Cosmic Docks is a trans tall-tale about orbiting the sources of yourself and yearning for clarity in a broken world.

What I mean by that is that it is a case study in trying to understand how the fuck we ended up like this and, while we’re asking, whether the fuck we’re going to make it out of here alive. It’s an hour-long, first-person, direct-address solo show wherein I use absurdity, choreography, an absolute rabbit hole of spiraling ridiculous jokes, several alien characters, synthy songs, family history, excessive blue, and a mysterious doc(k)ument to share what I’ve learned (or not) in the course of being trans while seeking a theory of change on this earth.

CHOREOGRAPHER, WRITER, & PERFORMER: Nora Sharp

LIGHTING DESIGN: Christine Shallenberg

PROJECTION DESIGN: Ruby Que

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

ORIGINAL SOUND: Nora Sharp

ADDITIONAL MUSIC: Remi Wolf

PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT: Sophie Minouche Allen & Zachary Nicol, with earlier support from Charlotte Long & Will Davis

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jessi Barber

Cosmic Docks premiered as part of the Chicago Solo Spotlight Festival in March 2025 at the Dance Center at Columbia College. The festival was a Winter 2025 Art Pick in the Chicago Reader - read more here.

We proudly shared the weekend with the world premiere of THICK: a crumbling freak show, a multimedia solo performance by Jenn Freeman | Po’Chop.

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.

Read more about how Cosmic Docks came about on the Nor Art newsletter.

Cosmic Docks will tour the U.S. in late 2025 thru 2026. Dates and details are in progress - email nora.sharp@gmail.com for more information or booking inquiries.