about leslie bush/ midden heap project

Artist Bio

Once described as having a “deft grasp of physical and virtual phenomena”, improvisational dance artist and educator Leslie Bush creates visually evocative performances and movement- based installations that encourage viewers to take another look at the unfamiliar. Obsessed with ideas of identity, hybridity, world building and transformation, Leslie situates her process and performances in conversations between movement, new media, and technology. Her work has been described as "extending definitions of embodiment".

Based in Philadelphia, Leslie earned a Master of Fine Arts in dance choreography and performance from Temple University in 2017, and a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a focus in contemporary dance from Indiana University in 2012. Currently, she teaches movement at community arts centers throughout the Philadelphia region, and has held an appointment as an adjunct faculty member in the dance department at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ since 2017.

Leslie created her experimental performance company Midden Heap Project (MHP) in 2018, through which she collaborates with movers, musicians, videographers, and technology experts to explore new ideas. Leslie was a 2018 recipient of a Small But Mighty Arts professional development grant, which she used to take classes on 3D scanning, modeling, and printing at her local maker-space. Her choreography and improvisational work have been presented in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, the Old City Festival (Philadelphia), and in exhibitions at Abington Arts Center (Abington, PA). Her publications include research on embodiment in alternative electronic music scenes, which can be found in the 6th edition of Dancer Citizen. Her full CV can be found here.

Artist Statement

I came across the concept of a midden heap while I (briefly) studied anthropology at Indiana University. Simply put, a midden heap is a trash pit. It’s an archaological site of leftovers—bones of animals, rocks used as tools, layers upon layers of discarded human waste. But within these layers a story unfolds. My creative process feels much like a midden heap. My modes of creation are wide and varied and sometimes seem unrelated—beginning with dance work and extending to new media, film, interactive environments, and so on. But within each project is a throughline that explores the complexity of the human condition. I am comforted by the idea that identity isn’t always a fixed thing. I am constantly tossing versions of myself (both physical and digital) out into space and time to explore how else I can exist. Each version adds a new layer to my site.