A Performance of Movement and Voice
EILEEN is a solo performance by Sarah Gordon Butler, exposing the honest process of navigating uncomfortable and self-made circumstances. A multi-media artist and dancer, Butler intricately weaves movement and vocals to undress themes of identity and transformation, highlighting the impossible situations we willingly create for ourselves.
Straining both body and voice to access a raw almost disturbing sense of vulnerability and beauty, EILEEN features highly nuanced movement, dissonant harmonies, extreme physicality, and the live layering of an original acapella sound score, which Sarah composed in the Wormfarm grain silo during a prior residency.
EILEEN will be performed for the first time in the United States on July 18, 2026, 6pm, at the Octagon Barn, Spring Green, Wis.
Culture Crafted and Shared
Although Sarah has worked with Wormfarm for the past six years – most notably as the creative director and choreographer of Hay Rake Ballet – many of her collaborators, including farmers and their families, have yet to experience her broader artistic practice. With the culminating full premiere of Hay Rake Ballet scheduled for September 2026, Sarah is honored to share EILEEN with Sauk County, with the intention of reciprocating the generous investment, openness, and vulnerability she has experienced from the community over the past three years.
After premiering in Berlin in 2024 to two sold-out performances, EILEEN was selected for the MASDANZA Festival in the Canary Islands in 2025. Bringing the work to Wisconsin in 2026 offers a rare chance for rural audiences to experience this contemporary performance, free and in a nontraditional setting, while connecting with a deeply personal piece.
EILEEN is supported in part by Arts Midwest, which receives support in part from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. The GIG Fund supports Midwestern organizations to bring a professional artist into their community. These grants from Arts Midwest fund creative, engaging public activities, ensuring that audiences have access to high quality arts activities.
Special thanks to Signature Steps Dance Studio in Reedsburg, Wis. for providing a rehearsal space.
Top image by Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern; video courtesy of Sarah Gordon Butler with cinematography by Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern.