Quickly Going Somewhere and Back

Samantha Giron Dance Project will be presenting work from two distinct shows: a premiere entitled “Quickly Going Somewhere and Back,” and two excerpts from “Women and War,” called “Fire Diary” and “Interrogations.”

“Women and War” seeks to explore the human experience of war from different perspectives than those typically presented to us. The representation of war in our culture is usually focused on men; men play the centrally-depicted, heroic roles of killing, being killed, being captured and tortured. Physical bravery is shown as a male trait.

“Women and War” portrays untold stories of women’s participation in war, that contradict these common notions. “Fire Diary,” inspired by the journal of courageous female Vietcong field medic Dang Thuy Tram, evokes her ability to perceive beauty even as death surrounded her – and as her own inevitable death, at the hands of American soldiers, approached. “Interrogations” depicts the torture of a female Vietcong prisoner of war, and the isolation and pain she experiences at the hands of men who have silenced their capacity for empathy.

Much of the movement, in both “Fire Diary” and “Interrogations,” places the dancers on half-pointe, with a strong emphasis on hand, arm, and head articulation – giving a quality that has been described as “Indonesian-inspired contemporary ballet.” both pieces have original scores composed by Ken Christianson. “Interrogations” features Christianson playing live electronics.

“Quickly Going Somewhere and Back” is a new kind of project for Samantha Giron Dance Project. Usually Giron approaches Christianson once she has a clear idea for a dance piece, and he composes new work that best fits her ideas for the project. However, when Christianson and Giron were invited to perform at San Francisco’s COLLABORATION Festival, they set out to truly co-create a dance and music performance. This time, Christianson wrote the score first and provided Giron with some imagery and narrative context. Giron then set to work responding to the score. Since then, the two have continued to adapt their own contributions to the performance. Christianson performs his original violin score on stage in “Quickly Going Somewhere and Back,” and even performs some of the choreography alongside dancer LeTania Kirkland!