The Running Show

Monica Bill Barnes & Company was founded in 1997 as a New York-based dance company. The company began with a suitcase of costumes and a collection of solos that could be performed anywhere. Since its founding, Barnes has worked with many artists and performers, including long time collaborators/designers Jane Cox and Kelly Hanson and performer Anna Bass in developing relatable work with a subversive sense of humour. Since 2013, Monica Bill Barnes & Company has been co-led by Monica in partnership with Robbie Saenz de Viteri where the mission evolved to “bringing dance where it doesn’t belong.”

Together, Monica and Robbie make performances that combine their shared interest in the underlying comedy at work in our lives and make shows that hope to find something sacred in the mundane. They cross genres between dance, theatre, storytelling, creative nonfiction, feminist treatises, and comedy. Their work has travelled to a wide range of theatres ranging from off-Broadway's WP Theater to The Sydney Opera House, and many in between. They have also created performances in malls, conference rooms, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and interactive websites. They redefine what constitutes performance in every show, while maintaining the audience’s experience as the centre of everything they create. Their work has been honoured by the Bessie Awards, the Lilly Awards, and the Chita Rivera Awards, as well as numerous foundations. 

Artistic Director, choreographer, performer

Monica Bill Barnes is a dancer and choreographer. Since Monica Bill Barnes & Company’s founding in 1997, her choreography has been seen in many places such as New York City’s Bowling Green public fountain, on stage at Carnegie Hall, throughout the galleries of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and in Greta Gerwig’s film Little Women. The company has been presented in over 50 cities and internationally in venues ranging from The Kennedy Center to the Sydney Opera House in a collaboration with Ira Glass in Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host. Barnes started collaborating with Robbie Saenz de Viteri in 2013 at which point the company adopted the motto of “bringing dance where it doesn’t belong.”

Recent collaborations include a national tour of The Running Show, a site-specific show in a mall, Days Go By, and two online works created during the pandemic, Keep Moving and It’s 3:07 Again. They have recently premiered a new show, Many Happy Returns, through a residency at Berkeley Repertory.

Artistic Director, writer, performer

Robbie Saenz de Viteri writes, creates, produces, and performs live theatre. He has created performances and toured production throughout the world with the Obie Award winning Nature Theater of Oklahoma and worked with genre redefining artists such as Anna Deavere Smith, Stew, and Ira Glass. He has collaborated with Monica Bill Barnes to create Happy Hour, The Museum Workout, One Night Only (Lilly Award), Days Go By (Bessie Honoree), The Running Show, Keep Moving, It’s 3:07 Again, and Many Happy Returns.

He grew up in New Jersey, holds a BA from Muhlenberg College where he studied writing with David Rosenwasser, and lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn which he believes is best reached by bicycle.