Katy Dammers
Katy Dammers is an Artistic Producer at FringeArts in Philadelphia and also works as the General Manager for Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener. Her work has been published in The Brooklyn Rail, MRPJ, In Dance, OntheBoards.tv, and American Dance Festival among other publications.
Nearly three months after theaters began to close, we don’t seem any closer to “returning to normal” and instead face the reality that this crisis will forever change the way we dance and our world. The slow creep of coronavirus has made it difficult to see where we are and chart where we might go next.
The object seems to spark joy, encouraging the dancers to climb around its hefty bulk and investigate its crests and falls. While at times the dancers balance atop the sculpture, recalling some of the more poised moments of previous sections, their work in relationship to this sculpture is playful, sensual, and even lazy. With this work’s emphasis on pleasure and relaxation it did not initially seem like a “training device,” even though it elicited specific responses. Watching this section I wondered if training does not always have to be disciplinary. Do we need training to play? Or at least training in setting aside time and space to do so unencumbered?

