(2012) Line of Sighs

Description

Line of Sighs integrates the conceptual, spatial, rhythmic, and sensual dynamics of weaving and dance, triggering a charged zone of corporeality. A collaboration between choreographer Victor Alexander and weaver Deborah Valoma, Line of Sighs builds an arena wherein the metaphors of weaving and dance intermingle, rendering visible the human need for connection.

Production

Choreographer: Victor Alexander
Lighting Design: Jacob Snodgrass
Sound: Arianna Brame and Petra Valoma
Stage Manager: Jacob Snodgrass
Set and Prop Design: Deborah Valoma
Costume Design: Vin Reed

Cast

Edson Cabrera, Katie Graves, Jessie Gutierrez, Maray Gutierrez, Michel Rodriguez, Ben Wardell

Performance(s)

September 5-8, 2013
Ruth Page Center for the Arts
Chicago

 

November 2015
Dfbrl8r Gallery
Chicago

Critique(s)

“There is a level of intimacy amongst the performers, though it’s one that is fraught with discontentment. It’s as though they are bonded by the sheer fact of being stuck in a sort of purgatory together. The way Alexander navigates and manipulates the set with his inventive choreography is pure magic.”

– Lauren Warnecke, SeeChicagoDance.com

“It’s not often that my immediate reaction to a dance is ‘Hot damn do I want to see that again…’”

— Zac Whittenburg, Time-Out Chicago

“Flying through the air, hurling oneself to the ground, and extreme partnering combine with gentler movement—hands touching the inner thighs, deliquescent shoulder stands—to suggest the constant turmoil and the emotional challenges of a traveler’s life.”

– Laura Molzahn, Chicago Reader

Special Thanks

Victor’s Chicago Dancemakers Forum (CDF) grant year was generously supported by the department of Theatre and Music and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Line of Sighs is supported, in part, by grants from the Illinois Arts Council and the Chicago Dancemakers Forum.
This performance was made possible in part, through the Ruth Page Center Subsidized Theater Rental Program.

Special thanks to:
Chicago Dancemakers Forum, Hedwig Dances, Ruth Page Center for the Performing Arts and CDI, Faubourg Ballet Theater and the Department of Theater and Music and the University of Chicago at Illinois, Bitter Jester Creative, inc.

Photos by William Frederking