The Wash” gives it multi meaning. burnt-out exhaustion, brain washing, but also cleansing. My inspiration came from my watching people’s behaviors and movement patterns at the height of the pandemic and observing their anxiety around their identities without their usual daily burdens. I wondered, “Who are we outside of societal pressures and expectations? Do we even know what we like and what we need when left with only ourselves?” The ballet is an exploration of the societal “machine” before the global pandemic versus the push toward self-discovery that the lockdown has engaged us in. To generate material for “The Wash”, the dancers and I culled gestures we perform mindlessly in our everyday routines, formulating them into movement phrases. I wanted to include improvisational structure to my work because it was important to me to see each dancer move as authentic selves to contrast the robotic gestures that the work starts out with.
Premiering fall 2021
Cinematography/visual: Les Rivera
Lighting: Stephen Petrilli
Dancers: Joe González |Courtney Epps |Naoko Brown |Mikaela Fenton | Amilia Colon-Nova | Ciera Thorne
Artistic Director and Artist in resident: Jeanne Ruddy
In affiliation with Jo-Mé Dance Theatre and Philadanco! (Philadelphia Dance Company)
This film was made possible by Performance Garage Dance Visions residency and a number of private funders and foundations.
Joe González 