ABOUT
Pasquale is the solo project of Atlanta-based artist Erik Thurmond that blends contemporary dance, performance art, and electronic pop. Trained in dance at The Alvin Ailey School, with a BFA in Theater from The New School and an MFA in Visual Art from Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts, Thurmond brings a rigorous and embodied approach to Pasquale, a singing, dancing, speaking pop persona that captures the tension between spiritual inquiry and material reality.
The name Pasquale holds multiple meanings: it was Thurmond’s great-grandfather’s name and the nickname his biological parents gave him before adoption. Italian for “Easter child”, Pasquale also reflects the project’s central concerns: renewal and celebration through questioning what we inherit and what we choose to carry.
Musically, wide-ranging samples, hypnotic beats, and electronic textures are woven into songs that explore desire and devotion. Drawing inspiration from M.I.A., Rosalía, Laurie Anderson, and Throbbing Gristle, Pasquale embraces pop’s paradoxes: gloss and depth, abandon and presence.
Live, Pasquale’s performances are highly choreographed and experimental, channeling embodied expression into mesmerizing events. His movement galvanizes audiences to re/connect with their bodies and share in release, clarity, and connection.
Pasquale’s debut album, New Born Fire (DKA Records), is a nine-track journey where rhythm becomes ritual, an electronic pilgrimage that fuses sensuality and spirituality. Tracks build and dissolve into a shimmering revelation, a spark igniting clarity and release.
Thurmond’s work has been presented by Movement Research at Judson Memorial Church, Kara Walker at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, High Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Pageant, reflecting a practice that spans contemporary art, performance, and popular music.