A performing arts laboratory based in the village of Saxapahaw, North Carolina, Culture Mill is led by founders Tommy Noonan and Murielle Elizéon, dancers and choreographers with more than 35 combined years of professional experience teaching, choreographing, and performing throughout Europe, Australia, and the Americas. They have been commissioned by the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Maxim Gorki Theater (Berlin), and the American Dance Festival, amongst other revered presenters.   

As part of the Southern Futures initiative, Tommy and Murielle work alongside local collaborators to create a series of new artist residencies through Carolina Performing Arts. Artists commissioned to create new works are invited to visit Chapel Hill for week-long stays to inform their creative process. This residency process was prototyped through Tommy and Murielle’s own work, Eclipse, which CPA presented in spring 2022, and which was workshopped by community members through CPA’s Institute for Performance in spring 2021.