Inside HOLDTIGHT's Haunting Immersive Exploration, alone: un/tethered

In the sunlit Champa Arts Studio at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, a lucky audience got an early glimpse of alone: un/tethered, the latest interdisciplinary work from dance theater troupe HOLDTIGHT. Although the performance will begin in near-total darkness, Gwendolyn Gussman, the company's founder, artistic director and solo performer, invited audience members to close their eyes to achieve the desired effect inside the studio.

As her haunting, live-looped vocals filled the room, the soundscape began to take on a life of its own. Eyes opened to see Gussman in the center of the room, inside the outline of where a platform with a loop pedal would be during the actual performance. Her body transformed slowly into shapes that evoked the roots and branches of a willow tree — grounded yet searching.

Gussman concluded the sneak peek at alone by recounting a brief personal memory about nature, blending narrative and movement to highlight the work's intimate themes. This preview offered just a glimpse of HOLDTIGHT’s alone, which makes its premiere on Thursday, December 5, at the Byron Theatre inside the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, where it runs through December 7. Part dance, part visceral immersive theater, the performance explores the tension between being alone and being together.

"We're trying to find a balance in the whole show where we talk about the issue without making people feel afraid of being alone," Gussman says. "What does it feel like to be alone? What's the difference between alone and solitude? What about alone and loneliness? Ultimately, what we're trying to get at is that often, until we can sit with ourselves and be comfortable being alone to some degree, it's really hard to be together."
As the second installment in HOLDTIGHT’s un/tethered trilogy, alone follows together (which premiered in the Studio Loft at Ellie Caulkins Opera House in April) and precedes mother (set for next year) in a sweeping narrative that will culminate in a continuous performance of all three pieces in 2026. While the trilogy's structure is non-linear and any piece can be watched without having seen the others, Gussman says she has a preferred viewing sequence for future audiences. 

“When we do it in 2026, the order is actually alone, mother and then together, but we’re premiering them out of order," she explains. "They are all getting at very different ways and perspectives on interdependence, our tethers and our connections to one another and to the earth as a whole."

Gussman, who was born and raised in Denver and splits her time performing here and in New York, began developing alone with significant time spent, fittingly, in solitude. “Of all the sections, I've spent so much time doing this by myself," she says, "and even though I'm collaborating with people, the process of building alone has felt so indicative of what the piece is about: going from alone to being together and focusing on how to get clear with yourself before you do things with others."

Despite its solitary origins, alone is the product of rich collaboration. Gussman is joined by sound designer Nicholas Caputo, lighting designer Alex Taylor, costume designer Gray Covert and set designer Maki Teshima, who each bring their own transformative perspective to the work. Teshima’s set, crafted from recycled and naturally dyed materials, is an abstract representation of the willow tree.

"I was inspired by a story she shared, but I didn't want to create a willow tree set; I wanted it to be more abstract," Teshima says. "Using the complex spiral of rope that we recycled from the set I built for together, the scenic design could be interpreted as an upside-down tree, the roots underneath, or an umbilical cord. It’s also about how sometimes I feel really tangled inside and it’s hard to untangle yourself, so I wanted to represent that with a crazy tangle."

Caputo, meanwhile, has constructed an auditory world that merges the organic and the surreal. Using binaural sound techniques, he manipulates frequencies to evoke primal, almost womb-like sensations.

“We’re creating soundscapes that utilize hemi-sync technology and brain entrainment techniques to make your brain induce like an alpha state,” Caputo noted. “The human womb resonates at a frequency between 1 and 4.6 hertz, which is super slow. That's a cycle every second, so way lower than what we can hear. We are going to be creating a soundscape that will create that pulsing, but you won't actually be hearing it."
As the performance evolves, so does the role of the audience, shifting from passive observers to active participants in the story. But don’t expect alone to shove you into the spotlight.

“No one is put on the spot,” Gussman assured. “It’s funny — in a piece called alone, you won’t feel alone. The show gently guides you to a place where you can explore connection on your own terms.”

At its core, alone is a rebuttal to the idea that we’re ever truly isolated. Gussman referenced an Orson Welles quote she encountered early in the process: “We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone.” Her response?

“That’s such bullshit," Gussman says. "I don’t agree with that at all. This whole work is to push back on that perspective and show how interconnected we are. Even when we don't want to be, we really are. That can be a beautiful thing, but also, when you realize you're not alone, there is great responsibility to the collective. I think we all really need that. That's also part of even having the audience participate; we want to lovingly remind people that it takes all of us."

alone: un/tethered, Thursday, December 5, through Saturday, December 7, Byron Theatre at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 East Iliff Avenue; tickets are $24 to $50. Learn more at holdtightcompany.com.