Open Dress Rehearsal: a brief moment of alignment, a new dancework by Sue Schroeder in collaboration with filmmaker and composer Christian Meyer, with Conway performers Wanda Eason, Hannah Hanshaw, Aida Quinterro Kuettle, and Nakeya Palmer
Mar. 27, 2024 | 7 pm reception; 7:30 pm performance | Reynolds Performance Hall
Pre-Performance Reception and Public Performance: a brief moment of alignment, a new dancework by Sue Schroeder in collaboration with filmmaker and composer Christian Meyer, with Conway performers Wanda Eason, Hannah Hanshaw, Aida Quinterro Kuettle, and Nakeya Palmer
Mar. 28, 2024 | 7 pm reception; 7:30 pm performance | Reynolds Performance Hall
PROGRAM
a brief moment of alignment
Director and Choreographer: Sue Schroeder
Composer and Film Maker: Christian Meyer
Lighting Designer and Technical Director: John Williams
Performers: Wanda Eason, Hannah Hanshaw, Aida Quitero Kuettle, Nakeya Palmer
Text within the performance is based on personal stories and research by the performers
Final Story is based on Sunpainters: Eclipse of the Navajo Sun by Baje Whitethorne
Additional sources used in the creation of this piece include:
Harpo, J. Remember. Michaela Goade, Random House Studio 2023.
Khamphasith, M. (2018): The Frog Swallows the Moon: Stories from Laos. Khamphasith.
Miller, C. (1994): Dancing From The Heart: Life stories. Celeste Miller & CO.
Smith, N. (2023): The Artivist. Penguin Random House.
Whitehorne, B. (1994): Sunpainters: Eclipse of the Navajo sun. Northland.
This project is made possible by a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta with additional support from an anonymous donor and Engage Management.
Related Events
1830EST: Artists Talk (Live Stream) a brief moment of alignment, a new dancework by Sue Schroeder in collaboration with filmmaker and composer Christian Meyer
Mar. 21, 2024 | 5:30 pm (CST) | available at https://www.coredance.org/livestream.
a brief moment of alignment is a new multidisciplinary work commissioned by the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Central Arkansas. Created by artist and choreographer Sue Schroeder, the work features a multi-generational cast and a film installation with original sound score by Berlin-based artist Christian Meyer. Schroeder created the work for and with four women—Wanda Eason, Hannah Hanshaw, Aida Kuettle, and Nakeya Palmer—who have ties to Conway and UCA. Her concept for a brief moment of alignment, formed from the wisdom and contributions of the performers, is an evocation of the five phases of a total solar eclipse:
- First Contact | when the Sun and Moon touch for the first time
- Second Contact | when the Moon progresses until the Sun is completely obscured
- Maximum Eclipse | when the two bodies are perfectly aligned
- Third Contact | when the Sun re-emerges
- Last Contact | marks the end of the eclipse
Meyer’s film and sonic score create an immersive landscape for the performance, combining realistic and abstract images of the solar eclipse with music using sounds generated in outer space. A brief moment of alignment, which features stories and text generated by the performers, offers a reflection on the power and inner terrain of women, rooted in tenderness, compassion, cooperation, care, and vulnerability.
Check out the other great events happening in conjunction with the Eclipse
