ADRIENNE WILSON

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, CHOREOGRAPHER, DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE, CLA

FRAGILE EXISTENCE:

“Fragile Existence” is created around the concept and exploration of the relationships we have to our environment. Some of those relationships are harmonious while others are more confrontational. And then there are those who are trying to establish relationships with loved ones who have passed on, some peacefully and others more violently. The original concept was inspired by a photograph of “Shoes on the Danube”-an installation at the edge of the Danube River that honors the memory of the Hungarian Jews whose lives were taken by Nazi soldiers. The image of the shoes being the only remaining artifact of those lost lives resonated in such a way that I felt compelled to use choreography as a way of ‘discovering’ who the people might have been. Along the way, the work evolved into a broader picture of universal relationships and how life can be fine one day and the next day full of tragedy (referencing school shootings, natural disasters, etc.). The movement vocabulary is shaped and developed through the use of gestural motifs and repeating travel patterns, highlighted by partnering work. The performers use audible breath as a unifying and humanizing element throughout the choreography. The image of the shoes found in the photograph are reimagined as souls or angels, representing loved ones, as the shoes hang from the fly space. The performers continually reference the shoes in the lift of their gaze and the reach of their fingers with imaginary grasps into the air.

Fragile Existence

Dance Performance

Date: Wednesday, Oct. 3

Time: 6:00 pm

Place: Telfair Peet Theatre

Last Updated: August 30, 2018