On Friday, April 3, the Town Hall Theater hosted POWERSUITS, a comedy production including elements of both dance and music, written and performed by Michole Biancosino ’98, associate Professor of theater, and Lida Winfield, assistant professor of dance. Entirely composed by the duo, the performance simultaneously made the packed audience laugh and offered up subtle social commentary on broader themes such as capitalism, gender, and consumerism.
POWERSUITS has been a year-and-a-half-long project for the two professors, which premiered in June of 2025 at Project Y’s Women in Theater Festival, co-founded by Biancosino, and has been performed in several locations, such as the University of Vermont, as well as the Northampton Center for the Arts.
The show, which incorporates physicality and dialogue between the two actors, revolves around portraying the experience of women in positions of power and challenging gender roles. The show does not have a linear plot, as the performers emphasize the interpretiveness of the performance itself to deliver the work’s thematic impact.
Structured improvisation plays a large role in their performance, a process in which actors incorporate spontaneous reactions into the broad framework, also known as the ‘score’ of the performance.
“The skill of improvisation is to learn how to listen, how to respond to what is happening in front of you, how to compose dance or theater in that context,” Winfield said in an interview with The Campus.
Biancosino grew up in Princeton, NJ, as the daughter of a professional musician and music teacher. In 1999 she founded Project Y in Washington, D.C., an award-winning theater company now based in New York City. Biancosino is particularly interested in developing new plays and curating ideas until they become professional premieres. Every summer, she hires small teams of Middlebury students to work as interns at Project Y. Since 2014, she has also led an annual Women in Theater Festival, aiming to expand opportunities for women in the theater industry.
Winfield, an alumna of The School of New Dance Development in Amsterdam and Goddard College in Vermont, describes herself as an interdisciplinary artist working across dance, theater, storytelling and visual art. Winfield has performed at events such as the 2019 Bates Dance Festival and the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in western Massachusetts. Alongside her performing career, she has taught at institutions such as MindMingle, an experiential school in New Delhi and at the National Dance Association Conference. After teaching a J-Term course, Winfield eventually became a full-time professor at the College; passionate about both producing and teaching dance, she chaired Middlebury’s Dance department from 2021 to 2024.
Biancosino and Winfield began teaching at Middlebury College in 2016, where they first met. At the Clifford Symposium in 2018, both performers created an event inspired by “Recitatif,” Toni Morrison’s only short story. This production brought together students, alumni and professionals in a thought-provoking performance that addressed themes of racial and social divides through the performing arts.
The duo emphasized the importance of connection with each other and with the audience to deliver the performance well.
“Sometimes we have this idea that you’re teaching one way and making work in another way, but for me, those are interconnected,” Winfield said. “I want to be with an audience, not just in front of an audience.”
During the show, Biancosino and Winfield interacted with the crowd and used the space liberally, delivering a truly immersive performance. To engage the audience, they often observed crowd reactions and tastes and adapted the show accordingly.
“There’s a conversation between us and the audience,” Biancosino said. “It doesn’t mean we’ll completely change the show, but we are aware of them. We talk to you and interact with you.”
During the talkback after the show’s conclusion, one audience member commented on the show’s relevance, noting that the performance subtly addresses social themes.
“We don’t say the underlying things, but they’re there,” Biancosino said. “The audience is thinking about their government, or their relationship to power, but we don’t make any explicit statement about that.”
“I thought it was a truly riveting performance,” Alison Mott, an audience member, said. “Their Gen X music was delightful, and they’ve really mastered the physical comedy aspect — both have such intelligent humor.”
With the help of Graydon Hanson ’25, the stage manager for POWERSUITS, the duo prepared for each performance by organizing their prop-heavy setup and grounding themselves.
“I always lay on the ground of the theater stage to put a lot of sound into my body, to feel the vibration of my body on the floor. You want to have your feet on the ground so you’re not in your head, so I try to feel very planted and make eye contact with Lida,” Biancosino said.
Outside of performing, both professors speak highly of the College's arts offerings and recommend that students consider enrolling in a class such as their Creative Process course, an introductory course that welcomes exploration and experimentation.
Additionally, Biancosino highlighted her directing class as transformative for students, noting the transferable skills taught such as leadership and navigating group dynamics.
“Many students in it are not there because they think they could, should, or would be a director, but you learn a lot of skills about how to lead a room, how to collaborate at the same time as being in charge,” Biancosino said.
Future plans for the duo include bringing POWERSUITS to Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s largest performing arts festival, this summer. The duo also plans to continue adding new sections to the show and innovating the script, making small tweaks with every performance.
“This is what feminist art looks like. We’re excited about it, and we’re eager to keep bringing it out to our community,” Biancosino said.
