lETTERS TO THE NEW YEAR
ABOUT
“Letters to the New Year,” is an experiment in translation between movement and language. Our initial performance involved finding six volunteers, each of whom wished to have a letter written on their behalf to a third party. The evening of the performance, Friday, January 6, 2016, we took over a small storefront in Winston-Salem that had picture windows fronting the sidewalk. Each of our volunteers had been provided with a questionnaire to help them organize their thoughts. Jazz musician Tim Nolan and I were positioned inside the space, along with the audience. Jacob Paul, writer, poet, High Point University professor and my esteemed collaborator, was placed on the sidewalk outside, facing in over the staging area. First, I interviewed a volunteer, followed by a discussion with the audience and Nolan to develop a feeling and tempo for the dance. Nolan then played accompaniment while I embodied, in dance, an expression of what they’d meant to convey through their letter. Jacob Paul, wearing noise-cancelling headphones outside, could not hear the interviews and discussion. At the end of each dance, Jacob translated my dance into a letter that he typed in duplicate using carbon copy paper. We gave each volunteer the original letter and we kept the carbon copy. Below is an example of one volunteer's process: