Iris Company, founded by Sophia Stoller (Dance MFA 15), presents The Still Point, an immersive dance-theater experience at SOMArts Bay Gallery in San Francisco. Performances run July 16–19 and 24–25.
Inspired by Tibetan Buddhist teachings on the Bardo—the threshold state between death and rebirth—and T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, The Still Point explores themes of isolation, memory, and reintegration. Audience members are divided into four groups and guided through four environments, where performers appear caught in cycles of ritual and routine. As the piece unfolds, the boundaries between these separate worlds begin to break down, and memories surface that help the performers reconnect with fractured parts of themselves.
Stoller’s immersive approach places the audience inside that process, making their presence part of the performance’s emotional and physical transformation.
“We are creating an environment that allows the audience to go beyond just witnessing. They are actually stepping inside the performers’ journeys of isolation and reintegration as the physical structure of the show unfolds,” explains Stoller, who both directed and choreographed the production. “Our hope is that the audience leaves feeling as though something inside of them has also begun to shift and reconnect.”
Several CalArtians helped bring The Still Point to life, including Lighting and Video Designer Aron Altmark (Theater BFA 15), Producer and Dramaturg Claire Elliott (Theater MFA 15), and composers Justin Scheid (Music MFA 15) and Drew Corey (Music BFA 16).
Founded in 2016, Iris Company is a diverse group of artists dedicated to creating socially relevant, thought-provoking and moving experiences through dance, immersive performance, and film. Stoller’s company launched with The Other Side, a large-scale immersive dance-theater work that premiered in 2017, and has since presented performances and collaborations at venues and events including Basic Flowers in Downtown Los Angeles, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles Dance Festival, and Highways Performance Space. Its dance film Screaming Shapes has screened at festivals including Oklahoma Dance Film Festival, In/Motion Chicago’s International Dance Film Festival, and Jacksonville Dance Film Festival.
After seven years of creating work in Los Angeles, Stoller and Iris Company relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2024.
