Snapshots & Souvenirs

an evening song/dance cycle

Concept & Direction | Music & Words | Choreography | Set Design | Performance

Elijah Hancock & Melissa Younker


Costume Design: Melissa Younker

Instrumentation: Elijah Hancock

Videography & Editing: Florian Alberge & Melissa Younker

Sound Engineer: Sharp Audio

Photographer: Florian Alberge

Special Thanks: SLC Arts Council, Babin Family, Kaitlyn Mooney, Guilherme Ramos

A selection for Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Flash Project Program.

Premiered September 30 & October 1, 2022

Two blurred figures, possibly performing, with one holding a red cloth next to a metal tub in a room decorated with hanging cutouts of clothing.
Person holding a green and yellow microphone, crouching on a wooden floor with projected beach scene and text in the background.
Two people singing with toy microphones in front of a karaoke screen.
Person lying on the floor playing a guitar with another person resting their head on their knee in a dimly lit room.
Two people performing in an art installation with hanging fabric pieces. One person is raising their arms while another speaks into a microphone. A metal basin is on the floor.
Two people playing a keyboard together, wearing casual dark clothing.
Two people seated on a wooden floor, one in a white dress and the other in a pink dress, reaching towards each other with one arm outstretched.
A person gently touching another person's face while they play a mandolin.

Performances

Premiere, September 2022

Evening Length Performance

Flash Project

@ Finch Lane Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah

February 2023

Short Performance

12 Minutes Max

@ Main Library Auditorium, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

PROGRAM

  • A stop-motion film with puppetry.

    Videography: Florian Alberge

    Editing: Florian Alberge & Melissa Younker

    Puppeteers: Guilherme Ramos & Melissa Younkers here

  • A music video/short dance film.

    Songwriter: Elijah Hancock

    Videography: Florian Alberge

    Editing: Melissa Younker

    Sound Engineer: Sharp Audio

    Special Thanks: Kaitlyn Mooney

  • A choreographed dance duet with a record player accompaniment.

  • An original song performed live.

    Songwriters: Elijah Hancock & Melissa Younker

    Keyboard: Elijah Hancock

    Vocals: Elijah Hancock & Melissa Younker

  • An original song & mini dance performed live.

    Songwriters: Elijah Hancock & Melissa Younker

    Mandolin: Elijah Hancock

    Vocals: Melissa Younker

  • A short karaoke film with original song, live performance & audience participation.

    Songwriter: Elijah Hancock

    Film Editing: Melissa Younker

    Footage: Babin Family Home Videos

    Vocals: Elijah Hancock & Melissa Younker

    Sound Engineer: Sharp Audio

  • An original song performed live with sound generating installation/choreography.

    Songwriter: Elijah Hancock

    Vocals: Elijah Hancock

    Movement: Melissa Younker

    Sound Engineer: Sharp Audio

    Set Design: Elijah Hancock & Melissa Younker

Two hands with intertwined fingers against a blue watery background.

Elijah Hancock and Melissa Younker combine their artistic curiosities to collaborate in a musically driven performance art work. A vocal artist and multi-instrumentalist, Elijah Hancock has specialties in songwriting, opera and choir. Melissa Younker is a multi-disciplinary movement artist with experience in dance performance, choreography and film making. Both artists aspire to cross genres and step into the vulnerability of sharing their desires in live performance. Together they have created a new work that embraces each other’s diverse skill sets, crossing boundaries and sharing in all sides of the creation, direction, and performance.

“Snapshots & Souvenirs” is a reflection of memory. Each song/dance is a snapshot of moments in their ancestors’ histories and personal pasts. To quote the first song they wrote together titled Bag of Dirt, “an embellished memory, a varnished catastrophe; both distorted, both true.” Elijah and Melissa find comfort and comedy in their shared understanding about the souvenirs we carry.

Video trailer from project proposal sent to SLC Arts Council November 2021.