Tribute to
Angels
A culmination of a year long investigation into the choreographic drama inherent to bells, 'Tribute to Angels' began as a structural and sonic investigation of these complex instruments, but ended up as a roving psychic and choreographic journey through a mystical and mythical landscape. With an original live music score for bells written and performed by composer Henry Birdsey and an original script written by me, this piece explored the ways in which bells resonate in a particular way through a landscape, how they rove and open up new vistas, conjure historical associations, and trigger personal and collective memories. I investigated the historical and cultural connotations of bells, of being called to celestial attention amidst the quotidian rhythms of everyday life. Noting the way a bell opens up these portal-like vistas of memory, I attempted to create, choreographically, the experience of beholding a vista—the way the eye remains still as various elements surge and ebb in the field of vision in unexpected ways. I mapped out the structure of a bell onto the body choreographically as well as psychically through the monologic, dialogic, and conversational texts and phrase work--each performer "tolls" in varying ways, causing the outer landscape and inner life to ripple and ring in subtly shifting ways. Every element in this piece intones, tolls, rings, and resonates through the “landscape” in a highly formed structure that allows the ear and eye to rove, rest, and attend to each of these relationships as they unfold.