Blind Date

Made some progress on my duet for Susan Cook. It's called, aptly enough, "Blind Date." I think it will work because it contrasts Susan's capoeira skills and contact improvisation.

It begins at the door. We reach for each other's hands, but never make contact. Like nervous strangers, to whom simple things are awkward, we try to touch, but keep missing. This escalates from gestures to whole-body movement. We move into playing capoeira, Bridging to each other, but not arriving.

Finally, I grab her wrist. Susan leads me as on a leash. I try to keep up; she tries to shake me off. Now, she grabs my other wrist. We simultaneously try to hold on with one arm, to escape with the other. We struggle until, finally, ending in an embrace.

It is still awkward at first. We embrace with our arms still locked. We perform a kind of painful ballroom dance.

We let go of our arms, then find connection. We maintain contact in a slow duet, sharing weight carefully together.

We break contact at her door. Now, we try to kiss, but keep missing. In a return to the opening phrase, we Bridge, through torsos, but do not touch. Finally, achieving the dreaded first-date-kiss, we exit.

I think it will work. I like the shell of it. It is likely to change when Susan and I start to rehearse.

Come see what you think! On Friday May 18 and Saturday May 19 at 8pm, Human Landscape Dance of Washington DC and Susan Cook of Nova Scotia present A Rugged Shore, an artistic exploration of common ground for Canadians and Americans, at Joe's Movement Emporium, 3309 Bunker Hill Rd, Mount Rainier MD.