EXPERIENCE IN RHYTHM, 2005

CHOREOGRAPHER’S NOTES

KNOT OF FIRE

Knot of Fire is the result of collaboration between me and Lucia Pirisi Creek, the author of the text for this work.  The piece is a tribute to the all powerful sun.  Based on three elements of the sun - power, mystery, and beauty - Knot of Fire combines the virtuosity of the moving body, the tension and balance produced when two moving forces meet, and the agility and grace that brings it all together.  This work consists of three dances, on music by Lorie Anderson and Peter Gabriel, preceded by a section of movement to the text by Pirisi-Creek, narrated by myself. 

UNDERWORLD (premiere)

Take a long walk on the dark side! This piece takes you on a journey to an underground society of the undead.  The audience gets an inside peak at a family of creatures that walk the streets by day and terrorize them by night.  An unmerciful combination of vampire, demon, and zombie, these nightly ghouls, led by their ferocious leader Kalib, coax you into a world of darkness, evil, and death. 

FRESH AIR

            “To those forces in nature that propel us through existence and lead us to our destiny”

                                                            Terrance Henderson

This piece speaks of the spiritual side of dance. For some of us, this art form goes beyond the means of expression and entertainment: it is a calling.  The feeling of being tossed about by life and its many experiences isn’t always disturbing: it’s remarkable.  Life’s most beautiful treasures - love, joy, a peaceful sunrise - were not created by the hands of man.  To notice, celebrate, and express all of life’s wonders and beauty is the duty of an artist, and the privilege of every human being.  It’s like taking a breath of “Fresh Air”.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE KING WAS BURIED

This piece is based on a powerful recording by the great Nina Simone, made on the night before the burial of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – hence the title Twas the Night before King was Buried.  The dance is thus a tribute to the late artist, the man, and the struggle which still continues today.  So much hope and faith are placed in an object or a person, when that object or person come to embody the spirit of a people!  When that person is taken away, a series of tragic events and emotions unfold stirring up a whole nation, an entire world.  Strong feelings of emptiness, lost hope, frustration, anger, or even hatred linger on, lie deep within us still, so many years later. 

TOUCH (premiere)

Tension, building up between two people: the electrical force of attraction, the shiver down the spine that follows the first touch. The magnetism that holds the two together, and…..the forces that pull them apart.

ABSORPTION (premiere)

To feel the presence of a loved one as fully when he/she is gone as when they are here; to exist solely within the bounds of a blind, relentless love that slowly smothers us….. desperately trying to break free.

BOOM BOX JAM “1980’S TRIBUTE” (premiere)

Late disco and the music video; Punk rock, hip-hop, boom box, and pop rocks…The 80’s never looked so good!