Understory Dances was a site-specific suite of ten dances and somatic explorations performed at an equine experiential education facility in Sonoma County, California in 2018. The performances brought artists and community members together to investigate and participate in what I describe as the collective kinesthetic understory (see Katz, 2019). The suite constitutes a dialogue with the environment; the natural elements and the seasons, the land and trees, and the creatures that inhabit the area guided the dancers’ artistic impulses and my choreographic processes. The dances were created to connect dancers and audience members with one another as well as with site/place and history through shared aesthetic, kinesthetic, and kinetic involvement.
“Welcome“
Dancers: Chelley BonDurant, Lisa Bush Finn, Virginia Matthews, Carol Kuefer-Moore, Claudine Naganuma, Mary Reid
Based on improvisational phrases created by the dancers, this invocation took place around a fountain located at the top of the driveway facing the barn. It gave viewers an opportunity to settle in while taking in the surroundings — fields, hills, water, birds, and wind.
“Keeping Things Whole“
Dancers: Chelley BonDurant, Lisa Bush Finn, Virginia Matthews, Carol Kuefer-Moore, Mary Reid, Music: “Solo to Anthony Cirone” by Lou Harrison, played by Joseph Gramley
Based on a poem of the same name by Mark Strand, Keeping Things Whole explores what we are each striving to hold together (Relationship? Family? Community? Body? Spirit? Dreams or creativity? ) As we explored these ideas through movement, the dancers developed gestures and phrases based on the poem that wove together over time.
“Travel Guide“
Dancers: Chelley BonDurant and Mary Reid
Performed on some stone stairs leading from the side of the barn up into a young olive grove with one horse observing the duet from a pen nearby. This piece investigated connection as a source of resilience.
“Murmurations“
Dancers: Chelley BonDurant, Daniel Deslauriers, Lisa Bush Finn, Virginia Matthews, Carol Kuefer-Moore, Claudine Naganuma, Mary Reid, Music: “Land,” by Takatsugu Muramatsu, played by Lorenzo Capasso
A group piece for seven dancers, Murmurations came to life initially through a breathing meditation written by Paula Josa-Jones called “Letting the Breath Breathe Itself” and grew over time as we collectively generated a set of “flocking guidelines” for moving together (see Katz, 2019, Understory Dances). The piece took place in a young olive grove, starting about 100 yards from the audience and ending a few feet away from them.
“Counting On You“
Dancers: Chelley BonDurant, Daniel Deslauriers, Lisa Bush Finn, Virginia Matthews, Carol Kuefer-Moore, Claudine Naganuma, Mary Reid, Horses: Chloe, Coco, Music: “Go,” by Sō Percussion
A playful piece for seven dancers, Counting on You emerged from improvisational studies in the studio and onsite. It took place next to a children’s playground where dancers were kept company by two miniature horses.
“Being With“
Dancers: Daniel Deslauriers, Mira-Lisa Katz Horses: Amtec and Secreto, Text: Excerpts from Our Horses, Our Selves, by Paula Josa-Jones, read by Erica Tom
Being With, a quartet for two dancers and two horses, began with a guided meditation drawn from Paula Josa-Jones’ work (2017) and built on the dancers’ knowledge of contact improvisation, which was extended here to include our equine partners. Building on Joanna Mendl Shaw’s work as well, we created a variety of improvisational scores based on the movements and sensations we encountered through tactile and sensory dialogues with the horses, taking cues from their bodies—such as how their ears and eyes moved, or whether they were relaxed or vigilantly attending to unusual noises or movements in our shared environment. Being With was also in part about meeting the horses on their own terms rather than dominating or riding them. We did not consciously direct their actions but rather tried to tune into their body language, letting them guide our movement through sensation and observation.
“Into the Canopy“
Dancers: Chelley BonDurant, Daniel Deslauriers, Lisa Bush Finn, Virginia Matthews, Carol Kuefer-Moore, Mary Reid, Poem: “Pine Tree Ode,” by Sharon Olds, read by Mira-Lisa Katz
Into the Canopy took place under a large pine tree in the picnic area next to the covered arena and was set to a poem by Sharon Olds called “Pine Tree Ode.” The word understory in the show’s title has a relationship with the word canopy, the layer of vegetation underneath the forests’ trees. It might also evoke stories and experiences less often shared, or perhaps stories we have forgotten or those that have become overgrown with brambles due to the busyness of our daily lives. The movement for Into the Canopy was tailored to the pine tree, the landscape, and objects within it.
“Memorial Passage“
Dancers: Chelley BonDurant, Daniel Deslauriers, Lisa Bush Finn, Virginia Matthews, Carol Kuefer-Moore, Claudine Naganuma, Mary Reid, Horses: Amtec, Secreto, Lucky Sam
Site-based choreographer Joanna Haigood suggests that, “…a place is a poetic expression of a site and the accumulation of the experiences it contains. If you’re quiet enough, if you’re still enough, you can perceive the resonance of its experience….” (2009, p. 55) We, too, were trying to create for ourselves and the audience a heightened sense of the site and to honor the Mishewal Wappo, who inhabited this land before us. The piece shifts from a sense of desolation, loss, and isolation to one of connection, renewal, and resilience—inspired by the phoenix rising.
“Fallen Elders“
Dancer: Claudine Naganuma
Poem: “Keeping Things Whole,” by Mark Strand, read by Mira-Lisa Katz
The images for Fallen Elders emerged after the 2017 Sonoma County wildfires toppled a tree. Over time, the tree’s colors grew more muted and the tree began to sink and settle into the earth. The setting reminded us of “the health of the land is its capacity for self-renewal” (Lauret Savoy, 2015, p. 47). Environmental writer Lauret Savoy says that “we make our lives among relics and ruins of former times, former worlds. Each of us is, too, a landscape inscribed by memory and loss” (2).
“Teshuvah/Re~Turning“
Dancers: Chelley BonDurant, Daniel Deslauriers, Lisa Bush Finn, Mira-Lisa Katz, Suni Levi, Virginia Matthews, Carol Kueffer-Moore, Claudine Naganuma, Mary Reid, Erica, Horses: Amtec, Secreto, Xilena
Some translate the hebrew word teshuvah to mean “repentance” while others say it is related to “returning” to our original state or to the divine. This piece is about reflection, forgiveness, renewal, restoration, and returning through a dialogue with the environment.
Mira Lisa Katz 