Inspiration for "To the Thawing Wind"

I am going to give a bit of my thought concept and rehearsal process with "To The Thawing Wind" which will be performed at Miller Outdoor Theatre on the September 12 and 13, at Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance. Originally, I wept when first I heard the Mark O'Connor score "Appalachia Waltz" ---always a good sign that a dance should be born! I have always wanted to explore the midwestern plains girl that I am, and this music spoke of that earthy grounded landscape and the cycles of new life. I look back and think I was heading into a gentler time in my life, having met the man I was going to marry, and this was one of the gentler works I have done. The title eventually came from a Robert Frost poem, that, in summary, releases the poet to come outside after a long winter, the thawing wind at the window. To be outside and part of that new life....too many days inside at a writer's desk (or shut off in a dance studio!) with 6 months of winter make us appreciate the first signs of spring!

Initially, while in rehearsals, (back in 2003) my dancers and I called it the 'hand ballet'. The gestures are reminiscent of American Gothic, with the pitchfork and the crossed arms --- the first phrases in that grouping are the themes that guide the variations for the whole work ... I think of scooped earth and prayer, violins poised and flocks of birds traced across the sky; listening to the earth like a shell in my hand and blowing the dust away .... putting that rock in my pocket and heading back to work .... those are the images of plainsfolk, everyday gestures that are universal. There are also bound gestures that speak of yearning for freedom, yoked pairings that share the burden and teamwork which makes us stronger. Perhaps the dancers are stalks of corn (from Nebraska!), swayed by winds of summer or dry brown reeds aching for the thawing wind of spring after a hard winter. The return to the theme at end in speedy fashion becomes a flock of birds, turned in unison by the buffeting winds, as one voice---arresting in their symmetry. This time when I rehearsed the dancers, I told them we should be able to do this in unison with our eyes closed---but I peek to see if we are.

I think that's what this dance is about...but you may see something else; I'd love to hear what you see and feel as you watch it! Come out and see it at Miller on Friday and Saturday night, September 12,13, 2008

Posted by Sandra Organ Solis 9/7/08