I caught up with Helen Hansen French and Lauren Ree Slone, the two dancers and choreographers behind our Beacon Dance project during rehearsals at the Palladium this week. The show goes up at 8 p.m. tonight.
I asked these two talented and visionary women about this year’s version of Beacon:
PALLADIUMPAUL: Tell me about the collaborative piece called Doors? I see Mark Aeling, the sculptor, and Sheila Cowley, the playwright, and Alex Jones, who I know is a favorite partner of yours. Tell me how this piece came together.
Helen and Alex
BEACON: The impetus for Doors originated from the paintings of Ana Maria Vasquez and her experiences at the border wall between US and Mexico. Sheila Cowley, Alex Jones and I crafted a narrative that reflected the beauty of humanity even in the midst of turmoil.
We wanted to tell a story in movement of lands and people that are ripped apart by walls, physical walls as well as emotional walls. Mark Aeling and MGA Sculpture designed and built an eerily beautiful wall that represents the idea that walls simultaneously protect and divide us. Matt Cowley created an evocative sound score and Joe Oshry’s lighting design reflects the vibrancy and Ana Maria’s paintings, together they create the world in which Alex, the Wall and I grapple with our own humanity. As part of our costume Ana Maria’s paints elements of the earth and sky on our bodies.
PALLADIUMPAUL: Beacon continues to draw performers from diverse places and diverse backgrounds. Is that intentional?
BEACON: First and foremost, we support local and regional artists. We want artists who live and work here to have opportunities to create and share their work with the community. In addition, we believe creating networks between local, national, and international artists is essential. Lauren, Sharon, and I have individual and overlapping connections to a global community of artists.
When bringing anyone in from the “outside” of St. Petersburg, that artist often has a direct tie here via us, family, etc. and in the rare instances when that’s not the case, our local community has expressed a desire to connect because of the quality of that person’s work.
The art form of dance celebrates the capacity and beauty in every human body through movement.
PALLADIUMPAUL: Do you feel like the idea of Beacon continues to grow and morph. It seems to be flexible enough to encompass all sorts of artists and art forms. I assume that is intentional.
BEACON: Absolutely. We expand dance practice, performance possibilities, and our imaginations when we collaborate with artists working in different media.
PALLADIUMPAUL: Aside from your piece, can you talk about some of the other pieces the audience will experience Friday night?
BEACON: Every work is responding to the contemporary moment – some resonate with more hope / humor, some grapple with endurance under challenging conditions, some deal in grief and miscommunication. The aesthetic approaches and physical expressions are quite varied.
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