This is the first post in this category, and depending on what else is going on, hopefully not the last. Changing studios and moving and all of that makes these things very up in the air, but I wanted to discuss the inspiration behind this piece because it makes me sound completely geeky – and also completely in love with what I do.
“Under Cover of Darkness” is the first piece I ever choreographed for competition. (I do not count throwing together a long line and a short line of dance for ballroom “choreographing for competition” when I say this.) I was concerned when I started out about what constituted a ballet piece for competition, was concerned about how the piece would be taken, and basically just jumped in, feet first, without really knowing what I was doing.
So I choreographed something that told a story I wanted to tell. With the number of dancers at my disposal that I had, I was able to be more elaborate. That in and of itself was incredible.
The story of “Under Cover of Darkness” will seem a little redundant considering the music which taken from the theme song for Turn. I have a lot of interest in the Revolutionary War to begin with because I am a social studies teacher who also has family history dating back even further than the Revolutionary War on this side of the pond. The starting of our nation is amazing, considering what an experiment we were embarking on at the time. But that’s beside the point.
Even before watching the first season of Turn: Washington’s Spies, I had known about the network of spies that General Washington used to get information on British troop movements. I’ve always been intrigued by spy stories, and ones that happen during one of my favorite periods in history is even more intriguing. (Washington’s spy network is first. The second most in my book is Queen Elizabeth I’s spies. Followed by any modern spy stories out of MI-5/6. And yes, I loved Spooks.)
What I was able to do with “Under Cover of Darkness” was to isolate the fears and stealth of the spy game and bring those to the forefront, while also demonstrating the role spies play in the bigger cogs of the wheel. The wheel being shown through the movement of the dancers together. The fear through the running of dancers through the “trees” created by the bodies of other dancers. Even a moment where the dancers represent the year of hangings, 1777, and with it the constant threat of being counted as a traitor.
Through all of this the choreography stands as a ballet piece in its own right, with plenty of chances to critique ballet technique. The team earned a high gold in competition with this piece.
The piece will have one more resurrection this weekend during the studio’s spring recital.
One last hurrah for my choreography in Vermont.