Set against video material of dancers in six-foot proximities, Parson reads from a diaristic meditation on the spatial protocols that have been set for us in our new world of Covid-19 behaviors.
From the choreographic mind, Parson deconstructs what we are asked to do physically in order to forestall illness. Parsing these protocols, she notes that spatial awareness is suddenly at the forefront for pedestrians, asking everyone, in a sense, to have the perspective of a dancer. She sets her thoughts against footage from a video of a dance she made last year when dancers entered studios together, with their bodies in close proximity.
I reimagined this performance footage through references to the Victorian Zoetrope, one of the earliest forms of animation and the precursor to modern cinema. The Zoetrope reminded me of the codes of social distancing, as it relies on a particular structural spacing between images. Together with a plaintive song by Jack Lazar/Noah Chevron, we created an intimate video piece expressing what it’s like to live in the early stages of the pandemic.
Process:
Frame-by-frame sequences using Adobe Photoshop and After Effects
Produced by Big Dance Theater Original recording of members of the Martha Graham Dance Company in Annie-B Parson’s “I used to love you.” Anne O’Donnell, Leslie Andrea Williams, Laurel Dalley Smith, and Xin Ying. This artwork was created in the context of ENTER project, an initiative of the Onassis Foundation. Onassis Stegi and Onassis USA give artists from all around the world 120 hours to create from home a series of new original commissions; sharing their new reality. Let’s ENTER.
Learn more at https://www.onassis.org/enter/
Curated by Chocolate Factory