Memento Mori in the Dreamatorium

Michelle Ellsworth’s Memento Mori in the Dreamatorium is a performance work that explores death preparation and posthumous logistics, offering tools that are as practical as they are profound. Rooted firmly in reality, each method in the work has been meticulously developed and rigorously tested on human subjects, ensuring safety, effectiveness, and usability. Ellsworth confronts the often-overlooked complexities of mortality by addressing key aspects of the process, including choreography, end-of-life care, documentation, replacement objects, and estate planning.

Ellsworth’s latest invention, the Dreamatorium, is at the core of this labor — a portable, micro-human-scale device designed to help individuals rehearse and adapt to the emotional and logistical realities of a parent’s death. By engaging with the inevitability of death in a controlled, tangible, and portable way, we learn to habituate to its reality and embrace our only guaranteed birthright.

This work is driven by the belief that transforming our relationship with death is essential to transforming our relationship with life. In a society that often avoids or inadequately addresses the realities of death, Memento Mori in the Dreamatorium equips individuals with tools to confront and navigate life’s ​“sure thing.” Are you curious about integrating some of these tools into your own life or community? Maybe come. 

Collaborators include: Ondine Geary, Bruce Miller, and Satchel Spencer

About the Artist

Michelle Ellsworth co-mingles technology and carpentry with dance to choreograph coping strategies to geopolitical (and personal) phenomena. Among Ellsworth’s honors are a Doris Duke Artist Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, Doris Duke Impact Award, NEFA National Dance Project Grant, Creative Capital Fellowship, and USA Artists Knight Fellowship in Dance. Ellsworth is currently making a 7‑inch recording with drummer Sean Meehan and teaching at the University of Colorado Boulder.