COLONY
An exploration of our symbiotic relationship with honeybees through music and dance
CINCY FRINGE FESTIVAL
May 29 – June 13, 2020
WATCH ONLINE ANYTIME: https://knowtheatre.vbotickets.com/event/COLONY/43269
AURA Contemporary Ensemble
PSOPHONIA Dance Company
Sophia Torres, choreography
Rob Smith, music direction
Keith Epperson, set design
Edgar Guajardo, lighting design
Afshin Farzadfar, videographer
Humans and honeybees have an interdependent relationship – if bees didn’t exist, neither would we. These tiny creatures help cultivate one-third of our global food supply but are dying at an unprecedented rate. Through a thoroughly intertwined performance of music and dance, COLONY seeks to inspire appreciation, wonderment, support, caring and protection for honeybees.
COLONY marks the fourth collaboration between PSOPHONIA and AURA and their second evening length work. One of the primary goals behind these collaborations has been to cultivate a substantive integration of music and dance. Through the process of integrating their disciplines, the ensembles have created their own symbiotic relationship, one that continues to deepen with each subsequent collaboration.
A year in the making, COLONY began with an interest in creating a project that would involve the music of Stacy Garrop, who was to be in residence at the University of Houston in Spring 2019. Stacy’s work Postcards from Wyoming captured Torres’s imagination, conjuring up images of bees actively moving and shifting within a hive. Building on this concept, the ensembles designed this multidisciplinary program that draws audiences into the imperiled world of honeybees.
AURA is Andrea Benabent (piano), Ed Harper (cello), Paul Kasperitis (percussion), Jeremy Larson (piano), Shannon Murray (soprano), Claire Niederberger (violin), Ellie Parker (saxophones), Jason Russo (clarinets), & Katherine Velasquez (flutes)
PSOPHONIA is Ashley Boykin, Adam Castaneda, Vi Dieu, Melissa Juneau, Tory Pierce, Lysette Portano, Arielle Tesia Rojas, Jessica Figueroa, Allyson Loving, Elyssa Vega, & Lizzy Woodson
FEATURED MUSIC:
Silver Threads (2011) – Jacob Cooper (b.1980)
soprano & prerecorded sounds
Wax and Wire (2014) – Viet Cuong (b.1990)
clarinet, violin, cello, & piano
Postcards from Wyoming (2017) – Stacy Garrop (b.1970)
flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano & percussion
Un Lieu Verdoyant (1999) – Philippe Leroux (b.1959)
soprano & prerecorded sounds
Tight Sweater (2005) – Marc Mellits (b.1966)
baritone saxophone, marimba & piano
Fractured Mirrors (2005) – Nicholas Scherzinger (b.1968)
flute, clarinet, violin, cello & piano
This program was supported by a generous grant from the
University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.