When Movement Meets Mural: projectALCHEMY Brings Surrealism to Life at The Dalí
By Avery Anderson
In a city known for turning its walls into canvases, projectALCHEMY is about to make them move.
On October 14 and 21, St. Petersburg’s resident dance company brings its annual Momentum Choreographers Showcase inside The Dalí Museum for a one-of-a-kind performance called “Moving Surreal.” Think of it as a guided dream: audiences travel through the Dalí’s new exhibition Outside In: New Murals Inspired by Dalí as dancers perform original works in the gallery itself—murals above, movement below, all of it in dialogue.
“It’s about the process of making,” says Alexander Jones, artistic director of projectALCHEMY. “What better way to create than by immersing in the art of another, layered again and again—this is alchemy. A surreal night of visual art embodied and made new.”
Now in its third year, the Momentum program is a choreographic mentorship initiative designed to foster emerging voices in contemporary dance. This year’s cohort—Madison Pineda Bender, Justin Brock, Mariah Mashay, Fernando Chonqui, and Faith Elizabeth Miller—was challenged to respond to Outside In, an exhibition celebrating ten years of the SHINE Mural Festival and its global community of muralists.
Each artist began not with a piece of music, but with a wall. The result: dances that stretch beyond the stage, exploring what it means to move inside a painting—how bodies can echo brushstrokes, or how a mural can become a kind of mirror.
That idea—turning stillness into motion—feels like a natural extension of projectALCHEMY’s mission. Since its founding, the company has blurred boundaries between performance, installation, and film. “We’re interested in what happens when you remove the frame,” Jones says. “When dance becomes something you experience rather than just watch.”
For Moving Surreal, that means no traditional stage, no separation between performer and spectator. Audiences will move through the gallery like a living procession, encountering each performance where the art itself hangs. Afterward, they can linger to meet the artists, explore the exhibition, and reflect on what just unfolded.
It’s part choreography, part conversation—a fleeting collaboration between body and wall that exists only in the moment it’s seen. Or as Jones puts it: “Each gesture and brushstroke breathe together for one surreal night.”
If You Go
projectALCHEMY: Momentum Choreographers Showcase — Moving Surreal
📍 The Dalí Museum’s Hough Gallery, 1 Dalí Blvd, St. Petersburg
🗓️ Tuesday, October 14 & Tuesday, October 21, 2025
⏰ Doors 7:00 p.m. | Performance 7:30 p.m.
🎟️ $35 members | $40 non-members Tickets and Info