Wyoming
Length: 20 min
Number of Dancers: 4
Music: Original Score by John Yannelli
Inspired by the writings of queer theorist Sarah Ahmed as well as the death of Matthew Shepard, "Wyoming" is a movement study exploring queer phenomenological theories of orientation and disorientation within a particular designated time and space, as well as concepts of comfort, home, and displacement. Ahmed proposes: "the act of going home, or going back to the space I was brought up has a certain disorienting effect…seems so full of traces of heterosexual intimacy that it is hard to take up my space without feeling those traces as points of pressure...such feelings in turn point to other places, even ones that have yet to be inhabited.”
Using personal anecdotes, restructuring of environment, and unconventional sound design, "Wyoming" uses this proposition to ask questions such as: what exactly characterizes a home? Is it a physical structure, a specific location, a personal connection/relationship, or even just an overarching notion? How does an individual (or individuals) change when they are removed from this safe space? How do we navigate a foreign terrain while constantly being haunted by the familiar? Might we find solace by actually turning away from sources we recognize in order to forge our own path?
Performance History:
Green Space // Queens, NY // January 2017
Triskelion Arts // Brooklyn, NY // February 2017
Bard College // Annandale-On-Hudson, NY // April 2017
Sarah Lawrence College // Bronxville, NY // April 2017
Movement Research Open Performance // Manhattan, NY // May 2017
Residency @ The Dragon's Egg // Ledyard, CT // May 2017
The Dance Complex // Cambridge, MA // June 2017
Dances at the Barn // Putnam Valley, NY // June 2017
Original Cast: Grant Jacoby, Timothy Merkley, Bryanna Vargas, and Alaina Wilson
Number of Dancers: 4
Music: Original Score by John Yannelli
Inspired by the writings of queer theorist Sarah Ahmed as well as the death of Matthew Shepard, "Wyoming" is a movement study exploring queer phenomenological theories of orientation and disorientation within a particular designated time and space, as well as concepts of comfort, home, and displacement. Ahmed proposes: "the act of going home, or going back to the space I was brought up has a certain disorienting effect…seems so full of traces of heterosexual intimacy that it is hard to take up my space without feeling those traces as points of pressure...such feelings in turn point to other places, even ones that have yet to be inhabited.”
Using personal anecdotes, restructuring of environment, and unconventional sound design, "Wyoming" uses this proposition to ask questions such as: what exactly characterizes a home? Is it a physical structure, a specific location, a personal connection/relationship, or even just an overarching notion? How does an individual (or individuals) change when they are removed from this safe space? How do we navigate a foreign terrain while constantly being haunted by the familiar? Might we find solace by actually turning away from sources we recognize in order to forge our own path?
Performance History:
Green Space // Queens, NY // January 2017
Triskelion Arts // Brooklyn, NY // February 2017
Bard College // Annandale-On-Hudson, NY // April 2017
Sarah Lawrence College // Bronxville, NY // April 2017
Movement Research Open Performance // Manhattan, NY // May 2017
Residency @ The Dragon's Egg // Ledyard, CT // May 2017
The Dance Complex // Cambridge, MA // June 2017
Dances at the Barn // Putnam Valley, NY // June 2017
Original Cast: Grant Jacoby, Timothy Merkley, Bryanna Vargas, and Alaina Wilson
