Mar 24, 25, 2012 Richmond Choreography Showcase "Thrashed"

“Thrashed”

What happens when one is caught in the turmoil of life?  Whether an internal, personal struggle that can’t find a resolution or a global disturbance yearning for attention, these conflicts pervade our world. “Thrashed” bears witness to those caught in the storm.

Performed by Jen Stone, Megan Thompson, and Dale Lazar, “Thrashed” intertwines movement, music, and song to create a vital statement about relationships and communication. It begins with Stone’s singing and evolves into a duet between Thompson and Stone based on an improvisational score. Inspired by images of nature and gravitational forces and drawing from the observation of animals, this work calls attention to moments of falling, of flailing, and of weightlessness. The improvisational score that serves as its catalyst is called “contacting with the air.”

With Lazar providing a percussive score played live, “Thrashed” creates a sensorial landscape of rhythms, words, music, and motion. Different parts of the dancers’ bodies become initiation points as the dancers roll and tumble. A sense of wild abandonment is evoked by their incessant falling through the air, catching oneself, or the other, before falling again. When Thompson ultimately finds stillness, Stone, still singing, finds her way into the grooves of her body: the singer is clay that forms a mold of the dancer. Their interactions evolve and repeat. Like a mother putting on a warm blanket over a child, Stone as the singer is a blanket for Thompson, but at other times Stone’s molding actions become suffocating for Thompson. “Thrashed” is inspired by the questions: what happens when our interactions harm others? Can such conflict be translated into performance in such a way that art can activate greater self-awareness and a holistic sense of community?

Together Stone, Thompson, and Lazar have over 40 years of experience in performing, composing, and teaching. They have toured nationally and internationally. Their work is committed to social change, personal interaction, and innovative artistry. “Thrashed” has never been performed. A preliminary draft (a solo version by Stone) was performed during a graduate course during the summer of 2011.

TITLE:  Thrashed

CHOREOGRAPHER(S):  Jen Stone

DANCERS (in the order you wish it to appear): Megan Thompson, Jen Stone

MUSIC COMPOSITION (choreographers are responsible to retaining rights to their music): Dale Lazar

MUSIC PERFORMED BY:  Dale Lazar

COSTUMES:  Jen Stone and Megan Thompson

PROGRAM NOTE (if applicable)

CHOREOGRAPHERS BIOGRAPHY (250 words or less please)

Over the last two decades, Jennifer Clark Stone has danced with the most exciting and inspiring choreographers and improvisers at work today. They include Steve Paxton, David Dorfman, Maida Withers, Amy Pivar, David Zambrano, Daniel Burkholder, Joy Kellman, and Phffft Dance Theatre Co. Her own improvisationally charged choreography has been presented at Joy of Motion in Washington DC (2001, 2002, 2005), The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage (2004) and Dance Place New Releases (2000, 2004).  After her birth of her second child Stone joined forces with Megan Thompson and formed the 5^th Adventure Dance Project co-creating works (2010-present) in Antigua Guatemala, Puebla Mexico and in Norfolk, VA at Old Dominion University.

 Stone began her training at the North Carolina School of the Arts and completed her BFA at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked extensively with the Charlottesville-based Zen Monkey Project and continues to share her unique ideas about dance and improvisation with the next generation of artists. She is currently working on her MFA in dance at George Washington University, and teaches Yoga and Pilates in foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains where she lives with her husband and two children on a small farm.  She is currently interested in exploring the alignment of art and environmental activism.