Hello, we are Area Woman – a new performance collective made up of women who love and respect each other, and also love and respect you. We formed when we realized that we liked each other and liked making dances, and why haven’t we been doing this all along?
Our show, Holon!, is a comedydramadance inspired by and in spite of ceremony and tradition, made for people who don’t know they like dance (or, for people who already like it very much.) Audiences may or may not be asked to do some of the following: Eat a snack, plant a tree, rearrange the furniture, tune a piano, put out a fire, catch a falling body, proofread an email, hold a prop, sing along, bake a loaf of bread or take a stranger’s hand.
For now, we want to give you a primer on watching our post-modern dance performance. Here are some questions you might ask, and our answers.
- Is that ballet?
Kind of, but not really. Many western dance forms, including post-modern dance, draw from a balletic vernacular. Two out of three of us have studied ballet for over two decades (we won’t tell you which.) Are we ballet dancers? Nah.
2. How do you remember all those steps?
We have spent the majority of our collective lives in dance class and in these classes there is usually a combo (lots and lots of dance steps in a row) at the end. You might think this training sets us up for success but it turns out that we suck at remembering these combos, so when we decided to make these dances we left a lot of time to learn the steps. We might still forget, sorry, it’s part of it (not really) (really)
3. What if I can’t see?
Stand up! Swivel around! We get to move around during the whole show, and you pretty much can, too.
4. Oh my god, are you going to make me participate?
Maybe… you can say no, if it makes you super uncomfortable. But we hope you’ll push your boundaries and join the fun. We need you, audience, to make this a performance and not just another rehearsal.
5. I don’t get it.
It’s ok if you don’t “get it.” Like, seriously. Abandon your need to “get it” right now. It has a story, and themes, but like, we don’t care if you totally get what they are. Or if you think it’s something different from what we originally had it mind. This is our show, but we’re giving it to you, so please enjoy.
6. What is a Holon?
We’ll explain later. At the show. So buy your ticket!
Co-written by Claire Alrich, Sarah Greenbaum, Sadie Leigh and Meg Lowey, members of Area Woman
I love this & wish I could go to DC to see!!! Best wishes ladies!! Dance in & keep up the participation art!