Created by Sam Pettengill, Greg Snedeker and Ann Sorvino

Sam Pettengill’s enigmatic photographs of the Connecticut River first inspired this evening length piece. The mysterious shapes, the varied rhythm of the currents and the flow of the river are all literally and abstractly present in Pettengill’s work. The importance and history of the Connecticut rivershed serves as a point of departure for Greg Snedeker’s score. Through the recording of improvisations and digital manipulation, cellist, pianist, and sound designer Snedeker and percussionist Gray Rzab attempt to capture the power, eddies, stillness, current interruptions and obstacles found in and along the rivers of the Connecticut Valley. Contemporary classical, Jazz, and Native American music all influence this polyrhythmic soundscape. The movement, composed by Ann Sorvino and her dancers is inspired by and employs the use of these musical and visual images. The fluid movement was formed through the use of river themes, such as waterfalls, tributaries, backflow and redirection. Dance phrases are developed by many choreographic devices, such as theme and variation, rondo, manipulation of time, space, level, quality and retrograde. Together, the work makes for an extraordinary visual and auditory experience. The 45-minute work will be presented without intermission.

Dance collaborators: Johnna Birri, Billbob Brown, Elizabeth Budd, Christie