“…she was becoming untethered.”
(First iteration)
The work paints a surrealistic portrait of a woman in both ecstasy and constraint.
The work explores points along a continuum of beauty and the grotesque. The process began by asking if the overwhelming emotion of Opera music could be matched and explored through extreme sustained movements and at what point does heightened emotion tip over the edge from expression, to absurdity, and even into comedy? The dance also serves to ask and answer the questions: what supports us? What uplifts us? And what holds us back?
Performance
SUNY Purchase, Fall Concert, New York, 2021
Who + What
Choreographer and Director: Annie Rigney
Rehearsal Assistant: Madison Doyle
Performed by the Purchase Dance Company: Kayleigh Smerud, Courtney Conovan, Hillary Estreicher, Emma Thesing, Thomas Hogan, Julian Grubman, Naoki Yogi, Elizabeth Shupe, Madison Dyke, Chelen Middlebrook, Briel Melahn, Phoebe Burden, Eleanor Plumb, Samantha Ayers, Taylor Yocum
Music: Pergolesi, Antonio Vivaldi, Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Gorecki, The Bulgarian Female Choir
Lighting Design: Jay Woods
Costume Design: Gail Baldoni and Annie Rigney
Special Thanks: Nelly Van Bommel
