Thursday, March 14, 2019
Time Commitment: 7pm-10pm (3 hours)
Friday, March 15, 2019
Time Commitment: 7pm-10pm (3 hours)
Saturday, March 16, 2019
Time Commitment: 7pm-10pm (3 hours)
@ MATCH, 3400 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002
Memorial. Memory. Relationship.
These are the themes and ideas explored in the new work by choreographer and conceptual artist D. Patton White. Following the unexpected and untimely death of his brother Claiborne, White began the creative process for ‘7/13’ with several sources of inspiration: questioning the etymology of the term ‘memorial’; a recommended musical composition (the third movement of Ralph Vaugh Williams’ Symphony Number 5 in D Major) and the creative talents of the dance artists of Core Dance.
At the suggestion of Jeffrey Clark, the commissioner of this new project, White listened to the Romanza, or third movement, of Vaughn Williams’ Symphony Number 5. Written at the height of the Second World War in the war-torn Great Britain, many scholars and musicologists believe the work to be a respite from the horrors of war and grief. It was with this notion in mind that White began the creative process.
Over a four week initial creative period, White and the dance artists listened to the Vaughn Williams composition, responded to the music through the medium of visual art/drawing, and subsequently began to share stories of personal relationships they have experienced in their own lives—of times they were close and times when they were distant. Movement themes emerged and White began to craft opportunities for relationships to develop and mature: the fleeting nature of life; embracing powerlessness; being present in the moment. These are some of the ideas that have been crafted into a purposeful architecture of time and space.
As the work moves into its final phase of creation, the core of the piece will be book-ended with both prologue and postlude interactive segments. At the top of the evening, the audience will enter into a realm already in animation. Saw horses, boards, and assorted construction materials will be populating the space, with the dance artists manipulating them into various ‘play structures’. The audience will be invited to participate in this creative playground, helping to make some of the structures, and then moving through the resulting architecture of space. Lasting approximately 20 minutes.
As the piece begins, the audience will shift into a more passive observing role. About 50 minutes in length.
As the performance section concludes, the audience will be invited to enter into the space and explore moving in partnership with another person in a meditative and contemplative realm. A microphone will be made available for people to share the name(s) of departed loved ones they wish to remember/memorialize. Musical instruments will be made available for people to sound notes into the space. Incense will be available for people to light.
Volunteers are needed to help set-up, usher, and handle props.
