Photos by The Fleet
AMERICAN PEARL
4 dancers; 26 min
Original sound score composed & compiled by Willem Vorster, featuring Wendy Rene, Led Zeppelin, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kate Bush, & PJ Harvey
"American Pearl" is designed to unpack the complicated anxieties that have emerged out of today’s tenuous social, political, and sexual climates. Filtered through a queer lens, the dance strives to create a democratization of bodies by stripping the dancers of their usual gendered roles to create a fluid and ever-changing choreographic landscape. The work asks: how do we keep moving when we are constantly being reminded of external forces that are actively fighting against us? Can emotional exhaustion be harnessed and transmuted into something beautiful, albeit broken? Even in the moments of stillness and reprieve, the dance never stops, with a lingering, quiet queer rage bubbling beneath the surface.
Performance History:
Barn Dances // Garrison, NY // June 2018
College of the Holy Cross // Worcester, MA // November 2018
Movement Research at Eden's Expressway // New York, NY // December 2018
Triskelion Arts Split Bill Series // Brooklyn, NY // April 2019 (premiere)
The Dance Complex // Cambridge, MA // June 2019
Original Cast: Grant Jacoby, Spencer Lutvak, Bryanna Vargas, and Alaina Wilson
This work was made possible with support from the space subsidy program at Triskelion Arts supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, as well as residencies at SMUSH Gallery and Spoke the Hub.
Original sound score composed & compiled by Willem Vorster, featuring Wendy Rene, Led Zeppelin, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kate Bush, & PJ Harvey
"American Pearl" is designed to unpack the complicated anxieties that have emerged out of today’s tenuous social, political, and sexual climates. Filtered through a queer lens, the dance strives to create a democratization of bodies by stripping the dancers of their usual gendered roles to create a fluid and ever-changing choreographic landscape. The work asks: how do we keep moving when we are constantly being reminded of external forces that are actively fighting against us? Can emotional exhaustion be harnessed and transmuted into something beautiful, albeit broken? Even in the moments of stillness and reprieve, the dance never stops, with a lingering, quiet queer rage bubbling beneath the surface.
Performance History:
Barn Dances // Garrison, NY // June 2018
College of the Holy Cross // Worcester, MA // November 2018
Movement Research at Eden's Expressway // New York, NY // December 2018
Triskelion Arts Split Bill Series // Brooklyn, NY // April 2019 (premiere)
The Dance Complex // Cambridge, MA // June 2019
Original Cast: Grant Jacoby, Spencer Lutvak, Bryanna Vargas, and Alaina Wilson
This work was made possible with support from the space subsidy program at Triskelion Arts supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, as well as residencies at SMUSH Gallery and Spoke the Hub.
