On a macro level, Garden explores viewing the dancing body as an element of man-made nature. Taking homage and imagery from historical structures, landscapes, weather patterns, and minute textural details from the state of New Jersey. The dance asks: how do we encounter and reframe the everyday of what was then, and what is now? How do we acknowledge and honor the lineage of those who have traversed and inhabited the dirt, the grass, the pavement, the sand, and the sea? What happens when we zoom out and in on the familiar, and unfamiliar, to unearth what lies beneath?
On a micro level, Garden attempts to unpack notions of displacement, discovery, and geographic acceptance. Filtering this concept through a queer lens, the work touches on how those marginalized in many spaces can find solace and a sense of belonging elsewhere. Or, how they are forced to either fight against, or hide within, spaces that actively want to negate their existence under falsehoods of “patriotism.” Additionally, what does it mean to find a home somewhere, in particular in a place that was never yours to begin with? What remains when we depart from a space, return, only to inevitably depart again? Can we ever truly belong to a location, and vice versa?
Movement research for Garden was conducted at The Deserted Village of Feltville, the Asbury Park Boardwalk, the abandoned Deal Test Site, Round Valley Reservoir, and Morven Museum & Garden.
