Work Developed By slowdanger During Artist Residency To Be Showcased In ‘Story Ballet’ At Rudder Auditorium
The multidisciplinary performance duo slowdanger — which was selected for the inaugural New Work Development Artist Residency in the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts — will debut a dance performance titled “Story Ballet” on Friday at 7 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium. Admission is free.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, artists developed their new work during their residency, which began Sept. 2 and closes on Saturday.
Founded in 2013, slowdanger features performance artists taylor knight and anna thompson. The artists — who prefer the lowercase version of their names — describe “Story Ballet” as a contemporary recontextualization of “Symphonie Fantastique,” composed by Hector Berlioz in 1830.
The duo transposed the score to electronic instrumentation and will perform alongside three visiting artists: Theo Bliss of Pittsburgh, Christian Warner of New York City and Maree Remalia of Tulsa.
“Everyone has these different histories within their bodies, which is part of what we are trying to reference within the work,” thompson said. “And how those histories kind of haunt us as we continue to evolve as performance artists.”
The performance features a musical motif established by Berlioz called “idée fixe” (“fixed idea”), a sequence of notes that rise and fall in different parts of the symphony, knight said.
“To Hector, the ‘idée fixe’ represents the haunting presence of this obsession about this woman he falls in love with,” knight said. “But we are reinterpreting that story and making the protagonist be comprised of all five of us. We each represent a different layer or different characteristic of that character, and it is more about our own sense of perception.”
The symphony plays out like scenes in a movie, knight said, where the protagonist goes through a long journey of spiraling to delusion, eventually witnessing his death and funeral.
“Hector Berlioz has crafted this as a narrative where it feels like a film,” knight said. “He uses different instruments to show a change to kind of build the different emotional context in each scene.”
The symphony was symbolic of surrealism, depicting life in a dream-like setting, thompson said. The artists hope to use surrealism as a way to “destigmatize mental illness or negative psychological effects of trauma.”
Residency Reflections
The artists were among 160 applicants for the New Work Development Residency, selected by the college’s Artists and Scholars in Residence Committee, according to Dr. James R. Ball III, associate dean for industry and community engagement.
During the residency, slowdanger collaborated with students and faculty across the college and gave interdisciplinary presentations. The duo performed at the Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival in September, and will perform on the closing day of Lorefest on Saturday.
Ball said he is eager to see how the residency impacted slowdanger’s work, and noted that the residency exceeded expectations.
“Every week I learned of new ways in which they were engaging with our students and faculty,” Ball said. “I am excited to see the life that ‘Story Ballet’ will have, and for all of the other ideas, projects and collaborations that may bloom in its wake.”
Ball said he enjoyed viewing slowdanger’s workshops and rehearsals to see how the artists engaged in their process in real time.
“The great joy of the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts is the many opportunities we provide our community to immerse themselves in a shared creative and intellectual atmosphere,” he said. “I think slowdanger truly capitalized on that promise.”
According to thompson, this residency allowed the time and space to develop a performance that was precise and allowed room for contributions from their collaborators. It also felt special to be offered a residency that wasn’t solely about teaching, knight said.
“Performing is a huge part of seeing how the work is being interpreted for us,” knight said. “But just having the time to be able to come in and focus on one thing each rehearsal, and be able to take the time with it was incredible.”
The artists said they had insightful collaborations with faculty in the college. They were excited to share their artistic background with students.
“We have been able to be this infiltrator in a way that also offers an entry point for students to see there are other possible ways of existing as an artist,” thompson said. “They were able to see professional artists who work solely in that space right now, which was exciting.”
The residency has left an impact on how they hope to engage interpretations of their work, knight said. Once they return home, knight said they will have already built a sense of history through the connections made.
“Being able to spend two months down here in the community, we feel like we have been able to build connections with people and talk about the work,” knight said. “And we can keep collaborators we hope to work with again in the future — which offers a different level of performance you can’t just experience anywhere.”
Top photo courtesy of slowdanger.
