In Formation
I am most drawn to the nexus of music and dance when both disciplines move ambiguously between abstraction (or sculptural shapes) and discreteness. As both a performer and as a viewer, I continue to be intrigued by the elegant combination of abstraction alongside the more tangible suggestiveness of concrete elements. The two mediums share the phenomena of rhythm and gesture; yet the dancer's rhythms manifest themselves in ways that sound cannot. In the case of the dancer, they are driven by intention and emanate from particular parts of the body. What is the meaning of each motion when it is mapped onto one part of the body over another? What is the meaning of the body head versus torso, fingers, or hips? Much of the movement in dance is neither stylized nor rooted in 'pedestrian' gestures. Instead, it exists in some inexplicable space between, sliding between representational overtones and pure shapes and lines. Through sheer recurrence, certain movements assume symboliclike meanings. Using two pairs of elements that are orthogonal with each other: pitch and timbre (which exist only in music); and embodied gesture and performed spatialization (which exist only in dance), we are collaborating to construct links between these two structurally non coincidental, yet phenomenally connected planes.
Performed at the Bezanquen Theater, DiMenna Center for the Arts, NYC
Composer: Elizabeth Hoffman
Choreographed and Performed by: Elena Demyanenko