Nature in the City: Brainstorming for a Philly Dance Premiere

Prettiest day of the year: cool breeze, bright sun. I lie on the grass. Nature inspires me--even just a lawn, even the breeze rustling the leaves above the pavement. Here, on this concrete plane, the cicadas still chatter, the ants still creep on my skin, the flowers still bloom…and I am still an animal. We are still part of nature, still animals breathing air, sweating, eating, having sex, having babies…no matter how many shopping malls we erect to protect us from the outside.

As an image base, winter calls forth snow: snow pattering down evenly, snow whipping up in gusts, snow caking tree limbs, sidewalks, and boots. It calls up images of ice: smooth, flat sheen, jagged icicles, heavy chunks. Winter suggests sliding, slipping, flying, falling, rolling, waving, hanging suspended in air. It also suggests cuddling, grappling, grasping, holding, pushing, squeezing, breaking--fighting to raise body heat.

We avoid winter more than other seasons. We watch it through windows and race through it to get to our cars. We pretend we are less part of winter than we are part of summer. We deny how it affects us, making us retreat, feel desperate, feel ready to burst with the heat of our bodies lashed behind coats and buttons.