rothko Chapel's reflecting pool with floating candles. More recently, the Menil's 2025 exhibition 'Robert Rauschenberg: Fabric Works of the 1970s' inspired her work 'Rauschenberg Windjammers,' incorporating fabric solvent transfer costumes with photographs by Mads Ljungdahl, Peter Josyph, and Warren Sneed, and music by composer Michael Eaton. Brangwen emphasizes the de Menils' vision of art as essential and barrier-free, noting both campuses remain free and open to the public.