What The Walls Remember
WHAT THE WALLS REMEMBER
Transforming Lived Experience of Prison Violence Through Embodied Testimonies
WHEN: Tuesday, May 5, 2026, 6pm. The program will last an hour.
WHERE: Dillingham, Studio 3, Ithaca College’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance
WHAT: 20-Minute Screening followed by a Q and A with the creative team and cast
CREATIVE TEAM: Bruce Levitt, (back row) Ashton Showers, Gareth Hogan, Corrinthea Washington, Andrew Partee, Elliot Lee-O’Halloran, Isabella Nocon, (front row) Maren Nazar, Elouane Rogers, Rehema Kiama, Ava Puccio, Quentin Messiah Williams, Daniel Gwirtzman, Joey Gallegos.
Photo: Priscilla Hummel
Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company and MIRTH, A Theatre Company have been
collaborating on the creation of a movement theater work addressing the violence
experienced by incarcerated individuals within the New York State prison system.
The project, What the Walls Remember: Transforming Lived Experience of Prison
Violence Through Embodied Testimonies, is a creative partnership between Daniel Gwirtzman, Ithaca College professor, dance artist and director, Bruce Levitt, Cornell professor, theater artist and director and Ithaca College performance students. Beginning in February, 2026 Daniel and Bruce worked with eleven undergraduate performance majors through a rigorous series of workshops. These sessions functioned as a shared creative space where all experimented, reflected, and collectively transformed these lived experiences into theatrical expression. On Saturday February 28, 2026 a showing of the twenty-minute work was held.
This project draws from a collection of first-person narratives detailing
encounters with correctional officers and other employees. These stories have served
as source material, not for literal reenactment, but as the foundation for an abstract,
emotionally-driven, and non-narrative performance work realized through dance.
MIRTH, A Theatre Company and Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company both have a long history of community projects. Thanks to some foundation support a grant was received to compensate the eleven participants for their amazing contributions. We are committed to amplifying the
important content of these stories, illuminating the horrors, harms and abuses largely
unknown to the general public.
If you are interested in helping us move this project forward, contributions earmarked for The Prison Project will be used toward this end. MIRTH, A Theatre Company, and Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, are both registered NYS non-profits. All earmarked funds will go to the continued development of Behind The Walls. To make and/or inquire about a contribution please reach out to Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company: info@gwirtzmandance.org
Photographs, top to bottom:
1. Ashton Showers
2. Quentin Messiah Williams, Gareth Hogan
3. Rehema Kiama
4. Bruce Levitt with Quentin and Maren Nazar
Photos: Daniel Gwirtzman
