What’s ahead for SBDP:
What does a FEELING, an AWARENESS, look like and sound like?
That’s a question that will lead us into SBDP’s 14th season. We’re thrilled that our 2020 residency has been extended and we’ll be continuing our Audubon partnership in 2021. We are making a larger scale dance film to bring the viewer inside the sensory experience of the birdsit. The expanded #sixfootwingspan flock of artists will be in weekly process. Through birdsits, writing, movement and creative direction, research and conversation we’ll together be deepening our connection with birds and shaping the stories, visuals, movement, and sound to share and invite others into that experience.
Our 2020 season clarified that we can adapt the how, what, and where we create and it’s the why and the who that are the essential heart of the project and the consistent thread.
The who:
Dancers Frances Sedayao, Joan Lazarus, Sue Li Jue, Richelle Donigan, Risa Ofelia Diaz, KJ Dahlaw, Julianna Cressman, Sarah Bush, bird language guide Molly Tsongas, filmmaker Lindsay Gauthier, composer Miles Lassi, video effects Artist Olivia Ting, and couture designer Colleen Quen will combine our artistry toward the creation of a dance film following COVID protocols and then live performances at Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Sanctuary when it is safe to do so.
The why:
Connection. Connecting matters. Connecting to YOU, to each other, to our communities, and also to the rest of the natural world and creatures around us, helps us repair our relationships to ourselves and to one another. It broadens our scope of awareness and expands our consciousness to consider other ways of living.
I did my first Instagram live birdsit from inside my living room because the air was too smoky outside. I danced to the comments that participants were posting about their birdsits. I felt how the birds and technology really connected us across distance. During those worst days of our fire season, (remember that eerie orange day in California when the sun never really seemed to rise?) the #sixfootwingspan collective thought about the birds, we wanted to know how they were impacted. Molly connected us with Dash, Olivia & Sonjia at Audubon’s Bobcat Ranch to learn about their approach to fire and sustainable land management.
Please enjoy this incredible collection of film sketches from our day at Bobcat — a brilliant spark of what’s to come! Shot by Lindsay Gauthier, video layering effects by Olivia Ting, sound score and design by Miles Lassi, with voiceover from ranch hand Olivia Raine, and dancers KJ Dahlaw and me.
“Spark Bird” is defined as the bird that helped spark your interest in birding. It helped open your eyes to the incredible beauty, mystery and excitement of birds and nature. It’s a pivotal moment where your world is changed, and there’s no way you are going back!
Bird Couture
Through video and one-on-one phone calls, couture designer Colleen Quen has been getting to know the spirit and movement of each dancer and of their chosen Spark Bird. She’s creating one-of-a-kind works of art to costume us for the film and eventual stage performances. She’s gifted us an album of photos that give an intimate view into her design and construction process. Enjoy!
Sitting with the birds this year has centered us in our bodies, our immediate surroundings, and the wider web of interconnection across species, distance and time. Working in a collaborative, emergent process, with care for each other, the community and the planet feels, as dancer and collaborator Joan Lazarus said, “right and challenging; ancient and eternal and futuristic and so important at this time.”
Thank you for believing in the value of SBDP’s work and for being an essential part of our journey. We truly hope it has been a welcome part of your 2020 and that you’ll continue this creative adventure with us into the new year, the company’s 14th season.
Celebrating the beauty and power of both the darkness and the spark,
with love and gratitude,
Sarah Bush Dance Project 