Stepping Stones

The last two rehearsals, we worked on Icarus. We are at a tricky phase. It's time for Amanda to ascend higher into the air, which functionally means standing upon Daedalus (played by Alex, Mary, and myself). Finding stable points on our bodies for Amanda to stand upon proves extremely challenging! I guess that's why so few people do it. We have made some inroads: made stepping stones of our backs. The real limitation is that there are only three supports. If we had a stage full of people, we could really have some fun!

We also spent some time on the opening phrase. This is cleaner now. We no longer roll beneath Amanda/Icarus, but slide, creating a kind of moving walkway. This ties into the airport imagery that I would like to get across to the audience. I would like to complement this vision with pilot-like uniforms, but, as always, find that my costume visions are fairly monochromatic. I need some time to play with materials.

Amanda walks upon our backs now, which creates all kinds of allusions to servitude. Fundamentally, this dance has long been about my relationship with my daughter. Just as Daedalus tries to protect his son, I try to protect Maya. As Daedalus builds wings to carry Icarus through the air, I carry Maya around on my hip. As Daedalus feels guilt for trapping his son as well as himself in the labyrinth, I feel guilt for being an artist, for having so little access to money, for buying everything second-hand, for not being the kind of father in the TV commercials who can simply buy supper out whenever he feels like it. This last comparison seems like a stretch, yet I feel trapped sometimes, recognizing the apparent values of my culture and how little my life fits the ideal. Ideals, however, are impossible to live up to. I imagine that everyone feels this way to some extent.

Come see what you think. Human Landscape Dance will premiere "Icarus and Daedalus" at the Kennedy Center Millenium Stage on Wednesday March 23, 2011, at 6pm, free. If you like our work, come dance with us. I will lead a repertory class at Dance Place on Wednesdays from 7:45pm-9:30 starting May 4, 2011, and ending with our performance, The Washington DC/Philadelphia Exchange, on Saturday July 9 at 8pm and Sunday July 10 at 7pm. This concert is the second half of our artistic exchange with Philly dance guru Anne-Marie Mulgrew, which began with a Philadelphia show in May 2010.

Photo by Bill Hebert.