Monica Bill Barnes and Robbie Saenz de Viteri create live performances that blend dance, theater, storytelling, comedy, and movement. Their mission to “bring dance where it doesn’t belong” manifests in performances that reimagine the relationships between movement, language, audience and space. While experimental in form, they lead with a deep commitment to accessibility that welcomes audiences of all kinds into a shared experience that blurs the boundary between everyday life and the stage. Their innovative works have been celebrated as the best performances of the year by the NYTimes (2025 – Lunch Dances at The New York Public Library and Many Happy Returns at Playwrights Horizons) and honored by the Lilly Awards for Women in Theater, The Chita Rivera Awards, The Bessie Awards, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Dance-theater duo, Monica Bill Barnes and Robbie Saenz de Viteri warmed Playwrights Horizons’ Sharp Theater with Many Happy Returns, their dance memory play, and they revealed a secret life inside the New York Public Library in the acclaimed Lunch Dances. In their continued exploration of what it means to create community, their new piece will plumb the depths of the small, forgettable moments that transpire each minute on a New York City sidewalk. It will never be the same twice, but—with emotional precision and sly, searching writing—this dynamic work will be a new epic, every day.
