THE WATER IS CLEAR AND STILL
Premiere: May 2012
Z Space, San Francisco
The Water is Clear and Still, a performance installation, interweaves Liss Fain’s choreography with text from Jamaica Kincaid’s sharp-edged and beautiful short story collection, At the Bottom of the River, spoken live by an actress. The set—a river in a strangely eerie and surreal grove of trees—and the immersive sound environment encompass the entire theater space. Video projections of branches cover the grey floor, adding texture and depth. The audience, walking at will, sees the work at close range and from multiple perspectives. The rhythm of Kincaid’s writing and her descriptions that shift suddenly from gentle to harsh are the source of the movement. The dance, the spoken stories, the sound environment, and the set create an intricate portrait of a woman and a place.
VIDEO TRAILER
Choreography: Liss Fain
Music: Dan Wool
Text: Jamaica Kincaid
Installation, Lighting, & Projection Media Design: Matthew Antaky
Projection Design & Sound Installation: Frédéric O. Boulay
Costume Design: Mary Domenico
Actress: Val Sinckler
Original cast:
Jeremiah Crank, Katharine Hawthorne, Megan Kurashige, Shannon Kurashige, Alec Lytton, Carson Stein
Additional performances:
Powerhouse Arena, Brooklyn, NY (March 2013); Mill Valley Library, Mill Valley, CA (March 2013); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA (May 2013)
Photos: Frédéric O. Boulay
Video: Rapt Productions