We JUST shot our first spatial disDANCING mini film!
Miles Lassi scouted the location, captured audio recordings and created a layered composition of music and environmental sound. He is also the videographer and editor.
Molly Tsongas from Audubon California sent Miles’ audio capture to Jon Young, bird language expert, who identified all the birds heard at the site.
Our movement was a combination of choreography and improvisation, incorporating some of the bird movement behaviors and also responding in the moment to the sights, sounds and surfaces we were in dancing conversation with.
The dancers and I all worked with choreography and improvisation to capture the wonder of being outside, of seeing each other in 3D, of the joy of seeing each other dance.
The process had me thinking about the power of touch. We couldn’t touch each other, but we could touch the creek, the dirt, the plants (that weren’t poison oak!). We could feel the wind and the heat of the sun.
Our costume colors were inspired by the images of the local birds. Courtney Hope generously sewed masks from our donated fabric, matching the highlight colors of the birds markings.
Molly was our nature guide, pointing out plants and birds, teaching us and reminding us to find both gratitude and forgiveness for the way we were impacted by the environment and for our impact on the ecosystem we just danced through.
Stay tuned to see the final creation!
A huge thank you to Miles, Molly, Jon, and the brave, talented, committed dancers (Julianna Cressman, KJ Dahlaw, Risa Ofelia Diaz, Courtney Hope, Frances Teves Sedayao), to Lisa Harding for being on safety check and photography, and to Drey Pax!
We have just another week left of our matching grant challenge! Donations will be doubled between now and the end of May. Help us get to the full $10k!
I highly recommend a dose of dancing with nature today! #sixfootwingspan
Well-wishes and gratitude,
We have a $10,000 challenge grant! We’re almost there!
A huge thank you to all who have already given and gotten us to the $8k mark!
From now until May 31, your donation will go twice as far.
Photos by Lisa Harding
Sarah Bush Dance Project 