thorns & leaves
2022
“the thing i came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck” - adrienne rich
thorns & leaves is a work that begins at the end. it is a work about what the world looks like from the eyes of those who are grieving, about what happens when things come apart and splinter open. it is a work about crumbling + succumbing + repressing + hiding + disowning + concealing. it is a work about that pressure in the head, about abrupt endings and the finality, the permanency of everything. it is a work about tenderness. it is a work that takes place in the aftermath.
a group of six performers come up against one another’s needs. they hold, carry, suppress, deny, and desire each other. they navigate their way through the fallout, floating through the bitter and the sweet.
Choreography: Heather Stewart in collaboration with the dancers
Dancers: Emily Jerant-Hendrickson, Alyx Henigman, Katie Lake, Isabel Ball, Nicole Bradbury, Tyeri Morrison
Music: arranged by dull aka Marc Bartissol
Lighting Design: Harrison Pearse Burke
Costume Design: Madison Poitrast-Upton
Outside Eye: Rebecca Steinberg
Additional contributors to movement material: Laila Franklin & Michaela Esteban
Research & creation for thorns & leaves has been made possible with generous support from The Canada Council for the Arts, The New England Foundation for the Arts, The Maine Arts Commission, Casco Bay Movers, and Movement Arts Gloucester.
