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Credits:
Union Station
Lead: Peter DiMuro
Created in collaboration with performers Thomas Dwyer, Sarah Levitt, Matt Mahaney, Cassie Meador, Vincent Thomas and Ben Wegman
Bus Stops on the New Haven Green
Performed
and created by Jori Ketten, Daniel Sobol, Vincent Thomas, Elyse
Leonard, Daniel Sobol, Janet Brodie, Dorothy Finnigan and Irwin Krieger
Radical Derby
Lead: Elizabeth Johnson
Performed by Jayne Bondage, Wender Bender, Polly Sonic, Judy Scarland, Moxie Lady, Pearl Jammer, Nelly Knuckles and Disco Nugget
Music by Matt Hubbs
Women’s Table
Direction: Peter DiMuro
Conception: Mary Barnett
Performed
by Mary Barnett, Megan Paglia Scheff, Kathryn Kollar, Janet Brodie,
Katie Forline, Dorothy Finnigan, Caitlin Richards, Lisa Miller, Becky
Cline, Cathy Weiss, Sue Millen, Lisa Liang, L'Ana Burton, Jean Silk,
Elizabeth Possidente, Karen Josephsen and Shula Strassfeld
Music provided by Joseph Getter and Peter Hadley
Broadcast on September 9 at 5:30 am EDT
What makes a space sacred? How does conscious action by moving bodies change the way we think about a church, bus stop, a fountain or a baseball field? From June 19 – 27, 2008, daily dances at sacred spaces were performed by the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and members of the local community. This broadcast takes a look at performances in New Haven’s Union Station, bus stops in the center of the city and at the site of the Yale Women’s Table. Finally, you’ll witness Radical Derby, an exploration of risk and protection by the fierce women of Connecticut’s RollerDurance and Roller Derby League.
Union Station (Duration 12 Min)
This first clip explores the drama of the morning commute. The clicking of the rotating train announcement board and heels against the floor becomes the beat to which the dancers move. There is waiting, pacing, reading of newspapers and a low rumble of conversation. Some interrupt their morning ritual to watch the dance. Others look on with fear or simply ignore the dancers as they get on with their day. Still others morph unknowingly into participants in the dance. See if you can tell who is here to dance and who is just passing by.
Bus Stops on the New Haven Green (Duration 5 Min.)
The dance continues on the busy sidewalks, benches and glass enclosures of a bus stop. Dancers sit side by side with commuters. At first their movements reflect the shifting, fidgeting and looking of a person awaiting a bus. But eventually the dancers are jolted from their seats and explode with movement. They become alive before disappearing into the distance.
Radical Derby (Duration 13 Min.)
In a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse at roller derby, women re-enact their meticulous preparations for battle and show a tenderness that lurks behind their demonstrations of speed and fierceness.
Women’s Table (5 Min.)
The broadcast closes with women using their bodies to manipulate a swirl of water in a fountain designed by Maya Lin commemorating the female students that have attended Yale. Their undulating bodies bubble up and over the fountain before disappearing underneath. Their movements ask you to explore the depth of meaning that is captured in the simple form of this piece of public art.
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange: Dances Around the City
