Five people sit at a conference table. Some slouch in their seat, unenthused. One lays her head down, exasperated. Another observes the rest, commandingly. They all begin to move. They watch each other while engaging in a silent, yet clear, conversation. The table bears their weight and the chairs move in tandem with their shifting bodies. One by one, they notice that they are bathed in light: on the other side of the room, a glass pane stands in the place of where a wall might have been. Peering through, a world exists below and above them…
(Photo by Jeremy Hogan)
When I came to rehearse Elizabeth Shea’s site-specific contemporary dance work, Ascension, at the newly renovated Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art this past Fall, I experienced this moment described above. One of my favorite memories from this year was stepping into the role of one of these five dancers. When I peered through the third floor window of the print room for the first time, it was then that I understood the reason why we were dancing this piece there in the newly reshaped and reconstructed museum.
I find you can never quite grasp the feeling of an absolute embodiment of a site-specific work until you practice and perform within the intended space itself. This is especially true with this project. During weeks of rehearsal, Shea reminded us of the intention to see and utilize—through dance—the new architecture as a grounds for understanding the physical and emotional connection between art, artist, and viewer. By interacting with the space, we are able to convey this intention to the museum-goers who come to watch or happen to stumble upon our performance.
The Eskenazi Museum of Art has spent the past few years redesigning its architecture by removing walls, building staircases, and adding windows to reflect this idea of connectivity; as our world becomes increasingly intertwined, it is important to recognize that the creation of and interaction with art is part of this synergy. We can support this process by making art more open and accessible to the community. I was thrilled to be a part of this message when we performed during the celebratory weekend of the museum’s re-opening.
Shea posed this question to her dancers: how do we become better people? How do we ascend as a race of thinking, feeling, and co-existing beings? The first step is to ensure not to leave anyone behind in this sharing of the human experience. If we get stuck sitting around a table conversing with the same five people, how will we ever notice the window just to the west—the evidence of more life right under our line of vision? If only we look around, look up and down…If we see the light that fills the spaces in between the walls that surround us…If we see the people that move within those spaces…
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