Friday, September 18, 2009

Being in Nature within an Icebox


Last evening, my friend MD invited me to join her for a dance performance entitled, "Postcards from the Woods." It was a beautiful performance with four dancers moving their bodies subtly and deliberately with respect to a 20 foot branch they were handling throughout the 55 minutes of the show. It was rather difficult to focus one's attention on all four performers, but when they all came together, the atmosphere became intense particularly between two performers who had to remain aware and negotiate both their own bodies/branches as well as the other's at the same time. The choreography was done to a backdrop of forest scenes and natural sounds, which for a moment, one felt actually transported from the bare factory space to the real outdoors. In fact, the few times I found my attention wander from the dance, I caught myself being lost feeling as though I was actually within a woodland landscape; I was amazed that even though my sense of hearing and sight were the only senses engaged, I started to feel as though the breeze was on my skin and I could smell the trees and rushing water of a stream nearby. Even the performers, as human as they were, felt transformed to woodland nymphs or became an ethereal part of the landscape. Thank you MD - for a wonderful experience and the opportunity to find with you a blossoming friendship. 

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