An Escape

Instrumentation: dance and fixed media

Year: 2011

Duration: 6 minutes

Program Note:
An Escape is a collaboration between choreographer Chelsea Pierce and myself.  The piece was written for the 2011 Ears, Eyes and Feet concert, a unique collaboration between University of Texas composers and choreographers.  The piece deals with issues of insecurity and paranoia and our ability to cope with these feelings.  The music begins nervously with breaking glass and sharp, interjecting crashes before giving way to the sounds of thunderstorms and trains.  The dancers, reacting to these sounds, express feelings of emotional instability.  These noises culminate into a strong climax and usher in an escape from these feelings.  A soothing guitar begins a period of unreality where the dancers explore feelings of safety and comfort.  At the end the dancers ultimately choose to face either the beginning reality or continue in their dream-like state.