Dissimilate

Commissioned by the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation for Periapsis Music & Dance

the setting:

I wrote this piece for multi-tracked flute, voice and electronics for Periapsis Music & Dance. Performed by me (flute, voice, electronics) as well as Jeffrey Zeigler (cello).

the story:

There are two versions; one with only electronics, and the other with a solo cello part, which was the version for Periapsis. It was set to an ensemble of four dancers in collaboration with choreographer Rohan Bhargava. In line with themes from the choreography - intimacy, relationship-building, vulnerability, society vs. individualism - I overlaid and overlapped fragments of text reflecting those ideas, consisting of “you and me and we and”, “I have no idea”, “tell me” and “show me”, all inspired by Shantell Martin’s striking black-and-white prints asking viewers “WHO ARE YOU” / “ARE YOU YOU” / “YOU ARE YOU”, and then affirming unification with “YOU ME WE”. There are various threads of radio elements I play with, ranging from being cutoff unexpectedly (the abrupt/sharp cutoffs of text) to the duality of talking to/within oneself and talking outwardly to an audience.