The Farewell

Kitty McNamee is an artist, a creator and most importantly a collaborator.

Her early years in LA were spent honing her craft as Artistic Director of Hysterica Dance Co., a consistently prolific and creative collective that redefined dance in Los Angeles. Her unique approach to direction and choreography was declared by Dance Magazine to possess “an outsize talent for that most elusive gift, originality.” THE FAREWELL is Kitty's third film. Her films have screened at 50 + festivals worldwide.

Kitty has collaborated extensively with the LA Philharmonic, developing new productions of Rite of Spring, Firebird, Bolero, Esa Pekka Salonen’s Wing on Wing, A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and more. Ballets includes RIFT commissioned by Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and the Kennedy Center, the creation of the new ballets Traces and Transit for National Choreographer’s Initiative and colony for LA Ballet’s NEXT Wave Series.

Kitty moves effortlessly between her work in the Opera, including Romeo et Juliette, La Traviata, Don Carlo, La Rondine, Lucia di Lammermoor and Tales of Hoffman for the country’s largest opera houses to commercials for Target, Adobe MAX, Novartis, Mercedes Benz, Grey Ant and Uniglo. She finds shifting from high art settings to the demands of pop culture to be incredibly invigorating. Kitty loves working with actors and is known for her ability to draw out organically nuanced performances. She has coached and choreographed for Paz Vega, Julianne Hough, Margaret Cho, Vanessa Williams, Vittorio Grigolo, Lily Tomlin, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon.

Theater credits include Secret Cinema’s groundbreaking live performances with Laura Marling in London, the World Premiere of Colony Collapse (commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Sense and Sensibility (South Coast Rep), The Fantasticks (Pasadena Playhouse), Midsummer Night’s Dream (LA Phil/Disney Hall), Man of LaMancha (Reprise!) and Sondheim’s 75th (Hollywood Bowl).