COMPANY
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 humor. Since 2013, MBB&CO 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, theater, storytelling, creative nonfiction, feminist treatises, and comedy. Their work has traveled to a wide range of theaters ranging from off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons and WP Theater to The Sydney Opera House, and many in between. They've also created performances in malls, conference rooms, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Public Library Stephan A. Sand interactive websites. They redefine what constitutes performance in every show, while maintaining the audience's experience as the center of everything they create. Their work has been honored by the Bessie Awards, the Lilly Awards, and the Chita Rivera Awards, as well as numerous foundations.
is a dancer and choreographer. Since MBB&CO’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 began 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 two online works created during the pandemic - Keep Moving and It’s 3:07 Again, a site-specific show in a NYC mall - Days Go By, national tours of The Running Show, a sold-out extended run of Many Happy Returns at the off-Broadway theater Playwrights Horizons, and a site specific work Lunch Dances at The New York Public Library.
writes and creates live performances with choreographer Monica Bill Barnes. Their work combines stories and movement, creating innovative theatrical events for audiences of all kinds. Their memory play, Many Happy Returns, was a NYTimes Critic’s Pick in a sold-out extended run off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. They also create site specific work in iconic New York City spaces such as Lunch Dances at the New York Public Library, The Museum Workout at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Days Go By at Brookfield Place. These public interventions blur the boundaries between pedestrians and performers, finding the stories beneath the surface of the small moments around us every day. Their work has been honored by the Bessie Awards, the Lilly Awards for supporting women in theater, as well as numerous foundations. They’ve appeared on stages around the world, from off-Broadway theaters in NYC like WP Theater to the Esplanade in Singapore. Robbie is an alum of Muhlenberg College where he studied writing with David Rosenwasser. His writing has been published in The Brooklyn Rail and online publications like Take The Handle. He is incredibly grateful to his partner Rachel Bonds and their two wonderful children.
Artistic Director, choreographer, performer
Robbie Saenz de Viteri
Artistic Director, writer, performer
Rehearsal Director, Performer
Elizabeth Furman
(she/her/hers) is a performer, movement director, and rehearsal director based in NYC. She has rehearsal directed and performed in Monica Bill Barnes & Company’s productions of The Running Show, Day’s Go By, Keep Moving and It’s 3:07 Again. She has also worked alongside Barnes as an associate choreographer/dancer on the feature film Little Women (dir. Greta Gerwig.) Flannery is the movement director of The Reality Show: NYU (created by Elizabeth Swados), staging performances at the Barclays Center, Radio City Music Hall, and NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. She was the assistant choreographer to Sam Pinkleton on the Broadway musical Natasha Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 and the associate choreographer to Sonya Tayeh for Sing Street on Broadway. Born and raised in San Diego, Flannery got her BA in World Arts and Cultures from UCLA. She is thrilled to be dancing with MBB & Co.
is a Brooklyn based administrator, associate producer and creative who has been working with MBB&CO in a variety of roles since 2017. She has supported Happy Hour, One Night Only, The Museum Workout, and The Running Show, both in NYC and on tour. As an associate producer Elizabeth has produced, Days Go By, digital shows Keep Moving, It’s 3:07 Again, and their newer works The Running Show, Many Happy Returns, and Lunch Dances, a site-specific show at the New York Public Library. Elizabeth loves sharing the company’s work with new audiences be them near, far, or via the computer screen. Elizabeth holds a BA from Kenyon College.
Flannery Gregg
Associate Producer