Between Land and Water was an exploration of liminality—the time or place where you are too far to return, yet not far enough to see where you will arrive. The piece sought to invite people to rethink how they interact with the Burlington waterfront, a staple of the city’s cultural landscape and a place full of joyful opportunity beyond its sublime sunsets. The concept was inspired by the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center, a pillar of education that promotes water sports and activities along with the responsible stewardship of Lake Champlain.
The performance drew upon over forty local dancers, sailors, swimmers, and paddle boarders who moved to the adaptive and improvisational work of area musicians. The unpredictable nature of the weather allowed the lake to play its own unexpected role. Shot from air, land, and water, footage from the performance was displayed as part of BCA’s Of Land and Local exhibit at Shelburne Farms, at which pieces from the dock held up video monitors while a boat sail acted as a projection surface. The contrast between the serenely bucolic Shelburne Farms and the heavily industrial Sailing Center was juxtaposed against the sites’ shared watershed and connection to the lake.
Between Land and Water
September 10, 2016
Of Land and Local
October 2016
Site
Perkins Pier
Burlington, Vermont
Duration
20 minutes, two performances
Collaborators Choreography and performance by students in Clare Byrne’s UVM Composition Class, directed by Ryan Kabilian & Mollie Morgan. Choreography by Roxanne Scully Christine Holt, Jill Lyons
Dancers Angela Arsenault, Coulter Cluett, Sarah Macdonald, Olivia Malone, Mia Pinheiro, Elizabeth Marie Seyler, Liesje Smith, Blair Bean, Mia Fishkin, Sage Horsey, Ruby LaBrusciano-Carris, Ryan Kabilian, Mollie Morgan, Emily Velush, Hanna Satterlee, Otto Pierce, Dancers on Boat Ramp, Holly Chagnon, Nicole Dagesse, Martha Whitfield, Sara McMahon, Erika Senft Miller, Marly Spieser-Schneider, Lida Winfield, Secchi Disk — Water Research, Heather Fitzgerald, Jonathan Silverman, Shanley Hinge, Shannon Lipkin, Karen Spach, Carey Strobeck, Lindsay Tompkins, Roxanne Scully, Helaina Stergas, Elzy Wick, Scott Luria, John H Miller, Ellen Bernstein Dancers from Burlington Movement for Parkinson’s class, Directed by Sara McMahon: Bea, Ron, Gary, Darlene, Sue, Sue, Annabelle, Carl, Sarah, Jim, Pete, Francie, Tracy (assisting)
Choir Members of the South Burlington Community Choir, directed by Matt LaRocca, Mike Dowling, Karen Jette, Sue Stoner, Deb Noel, Marla Weiner, Kathleen Bachus, Merle Siiro, Patrick Maguire, Janet Dattilio, Susan Paquette, Rose Bacon, Lori Rippa
Musicians
Directed by Matt LaRocca
Jeremy Frederick, guitar
Shannon Hawley, guitar
Matt LaRocca, piano, guitar, and viola
Adam Wood, keyboard
Ula Klein, guitar, voice
Videographers Water: Hilary Hess, assisted by Anna Senft Miller Land: Martin De Geus, Doreen Kraft Air: Oxbow
Photographers Maxine Senft Miller, Amira Silverman
Art & Design Ellen Voorheis, Solidarity of Unbridled Labour & Jasmine Parsia, Iskra Print Collective
