State of Darkness
Choreographer Molissa Fenley’s celebrated solo work, State of Darkness, finds new life performed by a new generation of New York’s acclaimed dancers. Originally commissioned by the American Dance Festival in 1988, State of Darkness challenges Stravinsky’s cacophonous “Le Sacre du Printemps” (The Rite of Spring) with an intense 35-minute solo performance of relentless fervency, technical precision, and fearless abandon. Fenley reimagined the commanding score as the sonic landscape for a solo journey, rather than the usual ensemble interpretations.
Adapting her creative process to our emergent world of social distance, Fenley restaged her solo individually with seven dancers: 2020 Juilliard grad Jared Brown; Lloyd Knight of Martha Graham Dance Company; Sara Mearns of the New York City Ballet; Shamel Pitts, former Batsheva Dance Company member; Annique Roberts of Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE; Cassandra Trenary of American Ballet Theatre; and Michael Trusnovec of Paul Taylor American Dance Company. State of Darkness features original lighting design by David Moodey, and costume design by Marc Happel.