Todesmärsche Premiere
We premiered, Todesmärsche, an excerpt of But Where There’s Hope, There’s Life, on March 8, 2019 at the 1st Adjudicated Concert held at the American College Dance Association’s South-Central Regional Conference. Todesmärsche depicts the emotional turmoil and inhumane conditions and activities that occurred at the concentration camps throughout Europe in the 1930’s/40’s. In preparation to the choreographic process of the work, Carisa visited concentration camps while on her trips in Europe. Both of us have read numerous stories of survivors from the camps, listened to historical recordings, and viewed hundreds of images from the camps. Although we abstracted the movement, some of the movement and turmoil seen in those photographs can be seen reflected throughout Todesmärsche. As a team, we decided not to tell just one person’s story but to try and bring to light the pain and suffering of the men, women and children in the camps.
During its premiere at the American College Dance Association’s concert, Todesmärsche received much praise for its historical significance, powerful images, as well as for being patient in the telling of the work and for fully emerging the audience into the work. Critics also commented on the strong execution of the dancer’s technique while performing with a sense of abandonment. Audience members approached us after the performance to plead with us to bring the work to their area. The work was ultimately accepted to represent the region in the South-Central Regional Gala and was passed along for consideration for a performance at Jacob’s Pillow.
– Christine Bergeron
Photos by Igor Kraguljac
