Mitra Michelle Matin

“The Table” 🪑 an excerpt from “Leave It (Better Than You Found It)” premiere at Irondale Center choreography / wardrobe / sound design: @mitrammatin lighting design: @tori.moore03

life began again the day you took my hand ❤️ and just like that “Leave It (Better Than You Found It)” has premiered @mitrasworks . a deep state of gratitude !! thank you too all those who shared this night with us. i have this great energy that is still ringing through my body since thursday, the way space and light was shared, the heart and soul was so pure with every single movement ! even in stillness. i am definitely still in these deep coating feelings as the words & thoughts shared thursday and since, still remain playing in my mind, heart & body. 90+ people, a SOLD out audience for my 1st evening length ! in one of the most beautiful spaces i’ve ever experienced. i had my heart set on it, after touring venues back in January, so to live it…beyond my imagination was something of the most healing. i feel like myself. thank you to my beautiful dancers, my cast, my friends, we’ve officially been intertwined. thank you to anyone that has gotten in the studio with me to play and make, for you were the most sacred springboard! thank you to @tori.moore03 for making all my dreams happen !! for literally flying from Florida to be here! and most of all for giving me my dream of lighting in such a beautiful, thoughtful and intimate way. thank you to my sisters @sophiavashell & @sara_rachelle , you were always there for me ! and quite literally we would not have had a show that day or a production team without you! you stressed so we could be at peace (sometimes) hehe. to my parents, thank you for reminding me of myself, of my value, thank you for being there and always supporting me. reflecting on the past months of creating, changing and shifting, we now continue into the new, and as we leave it, i am certainly better than ever before. 🪢 show images // tech run photos by: @laylamshoo !! layla these are my most prized images, for you have captured many laughs, souls and hearts in your lens. thank you beyond 🫀

diving in with me🫂 At the start of the summer months I made this video to send in as a submission for something my entire soul craved so badly to do. I was asked to make & 2-5 minute video of “me in my element.” I decided that the least anyone can ever do is give an effort & believe…so I made this little creation and sent it on its way. Just a bit after sending all of my materials in, my grandfather passed away, my beautiful Persian Papa. Although he battled with Alzheimer’s in his last couple years, I will tell you…he truly, truly did live an absolutely beautiful 92 years. I’m forever grateful that I spent so much beautiful time with him, especially in these past summer weeks. Although we spoke broken English and Farsi his eyes always told a beautiful story. While I’m never one that practices strong faith outwardly, I am very spiritual. I always notice when someone special that we loved leaves us, they seem to leave a little gift behind for us. The morning of his service I opened my own eyes to a beautiful story, an email…my gift. Starting this Monday I will be living out a dream of mine. I will be spending 2 weeks in process immersion with @gallimdanceco & Pina Bausch collaborator Eddie Martinez at the Joyce Theater studios, with 19 other artists & beautiful process loving humans. I so hope that everyone who knows me thinks of process and knows my deep love for it. Process focus is what I have deeply valued for some time now. A heightened environment where the process is the focus is a rare thing, maybe that’s why I treasure it so severely, but whether or not that rareness is the key factor of its value to me, I know that its rarity is definitely an actuality. I am overwhelmed with joy for these new adventures, rarities, & skies.🫀🌙 studio footage captured by the stunning: @tori.moore03

catch up ?¿ 🦊 a bye to winter, spring pls come

our void isn’t empty. color lines the shadows. my absolute pleasure: @dana.craighead @danadmc insane: @katya.tsikina

the world will dance again, i shall begin to sway.

ur cute enough so BASICALLY meansSS you’ve made it to the interview portion…be THERE 🫵🏻 tomorrow, my cubicle 💋 *gibney 280 studio H, u know it…my favorite place. 7:30pm😏 friday march 6th “the corporate ladder” @dana.craighead @katya.tsikina

looking for artists, dancers, bodies and hearts that want to be part of tomorrow, our tomorrow. reach out via DM or text;)) no set schedule or insane expectation at the moment, just a feel for who’s craving a slice of art. if you’re craving it but your life and schedule is crazy, same here. i believe the commitment and hours can look different for us all. don’t let that discourage you from reaching out with interest. “when we die apart, we are born again, together.” i’m reaching out, i’m sat in this depth of hope. i have to create again, i have to. for once i’m heading into creation without such a specific goal. but knowing me i DO believe true creative freedom actually comes best from some sense of direction…so it will most likely turn into a rehearsal process, in hopes of a live showing/premiere of new work at a smaller venue. it could also totally become a film/concept video. really it could become a thousand different things, but it’ll be nothing if we don’t start. waiting is expired for me. and while i enjoyed the time away and while i’ve been putting energy into things yet to be announced, it has been some months since i’ve held a physical space and this is what i’m ready to dive into again. -M

now in stills, simply because i take a lot of pictures & i don’t usually do anything with them ! but hey thank u again ‘25 u were dashing baby 🧚‍♀️

with every loss there was a gain ‘25 🦋 feeling like the slow building has finally bred a beautiful house, one that truly feels like home.

and when you don’t feel you’re truly living there is still life right outside your door,

a passage from LIBTYFI. a section that feels like the heartbeat of the work. 🪢 i hold live art and live dance especially very close to my heart and my being, as it is something that is so rooted and important to me. it can be a truly sacred and almost spiritual experience. creating and witnessing this work in the flesh this past year, has taken that philosophy and made it so concrete to me and my beliefs. while i have definitely shared many things from this project, i haven’t put up anything of this length and entirety until now…simply because i love everything in the context of the entire work and the story it tells. i also believe it and many things hold a deeper connection when seeing it right in front of your own eyes live vs view a 2d film. i have been mostly present in this time of creation and have kept my phone mostly away, as the dance world NEEDS that these days!!! but after all the work, i was able to capture some of my favorite moments in our tech run and a full wide view in our show run all happening on november 7th and both captured on my iphone. and while the show run/audience made things electric something about our tech feels so real, personal, honest and gives us a up close view we wouldn’t typically get and i love that. although the project has always been about being present it was also nice to preserve our little baby in this way. so i leave this here🫀 sections / tracks In My Life -Beatles Miss Misanthrope -Jealous Of The Birds (isolated and reimagined sound by me) Velvet Ring -Big Thief Loose -Daniel Caesar Empty Chairs -Don McLean The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face -Roberta Flack Bookends Theme -Simon and Garfunkel And I Love You So Much-Don McLean Tori Moore - Lighting Designer💡 @tori.moore03 Associate Lighting Designer 🖍️ @sophiavashell All my beautiful, beloved, beyond, angel dancers are tagged <3