I recently premiered a new work created in collaboration with Mads Ward and Randall Smith entitled Threnody as part or a larger collection of artists in Shoreline Swell. It was an incredible show filled with artists from around the valley coming together under the theme of the Great Salt Lake. This piece was inspired by the history of the Jordan River, as colonists dredged and straightened its flow, so began the decrease in dissolved oxygen, increase in temperature, and eventual designation as an impaired waterway as all the diverse life it used to support slowly disappeared. All impacts ripple both downstream and upstream. “To be brittle and unbending is to be on the side of death” – Tao Te Ching.

Photos by Becca Webb

An evening length interdisciplinary performance incorporating dance, interactive projections, and live poetry to tell the story of the Great Salt Lake from where it begins in the mountains to its final resting place in the bed of the ancient Lake Bonneville. Created in collaboration with local ecosystems, this movement journey flows from source to shore through glaciers, rivers, wetlands, and ancestral oceans. Find yourself immersed in the story and add your voice to the dialogue exploring the current state of our local waters through interactive moments of reflection. In the context of the challenges that face the Great Salt Lake and all life around it, this performance will offer a creative response that cultivates hope, community, and the possibility for adaptation, appropriate for all ages.

Una actuación interdisciplinaria de duración nocturna que incorpora danza, proyecciones interactivas y poesías en vivo para contar la historia del Gran Lago Salado desde donde comienza en las montañas hasta su lugar de descanso final en el lecho del antiguo lago Bonneville. Creado en colaboración con ecosistemas locales, este viaje de movimiento fluye desde la fuente hasta la costa a través de glaciares, ríos, humedales y océanos ancestrales. Sumérjase en la historia y agregue su voz al diálogo explorando el estado actual de nuestras aguas locales a través de momentos interactivos de reflexión. En el contexto de los desafíos que enfrenta el Gran Lago Salado y toda la vida a su alrededor, esta actuación ofrecerá una respuesta creativa que cultiva la esperanza, la comunidad y la posibilidad de adaptación, apropiada para todas las edades

The goal of this performance was to raise awareness of the challenges facing Great Salt Lake, reveal the connections between the ecosystems that surround her, and hold space for the Salt Lake City community to express their experience of the present situation. To take the essence of the work beyond the theater, 10% of the donations, merchandise sales, and ticket proceeds totaling $360 were donated to Boa Ogoi and the Westminster Great Salt Lake Institute to support a future with clean air and a bountiful lake.

To create the movement and projections, I brought the movement collaborators to various places within Great Salt Lake’s watershed, on Shoshone, Paiute, Goshute, Ute, and Dine land. We observed various elements of the ecosystem and responded to the sensations our body met with like the wet snow, buzzing flies, and blowing wind. We reflected on our individual relationships to Great Salt Lake and the bounty that would be lost without her. These experiences were the source of the dance that was created for the performance, with changes made in response to the lake words poetry read live.

During this performance, the audience was prompted with several questions that allowed them to reflect on their relationship to Great Salt Lake and the surrounding ecosystems. The results included thoughtful and lighthearted responses to guide us through the uncertainty ahead:

What is held in our snow and ice?

Future life, play, history, water, pollutions, fish, fresh water, beauty, habitats, relief, pee, ice worms, temperature, microplastics, petrochemical pollution, security, particles, earth, fun, sand, blood, stories of the past and prophecies for our future, hope, promise, C02, trash, frogs, bad times with no tan lines, my skis, Captain America, memories, tears, oxygen, nitrogen, soil, filth, sustenance, the cold, time, H2O, fragments of times past, dust, toxic waste, chemicals, life, algae, bacteria, atoms, little bugs, the future, the past and present.

What qualities allow life to thrive?

Harmony, art, connection, fairness, unity, radical love, abundance, generosity, consistency, interdependence, understanding, love, care, community, trust, intention, togetherness, reciprocity, guidance, empathy, freedom, cooperation, creativity, collaboration, trade offs, purpose, responsibility, safety, passion, a reason, compassion, patience, water, equity, air, health, sunlight, relationship, basically yolo, happiness, diversity, limits on greed, selflessness, efficiency, support, excitement, non-judgement, nourishment, respect, laughter, humility.

What sensations arise during times of extreme change and loss?

Confusion, isolation, finding, grief, overwhelmed, numbness, tears, instability, clarity, avoidance, doubt, fear, sorrow, anxiety, hopelessness, pain, emptiness, opening, silence, heaviness, disturbance, anger, quiet, rumination, trauma, stillness, dread, worry, nostalgia, longing, despair, panic, mourning, tension, resistance, hatred, sadness, disconnection, yearning, grounding, teeth grinding, loneliness, seeking, digestive upset, hope, discombobulation, questions, depression, groundlessness, community, heat.

What actions are necessary for the renewal of lost spaces?

Value beyond monetary, art, community, cultivate contentment instead of consumerism, a sense of place, reparations, restructuring, change, good for the whole, being content, reconnection, rest, action, humility, awareness, acknowledgement, learning what to fight for not just against, letting go, ritual, an end to greed, understanding, communication, sacrifice, respect, teamwork, reclamation, interdependence, stewardship, accountability, more sustainable food practices, compromise, land back, education, belief, caring, aide, speed, empathy, courage, trade offs, effort, security.

Huge waves of gratitude for all those who supported this project:

• Movement Collaborators: Olivia Beck, Elizabeth Chaillé, Sophie Greenwood, Rachel Miller, Seryna Rogers, and Severin Sargent-Catterton
• Poetry Collaborators: milo and the lake words team
• Music: Seth Alexander, Hotel Neon, and Michael Wall
• Lighting Design: Leo Lynn
• Spanish Translation: Lorraine Rogers
• Photography: Shaun Paddock
• Videography: Kyle Aldridge

This project was presented by Repertory Dance Theatre’s LINK series, fiscally sponsored by Brolly Arts, and received funding from the Salt Lake City Arts Council and the Utah Division of Arts and Museums.

I had the opportunity recently to present a new work entitled “Returning Home” as part of the Illuminate Salt Lake Festival at the Salt Lake City Public Library.

Direction and Projection Design: Kara Komarnitsky
Performance and Movement Generation: Elizabeth Chaillé, Seryna Rogers, Severin Sargent-Catterton, Rachel Miller
Music: Seth Alexander, Michael Wall
Technical Advice: Nickolas Komarnitsky

“Returning Home” is an intermedia performance piece that addresses the importance of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem to migratory birds. Projections transform the space into a reimagination of the wetlands to provide multiple perspectives on the diversity and richness of the ecosystem. Dancers weave through the projected environment telling a story of flight, struggle, rebirth, and adaptation through the lens of a migratory bird returning to its birthplace on the shores of the Great Salt Lake and finding it drastically altered. Audience members can contribute to the performance by responding to vital questions: What qualities define a home? What sensations arise in times of extreme change and loss? What actions support renewal of lost spaces? Their responses will be integrated into the projection environment in real time to offer moments of reciprocity and reflection.

In between the performances audiences could enjoy an interactive projection installation and learn more about the birds that depend on the Great Salt Lake.

The questions below were posed to the audience during the performances and an interactive website gathered their responses and incorporated their answers into the projections. The word maps below are the results of all three of our audiences.