wind phone.
performance.
Modern dance premiered by
City in Motion Dance Theatre
Set in nature, the phone becomes a portal for communication to friends and ancestors. In this piece, set to a soundscape of birds, the cast represents ancestors and friends longing to connect with those they left behind. Inspired by Itaru Sasaki’s unconnected phone booth in Japan.
artistic process.
who would you call?
I visited Olathe Lake, where Jeffrey Ratzlaff installed a Wind Phone. After much research into the history of the Wind Phone and world-wide expansion, I asked myself, “who would I want to call?” I admit a part of me connected with the original built in Japan because I had gone on tour there with Bill Evans and also had made 1,000 cranes for a dance project wherein they were donated to a dancer whose sister was diagnosed with cancer.
The rehearsal process started with education about the wind phones around the world, followed by experiential learning by visiting the local Wind Phone. One by one, each dancer walked up to the phone, and made a one way call.
After all calls were made, the dancers gathered by the lake, and shared one thing they took away from that experience through movement. This movement was incorporated into the choreography.