Among more than 50 productions and projects, Third Rail Project's long-running show Then She Fell ran for 4,444 performances in New York City from 2012 to 2020.
Founded as Third Rail Dance in 2001 by Tom Pearson, Brian Weaver and Jeannine Willett, the company was renamed Third Rail Projects following Weaver's relocation to Milan, and developed a more multi-disciplinary focus when Zach Morris joined the group as co-artistic director with Pearson and Willett in 2005.[1][8]
In 2008, Third Rail Projects' Vanishing Point, an evening-length dance exploration of family histories presented by Danspace Project, won Bessie Awards for choreography and music.[9][2]
In 2012, Third Rail Projects presented Then She Fell, an immersive, site-specific work that incorporated dance and theater, drawing from the life and work of Lewis Carol. It won a Bessie Award for outstanding production,[3] was named as one of the “Top Ten Shows of 2012” byThe New York Times[10] and acclaimed as one of the best theater experiences of 2013 by Vogue.[11] As of 2019, it had over 4000 performances;[12] production was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]
Third Rail Projects has been the recipient of several awards, including two Bessie Awards, a Chita Rivera Award for Choreography; fellowship awards including two CEC Artslink Back Apartment Residencies (Russia), a Theater Fellowship from the Bogliasco Foundation (Italy); and an IllumiNation Award from the Ford Foundation and National Museum of the American Indian, among others. Third Rail Projects was recognized as part of the creative team of the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning virtual reality adaptation of Wolves in the Walls.[6]
^ abKnopf, Robert (2017). The Director as Collaborator. New York: Taylor & Francis. pp. 148–162. ISBN9781315656946. We began as 'Third Rail Dance' in 2001, when Tom Pearson, Brian Weaver and I [Jeannine Willett] started self-producing our work and renting theater space to present our repertory dance concerts. Along the way, we met Zach Morris, a director who was making his own multi-disciplinary work in New York... In 2004, Brian moved to Milan and decided to stay permanently. In 2005, Zach officially joined our group in his stead and we changed the name to 'Third Rail Projects
^ abHorwitz, Andy (September 16, 2008). "BESSIES!!!". Culturebot. Retrieved November 27, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)