Jupiter is a kind of love story. Sometimes
you let something or someone into your life and then later find out that, even though that person isn't good for you,
you can't get rid of it, or you won't let go of it. Often you find yourself tripping over this thing which is
now a part of you, which has bound itself to you. You have to go on living so you find yourself compensating for it,
learning to move with it - maybe you walk with a limp now or you carry a giant hump on your back. But as much as it
hinders you, it can also be beautiful, creating new ways for you to move with it. The thing you can't get rid of
binds you, but it also invents you.
Jupiter is my favorite example of how movement from different cultures can
combine to tap into different emotional threads. This work focuses on the dancer pursuing her need and finding an honest
emotional path throughout the piece.
“Palo”
came as the third piece in a trilogy of cane dances I created based on the traditions of the Romani from different countries:
one in a Russian dance style, one in the Egyptian Ghawazee style, and Palo, a flamenco dance.The Ghawazee cane dance is done by women in mockery of a man’s cane dance -
a satirical commentary on the stick as a symbol of manhood. The jaunty Russian dance was done in a man's costume
complete with knee high boots, vest and hat and focused on rhythms with the cane and balletic movement. Although originally created to complete the cane commentary, I subsequently found that
Palo stood on its own striking a nice balance between masculine and feminine dance. *Palo, is a word most often used in Flamenco to mean
“style of song.”The different palos in flamenco (Bulerias, Alegrias, Tangos
etc.) are distinguished by their variation of rhythm, mood, lyrics and melodic structure, and by the traditional ways in which
they are danced and played.Palo is also Spanish for stick.Before flamenco
adopted guitar in the twentieth century, the compas, or rhythms, were beat out on the ground with a stick.Thus the word palo was eventually used to mean the different rhythms of the stick.
