about

racoco productions are fantastic excavations of ordinary things.

We combine quixotic choreography, inventive improvisation, absurdist visuals, and raw materials to create theatrical worlds in which movement, music, humor, emotion, and texture are inextricably linked. The body and everyday objects are compared, contrasted, blended, and confused to illustrate the inescapable messiness of existence.

“awkwardly beautiful, jarringly physical, and astonishingly evocative of the daily battles we all self-create.”

“I love all the things you bring to modern dance that "shouldn't" be there...piles of wood pushed out of the window, slapstick, farce, etc....snob-repelling hard edges wrapped in a constant, gentle thoughtfulness.”

“joyful, humorous, dark, surprising, human, and surreal all at once.”

artistic director

Rachel Cohen

Rachel Cohen has a lifelong interest in excavating the symbiosis of humans and things. After studying dance and choreography with Claire Mallardi while at Harvard University, Rachel moved to NYC in 1997, entering the orbits of the uniquely creative communities of Mary Anthony Dance Theater, Galapagos Art Space, Cave, Norte Maar, The Construction Company, ChaShaMa, and Ruth Zaporah's improvisation form Action Theater. She founded Racoco Productions in 2003.

Outside of Racoco she has performed solo and with Nadine Sures, Sarah Bild and Susanna Hood, Theodora Skipitares, Christopher Caines, Julie Atlas Muz, Ariane Anthony, Le Min Tam, Shua Group, Mary Anthony, Rika Burnham, Sally Silvers, and Fiona Templeton, and choreographed for Olek, Chelsea Knight, Christine Jowers/Moving Arts Projects, and Peculiar Works. Rachel has been artist in residence at Harvard University; Santa Fe Arts Institute; Galapagos Art Space and Cave in Brooklyn, NY; Mix-Arte Myrys in Toulouse, France; and The Sanskriti Foundation in Delhi, India. In 2010 she was a recipient of the Field Dance Fund.

Rachel is an affiliate of The Construction Company and was recently named director of interdisciplinary performance at the Williamsburg Art and Historical (WAH) Center in Brooklyn. She is a certified Action Theater teacher.

“Ms. Cohen makes magic.” The New York Times