Midtown Arts and Theater Complex Houston

September 12, 2025

Music & Installations by Angela Wang

Choreography & Dance by Joy Crissmon, Dawn Dippel, Lindsey McGill, and Dwain Travis

Lighting Design by Tiffany Schrepferman

Obsession explores the stories of creative pursuit of four artists through dance. The music and dance express the journey of chasing our dreams, including: feeling judged or not good enough, facing criticism, constant comparison to others, the frustration of not finding belonging, and being pulled by the force of the obsession and losing balance of life while they explore the common themes of trying forging a path through life and becoming the person they want to be, the way turns out to be full of disappoints, surprises, and ultimately shapes who they are today. The audience will be encouraged to participate and interact with the dancers during parts of the show and have opportunities to explore the world of the artists' minds.

Obsession is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

PROGRAM

The performance will include:

4 Rooms - Exploring the minds of the four characters where the dreams are made. This song and experience repeats between each character’s story.

Shattered - Choreography by Lindsey McGill - The machine of the industry that we fight against can ultimately crush, and we must find a way to rebuild ourselves.

Prisoner of the Rules - Choreography by Dawn Dippel - a routine that shapes the dancer's life and the cycle to push oneself to perfection can be exhausting, how do we find a way to give ourselves love.

I Am Your Reflection - Choreography by Joy Crissmon - Looking into the mirror, but seeing yourself from other people's judgement rather than your true self. Seeking recognition but never seeing your real worth.

Dream of a Black Swirl - Choreography by Dwain Travis - All our desires, love, frustrations, anger, and ambition all melt into one in this subconscious world, our obsession becomes a turmoil, like a tornado force, we finally lose control.

Runtime: 60 minutes (with no intermission)

About the Artists

Angela Wang (artistic director/ composition/ installations/ voice & keys) Dedicated to honoring past musical traditions while forging new ones, Angela Wang is a multi-faceted artist who applies her technical and creative skills in genres such as jazz, rock, contemporary classical, and alternative. A classically trained pianist and composer, she brings a passion for excellence, authenticity, and originality into artistic collaborations that produce cross-genre, multimedia projects and novel musical offerings. Along with her experience and training in production, performance, jazz music, and film scoring, Angela has led ensembles, taught courses, and provided individual instruction within collegiate and private studio settings. She is currently the artistic director of "A Story of an Island (Taiwan)" and "Connecting Island Arts (USA)" Her musical works are performed across the globe, she collaborates with artists from the United States and her home country Taiwan and creates multi-disciplinary works every year. In recent years, she has been focusing on creating work that combines music and dance. Angela has composed, performed, and produced original music for albums such as: Obsession: Live at Umay Theater Taipei (2024), Allure (2022), Metamorphosis (2021), Prayer (2021), Time of Lost (2020), A Story of an Island (2019), Journey (2013), and Love Is (2010). Her work in composition and arranging includes scores for multiple commercials and films, including The Final Sutter (2012) which received a screening at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Over the course of her career, Angela has collaborated with artists like photographer Von Taipei (Taiwan), choreographer Lindsey McGill (Houston), Sylvana Cecilia Tapia (NYC), and cinematographer and playwright Jessica Wang (Taiwan), AGT finalist Christina Wells, (Houston). She has joined Michele Brangwen Dance & Music Ensemble (Houston/ NYC), performs voice, keyboard and dance. Angela earned her Master of Music degree from New York University in Composition for Film and holds dual bachelor’s degrees from Berklee College of Music in Contemporary Writing & Music Production and Piano Performance. Prior to her musical career, she completed a Bachelor of Architecture, exercising her visual creativity and building the foundation for the collaborations that now pervade her career. @angelawangmusic

Joy Crissmon (choreographer & dancer) is a University Scholar from Stephen F. Austin State University with dual Bachelor’s degrees in Dance and Theatre. She is passionate about the fusion of movement and theatrical expression, believing that dance is a powerful tool for creating connection—between performers, audiences, and communities. Joy sees dance as a way to build empathy, provoke thought, and challenge harmful social constructs through shared experience.

Dawn Dippel (choreographer & dancer) has been dancing most of her life and is a former co-owner of NHPA, former co-Director and founding member of Revolve Dance Company, and a former member of the Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre. She grew up in the Houston area, graduated from Houston’s High School for the Performing & Visual Arts Dance Department, and since then continues to train in and outside of Houston. In the 2008 issue of Dance Magazine she was named as one of "25 to Watch" for up and coming artists across the country and also named one of Houston's 100 creatives by the Houston Press. During her professional career, Dawn was fortunate to perform internationally in New York, California, Italy and Spain. Currently Dawn is teaching at Houston Ballet Academy and local community studios with pre-professional and professional students. In addition to sharing her passion as a teacher, she is a student, dancer and choreographer in Houston. Dawn has spent her years working beside many talented and professional artists who have all been an influence and inspiration in her journey of this art!

Lindsey McGill (choreographer & dancer & keys) was born in Houston, Texas. She began her formal dance training under Elizabeth and Rosemary Molak in California and continued training at the Houston Ballet Academy under the direction of Ben Stevenson, Clara Cravey, Steve Brule, and Priscilla Nathan-Murphy. After graduating from Houston Ballet Academy, she continued her training at Bates Dance Festival, Springboard Danse Montreal, and LAUNCH. Lindsey has worked with Group Acorde, Hope Stone Dance, NobleMotion, Michele Brangwen Dance and Music Ensemble, Chapman Dance, Rivkah French Choreography, NW Dance Project, iMEE, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, O Dance, The Next Stage Project, KDNY, Wanderlust Dance Project, and DCDC 2. She has also had opportunities to dance in projects with Jacquelyne Jay Boe, Jennifer Mabus, Angela Wang, Sara Draper, Amy Morrow, jhon r. stronks, Paola Georgudis, Amy Ell, iLuminate, and Frenticore. Lindsey has created dance works for NMD2, the Kinder High School for Performing and Visual Arts, NW Dance Project, iMEE, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Revolve Dance Company, O Dance, Freneticore, 12 Minutes Max, Frenetic Fringe Festival, and the Big Range Dance Festival. Lindsey has also taught ballet and contemporary dance at a number of schools and programs including the Institute for Contemporary Dance in Houston, Hunter Dance Center, Houston Ballet Academy, NW Dance Project, and Peridance NYC. Lindsey lives in Houston where she performs, teaches dance, and choreographs. Additionally, Lindsey has a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Houston and Level 2-Bournonville certification in MUNZ BARRE®.

Dwain Travis (choreographer & dancer, courtesy of Houston Contemporary Dance Company) is a Houston native and began training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington DC at age 12. His professional career began with BAHBT in South Houston, where he spent four years as Principal and Artist in Residence under Luis Fuente and Lynette Mason Gregg. Other credits include Houston Ballet, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the Joffrey Ballet's JKO School, the Harid Conservatory, and Nunamaana Immersive Dance Theatre. In 2017, Dwain joined Houston Met Dance, where he performed works from Mario Zambrano, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, and Dominic Walsh among others. In 2018, he co-founded and directed Juxtapose Arts Collective in South Houston. His first piece of choreography, Dearly Departed, was selected for the RDA/SW Dance Festival and the 2010 Craft of Choreography Conference, and further awarded the RDA Choreography Connection Grant. His second piece, Pulse, was chosen for the 2012 RDA National Festival in Montreal, Canada. Other choreographic credits include Barnstorm Dance Fest (2016), Austin Dance Project (2016 & 2017), blank/SLATE (2018 & 2019), and Houston Choreographers X6 (2019). Most recently, Dwain became a founding member of the Houston Contemporary Dance Company and is excited to be in his 6th season! @dwizzlestick

Alison Landolt-Franjie (special guest performer) began her ballet training in Houston, Texas with Samira Hall before joining the Hartford Conservatory’s pre-professional program in 2006. She later continued her dance training under Sue Boyle in Brookline, Massachusetts at The Studio: A Dance Center for Adults. She danced with dedication until 2015, when she began a multi-year battle with stage 3 endometriosis. During this time, Alison co-founded the Endometriosis Foundation of Houston, becoming a passionate advocate for others living with the disease.

After undergoing three major surgeries, Alison returned to ballet in 2022. Since then, she has studied under three of the four featured dancers in this performance—Lindsey McGill, Dawn Dippel, and Dwain Travis—and continues her training at Houston Ballet, Institute of Contemporary Dance (ICD), and Hunter Dance Center.

This performance marks Alison’s first return to the stage since her diagnosis, symbolizing both a personal and artistic milestone in her journey.

Tiffany Schrepferman (lighting designer & production stage manager) is passionate about partnering with remarkable creators to bring their visions to life. Tiffany holds a BFA in Dance from Belhaven University and has been touring nationally & internationally for the last 15+ years. Some of the thrilling collaborators she has had the pleasure of working with include Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, Kinetic Light, Tulsa Ballet, Ad Deum Dance Company, Gaspard & Dancers, Open Dance Project, Amirov Dance Theater, Kate Weare Company, Sara Juli, METdance, Uptown Dance Company, Hope Stone Dance Inc., Dance of Asian America, and many others. Along her travels, she has worked for the American Dance Festival at Duke University for over a decade, the University of the Arts, Lamar University, University of St. Thomas, and several others in the education realm. She is the Producer of the Project Dance Houston festival, and a resident lighting designer and workshop instructor for Dance Source Houston. Tiffany’s great delight in her career is to partner with artists and creative minds of today to bring important voices into the light - making them seen and heard.

The Musicians

Cello Li Rou,

Flute Lin Yuxuan

Violin Chen Yihong, Xu Tingzhang

Vocals/Keys Angela Wang

Clarinet Chen Yijun

Percussion Atama Hu (Not pictured)

PLEASE NOTE:

Photography and video without flash are allowed, but the performance will be recorded on video and available online so don't go crazy with the phone and enjoy the performance. In attending this performance, and especially if you participate in the show, you may be filmed, recorded, and photographed and your image and likeness may be used in the production of performance videos. By entering the venue you grant the producers the right to use and distribute such recordings without compensation or approval.

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