Gravity-Defying 'Noli Timere' Debuts in Boston

Sculptor Janet Echelman and choreographer Rebecca Lazier collaborate on an aerial dance performance at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre.

Jan. 29, 2026 at 4:39am

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

Sculptor Janet Echelman returns to Boston with 'Noli Timere', an innovative collaboration with choreographer Rebecca Lazier and composer Jorane. The aerial performance features eight dancers moving within and around Echelman's custom-made net sculpture, reaching up to 25-feet in the air. The piece makes its Boston debut at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre from January 29 to February 1, opening this year's portion of ArtsEmerson's 15th anniversary season.

Why it matters

This collaboration between Echelman, Lazier, and their team represents a bold, experimental approach to combining dance, sculpture, and engineering. The piece explores the relationship between humans and our ever-changing, precarious world, asking what it means for multiple people to coexist in a dynamic, moving environment.

The details

The collaboration for 'Noli Timere' began in 2018 when Lazier and Echelman met at an arts and engineering conference at Princeton University. Over the next few years, they co-taught a course where students, dancers, engineers, and others worked to create textile structures for dance. The final piece features two 40-foot by 30-foot braided fiber sculptures suspended by a dynamic rigging system, with four additional professionals working behind the stage to 'dance' the sculpture like a marionette.

  • The collaboration for 'Noli Timere' began in 2018.
  • The piece premiered last year at Princeton and has since had 10 performances across six states.
  • The Boston performances are scheduled from January 29 to February 1, 2026.

The players

Janet Echelman

A sculptor who creates monumental, suspended works that respond to the immediate environment. She has lived on and off in the Boston area since 1983.

Rebecca Lazier

A director and choreographer who often collaborates with musicians, engineers, and visual artists. She is a professor of practice at Princeton University and a fellow Guggenheim recipient.

Jorane

A composer who collaborated on the 'Noli Timere' performance.

Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre

The venue hosting the Boston performances of 'Noli Timere' as part of ArtsEmerson's 15th anniversary season.

ArtsEmerson

The presenting organization hosting the Boston performances of 'Noli Timere'.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“I had to learn a whole new way of making sculpture. If we're going to find this new language, what are the letters? It required a completely new syntax, but also a new alphabet.”

— Janet Echelman (wbur.org)

“I don't think my choreographic practice has changed to this degree. I usually choreograph works that have some openness and give some agency to discover within. In this work, it's both the most precise because you have someone's life in your hands, and yet, it's never the same twice.”

— Rebecca Lazier (wbur.org)

“Dare to dream. Dare to care intensely about something, dare to value it so much that you will stick with it over a long time...What if we take one idea and just keep interweaving it? Keep checking it, keep pulling through it, keep making that community that can make that together. And that's really what this piece has become.”

— Rebecca Lazier (wbur.org)

What’s next

Upcoming performances of 'Noli Timere' are scheduled for Sherbrooke University in Quebec and the Singapore Festival of the Arts in May 2026.

The takeaway

This collaboration between sculptor Janet Echelman and choreographer Rebecca Lazier pushes the boundaries of dance, sculpture, and engineering, creating a gravity-defying performance that explores the relationship between humans and our dynamic, ever-changing world.