'U' profs perform in 'Slave Moth'
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The collaborative, multi-disciplinary work “Slave Moth” provides the perfect opportunity to experience University professors’ work in action. Robin Wilson, choreographed a piece to Thylias Moss’s book-length poem. Of six dancers, two are Michigan alumni and two are currently graduate students. Music Profs. Stephen Rush and Michael Gould composed the music, while Profs. Cynthia Pachikara, Marianetta Porter, Sherri Smith and Terris Sarris created the video imagery. These professors have come together through Ann Arbor Dance Works to create this tapestry of spoken word, dance, music and video imagery that follows Varl, a slave in the antebellum South, as she searches for independence and self-expression.
“ ‘Slave Moth’ is about a person seeking self-expression against all possible odds,” said Rush, who prefers to think of himself more as the musical advisor rather than the composer. Due to the collaborative nature of the piece, the two musicians and two vocalists will be highly visible during the piece. Rush began this collaboration with Gould by listening to black folk music. Improvising from there, they wanted to use instruments that one could find at a plantation.
As a white man living in the 21st century, Rush initially struggled with how to portray a black female slave’s experience. He approached the task from a universal perspective and soon discovered that he could identify with much of her fight for self-expression because of his own struggles with his parents.
“I feel like a screenwriter writing a movie from a novel,” said Wilson. She considers this the largest piece she has ever done and one of the most challenging because of the interdisciplinary nature of working. This is the first time she has been wedded to a text or worked with video media. Wilson said she hasn’t created a linear plot because she warns the audience to be open-minded, . Grinning, she says, “They can fill in the blanks, I am not going to tell them everything.”
Rush remarks that “Slave Moth” is “not so much of a story but an artistic representation of a story.” He suggests that the audience use the cast of characters in the program to attempt to get ‘the flavor of the piece.’ ”
The performance will run just under an hour without an intermission. Free tickets need to be reserved soon, as the venue has limited seating.