Artistic Director's Note
Human Landscape Dance examines the relationship of body with environment. Dance does not take place in a vacuum. The context within which we perform says as much as the movements. By plying the countertension between person and space, this group reveals humanity’s interdependence with our world.
How we speak signifies as much as what we say. As Susan Leigh Foster recognizes in “Choreographing History” (Routledge Dance Studies Reader, New York, 1998), the same gesture may be received differently depending on the gender or ethnicity of the mover. So, too, the environment in which the gesture is performed affects its meaning. A nose-dive into the East River reads differently from a nose-dive into Lake Michigan. A nose-dive into Lake Michigan in summer, too, reads differently from one in winter. The variations are endless.
Human Landscape Dance has distinguished itself by juxtaposing urban and natural iconography. The group’s work tests the boundaries with which we surround ourselves. In “Leaving Home,” 2007, they stage a metaphoric birth in a city park. The dance asks, which natural processes do we yet allow ourselves—or are we forced—to experience? Is there anything beyond sex, giving birth, and death from which we are blocking ourselves?
The dance also questions the meaning of home. Set on grass, it recalls the sense of familiarity and kinship we experience in the woods. If we feel “at home” in nature, why do we erect walls around ourselves? The dancers, ringed by a cloth barrier, experience varying degrees of difficulty in crossing this low wall. They express our sometimes paradoxical attitude toward nature.
These dances do not advocate a return to the wild. Rather, they argue that we are still part of nature, despite arbitrary distinctions imposed by language and air conditioning. “Salmon Run,” 2004, points out how even our contrivances mimic nature. The dancers travel up the tiers of a fountain against the downward current of the stream. We are yet as immersed in nature as fish in water.
Human Landscape Dance uncovers layers of meaning between person and place. Their dances demonstrate the influence environment applies to statement. The group treats the interconnectedness of man and nature through modern dance in public spaces.
Human Landscape Dance would like to thank the Department of Dance at the University of Maryland, especially Karen Bradley, for its continuing support. We also acknowledge the generous donation of time, encouragement, and counsel from Jennifer Mueller, Alexander Short, Nancy Havlik, and Jane Franklin.
Malcolm Shute
Artistic Director