Sometimes, the company members create the verbal art and perform it themselves. Lena Gilbert created and performed a monologue for Coffee . Singer June Manale created text in addition to the sound of a musical accompaniment for a dance piece.
The creative problems here can be very complex. In the case of existing text that has been chosen for our use, obviously, one element of the work is already determined. The actors must decide how to deliver that text, just as all actors do, and that part of the work is not significantly different in some ways from traditional theater. The dance and music that accompany such performance, however, is created in our unique way.
What is different in our case is the general way we work. Actors make their interpretive choices with their colleagues, knowing that dance and music and perhaps visual art as well are incorporated in the performance. They are the ultimate arbiters of how they will deliver a performance, but their choices are made in the context of the rest of the performance. They are collaborating in a total integrated work.
Here, we excel at supporting one another and making it possible for performers to take the risks they must in order to create this work. A brilliant performer knew, without our ever having discussed it, that following a moment of verbal cacophony with several performers speaking at the same time, a striking choice would be to whisper; and she knew that she could do it. We often see these moments of inspiration because our way of working prepares for them.
As for the visual art, we have performed with art objects created especi ally for that purpose and others that were not, but that the dance was created to accompany.
Artist Don Werner created objects especially for our evening cosmic trio . He began the process with discussion with the dancers and with observations of the dancers and musicians in the studio. He thus had some ideas of what the movement was like. He then created objects for the dancers to use. Two of them were small enough that the dancers would actually hold them, pass them from person to person, in one case drape it around their body. The third was a large fixed object on the stage that the dancers moved in relation to. He was in contact with the performers as he created and invited visits to his studio to view sketches and the work in progress.
One of the objects that could be held in the dancer's hands also made sound when it was in motion adding to the sound dimension of that work.
Art Object by
Don Werner