Cosmic Docks is a trans tall-tale about orbiting the sources of yourself and yearning for clarity in a broken world. Choreographer and comedian Nora Sharp builds a world where personal history and sci-fi futurism intersect in the dumpster out back of a local top surgery office, eventually charting a pathway beyond story or self.

"This is one of the best shows by one of the best people ever- touches the depths of being alive and searching- u will laugh and cry I'm srs!!!" - artist Noelle Choy, Kansas City

"I've seen everything this festival has presented since it started 10 years ago, and this was the best" - anonymous audience member, Bentonville, AR

Team & Development History

CHOREOGRAPHER, WRITER, & PERFORMER: Nora Sharp

ORIGINAL LIGHTING DESIGN: Christine Shallenberg, adapted by local venue staff during tour dates

ORIGINAL PROJECTION DESIGN: Ruby Que

ORIGINAL SET DESIGN & BUILD: Bluestem Building & Restoration - Erin Bliss, Gisselle Dorado, & Bryan Saner

SOUND: Nora Sharp

PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT: Sophie Minouche Allen, Zachary Nicol, Charlotte Long, & Will Davis

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jessi Barber

RUNTIME: 45-75 minutes (adaptable)

PREMIERE: Spotlight Festival at the Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago, March 2025

PAST TOUR DATES: Cannonball Festival (Philadelphia), INVERSE Performance Art Festival at The Momentary (Bentonville), HOT Festival at Dixon Place (NYC), Queer Narratives Festival (Kansas City) to be rescheduled

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY: Cosmic Docks began through a residency at Hambidge in 2022. Further development support was provided by the 2023 Queer|Art Mentorship program with mentor Will Davis, the 2024 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Award (and their space partnership with the Ruth Page Center for the Arts), a Production Residency at the Dance Center at Columbia in early 2025, and various work-in-progress or excerpt showings Rattlestick Theater, New Dance Alliance’s Performance Mix 37, Midwest RAD Fest, bim bom studios, and the Chicago Dancemakers Forum Elevate Festival, all 2022-23.

Writing + Press

Review of the Chicago premiere by Rachel Lindsay and Corey Smith at Sixty Inches from Center

A Winter 2025 Art Pick in the Chicago Reader

Background from Nor Art newsletter

Cosmic Docks is currently on tour - email nora.sharp@gmail.com for more information or booking inquiries.