Memory is Wrapped in the Mind

Vulnerability connects us to moments that are strung together on life's timeline.  The inspiration behind Ethereal Abandonment is much like the layers the of Candace Casey's multimedia photographic series of the same name.

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“There is something about ruins that calls to us to come explore, look closer. There is at once a sense of discovery and a feeling of long ago. A slipstream of hope. In the accumulated debris are the seeds for tomorrow, the roots of reclamation.” - Photographer Candace Casey
The project began in 2015, while I was in Candace's studio looking at the images and they reminded me of the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg.  We collaborated in creating a book, writing a one line story and title to go with each piece.  As I started working on this project, I got more and more interested in the layers of Candace’s work.  She goes into abandoned places, take photos, then inserts images into them to create the story that she feels is underneath the decay and sometimes graffiti. 

The images spoke to me, I saw movement, I heard stories and I wanted to create more.  Seeking a muse, I found them in Candace’s work.  Lucy and I were talking about possibly working together when Paul Granjert, a local filmmaker asked if I would collaborate with him to create a dance film.  We brought Lucy on to this project and shot what is now the trailer, at abandoned houses in Highland Park. That film has now been accepted into the Stockholm’s Dance on Camera Film Festival.  

Part of this inspiration for the play comes from working in the auditorium at Ebenezer that we have been slowly updating and we overlook Trumbull School, which has been closed for 5 years now.  When I look at it, I can hear children playing and I think about how the neighborhood has changed since it closed.  

Just a neighborhood over is the Uptown Theater. Once you learn about the history, you long for the days the theater was active creating memories for all who walk through the doors.  This show is a love story about the theater and the artists that created it.   

Lucy and I met while participating in a choreographer's festival that ran for many years back in the late 90's and early 2000's.  After branching off and doing our own thing for over a decade we reconnected in Natalie Rast's Ballet classes. We started catching up on life, our jobs, or artistry and that led us to working together in a variety of professional levels. CDE has produced festival and concerts that RE Dance Group have presented work in and joined us in efforts to fundraise through Aramark and our football season stints at Soldier Field. We just came to realize that we had a lot in common in regards to running our companies and we were trying to find ways to support each other's work.

The layers of our work are unfolding throughout the rehearsal process as we create Ethereal Abandonment

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