In Search of Fire: New Section of Philadelphia Dance Premiere

Next week, I begin work on a short solo for Florencia, a section of our ongoing January Dances. I am caught by the image of fire. It's an overworked image, but still compelling. I am excited to try my hand at it.

I have it in mind to play with hand movements that gradually involve the whole body. Fire has a continuous, fluttering quality. It is a flickering stream of light. I want to try simple gestures for fingers: quick, light, constant--a rippling fountain. We would then add wrists, elbows, shoulders, head, torso, whole body. The expansion will include Alex and Amanda, who lie, by this time, encircling Florencia. They will catch as well, adding to and consuming the original flame. They will consume Florencia, tossing and flinging her about, a sacrifice to the fire.

This section of January Dances has to do with the desire for warmth in winter. In winter, we burn. We yearn for affection, for sex, for union, for pleasure, for comfort, for heat. We want bad in the cold months.

The first section of JD, with which I'm fairly satisfied, is called "Carried Away." We premiered it at Towson University this weekend during the Inertia program in the dance theater. The dancers are blown about in the wind. They begin rolling slowly on a ramp, gently brushed by a soft breeze. As the wind builds, they get suspended momentarily in gusts, then crash down. The wind picks up even more, a storm, and tosses them high and low.

This section is about getting carried away, getting caught up in the slightly obsessive yearning of winter, of want, of cold. They are blown head over heels, out of control, unable to stay up without the support of their companions. They are thirsty, lusting, unbidden. They don't look back. Finally, one of them breaks free; the others settle in.