Letting Go

Well, we're two weeks out. That sounds like an unbelievably short time when I say it out loud, but really, I think I'm ready. Or, I will be--in 2 weeks!

As the preparations are wrapping up (I had my last real rehearsal last night), I'm starting the process of letting go of these dances, and of the concert as a whole. I'm handing the dances over to the dancers, knowing that my role is winding down, even as the dancers are taking on even more responsibility for the life of the dance. Each cast has to make their dance live. The dances might change, they might come to mean something to the dancers that I couldn't have foreseen. I'm grateful that I can trust my dancers enough to let the dances go and be whatever they're going to be. It hasn't been too scary, so far. In fact, it feels like a bit of a relief. Lying in bed the other night, I even started choreographing a scene of a new "someday" dance.

I'm also realizing I have to let go of any control over how people will view and make sense of the concert. Throughout the process, I've been very clear that people will find meaning (or not) in my work that might be very close or very far from the meaning I find in it. I'm ok with that. However, I had a bit of a jolt the other day, when I realized that the press release I agonized over had been seriously edited, completely changing what I hoped to be telling people about my concert. After deciding I wanted to highlight the creative process of the concert more than the actual dances in the press release, I discovered that the release had been edited down to ONLY the information about the dances. No mention even of the visual art installation that I'm planning alongside the concert. I'm grateful to have my concert publicized, but I was unprepared to give up control over the "message" just then. Now, I'm getting ready. Soon, there will be student essays discussing my intentions for the choreography, and friends and family making sense of the stories and images they uncover, and faculty members negotiating their memories of my work in process, and the dancers learning something new about the dance each night. Out of my control. I'm still working on the relief part for this one...

Speaking of publicity, however, I've been lucky to have a little throughout the University. Here's my press release in its entirety. Or, take a listen to a radio interview I did through WUAG, the campus radio station.

And below is the final version of the poster, designed by Denise Murphy. It's all really happening!