darfur dance

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Preliminary collages exploring possible dance/landscape interventions on the quad. How does one create a new experience of space, implicitly ones body within the space, without explicitly creating a place for bodies. Namely, blurring the boundary between the two disciplines. Once again, the theme of confronting and revealing apathy within the situation of our campus is the target.

The top collage outlines a potential event in which dancers slowly make their way across the quad following the white lines. Maybe the lines have the narratives written on them, or perhaps they are pure symbolic representations of the paths trod by refugees through their lives. Regardless of what the final incarnation of the physical prop, the slow movement of the dancers through the expanse of the quad would serve to charge the space and give the piece meaning. A multi-faceted and programmed space, the quad is usually a place of either casual aloofness in which people participate in their own forms of theatre. Whether they intend to attract an audience or are simply basking in the sun and crowd with no attention to the swarms of humanity passing them by, there are certain modes of use within which peoples range of actions remained confined within. Even the most artistic of protests and demonstrations tend to rile with their blatent movement and shock value. I propose a more discrete, subtle, and unnerving intervention that tries to encompass the vastness of the space with subtle movements spanned over a long period of time. Blending seamlessly into the space, yet dominating it. Have no literal meaning, but a plethora of interpretations.

The second collage illustrates a more primary way of invading the corporeal space of the viewer. Three different ways of manipulating space in such a way to impede people's path in a physical way. Hopefully when their comings and goings are slowed or stopped, they will think about their place in the world. First frame shows the ugg-clad gang traversing a path strewn with obstacles. The second frame shows people forced to duck and do the limbo on their way to class. Maybe then they would actually think about people whose lives are actually in limbo. The tied-up person in the center of the third frame could either be a dancer or just a passerby. Either way, it embodies the most extreme way to "grab" somebodies attention and make them slow down and think.