Excerpts from What Comes After Happy . . .

What comes after happy cracks open our cultural obsession with happiness. More than almost any country, America is driven by the search for a state we consider "happy." As if happiness were a state of the Union rather than a state of being, we seem to be constantly mapping out the route towards a place, rather than experiencing the journey and taking in the states along the way. While other countries give deep value to the states of sadness, anger, passion and fear, we often whitewash our everyday lives to announce to the world and ourselves that we do not covet, that we are not filled with unrest, that we do not mourn. What comes after happy features 300 fortune cookies, an eclectic score and a ferocious physical vocabulary. These are video excerpts of the 2009 rendition performed at Abrons Art Center, NYC. Created and directed by Alexandra Beller. Choreographed by Alexandra Beller in collaboration with the company. Performed by Tim Cusick, Toni Melaas, Milvia Pacheco Salvatierria, Edward Rice and Jenna Riegel. Co-photographed (with Martijn Hart) and edited by yours truly.