I faced off with faux-manda
Remember that time I did a four minute solo like sixty times in a row? And then I thought to myself, what if I did that solo even more? Like how about 140 times in a row? That’s what I did!
I was so proud to perform my solo that I choreographed in collaboration with Erica Rebollar during Ben Levine’s performance at Dance Place. In I made this dance and nobody cares but you, one audience member at a time is treated a series of short performances. In Bifocal, I dance a synchronous duet with a 3D projection of myself. The result is a sort of battle between past and present, an Amanda made of flesh and blood versus an Amanda made of pixels and light.
In an upstairs studio I witnessed Bifocal, performed by Amanda Blythe, and choreographed by Blythe and Erica Rebollar. I was led to a pile of pillows on which to relax, so I leaned back and took in a clever duet. Wearing 3-D glasses that I was handed, my attention turned to Blythe in the flesh and her avatar. The two playfully and intriguingly twinned. Sometimes the projection of the dancer went in the opposite direction of Blythe herself, and sometimes the projection moved forward toward her. Sometimes the movements were identical, and sometimes the timing varied, so that a head swivel from one would result in a different reaction from the other.
The entire experience was exhausting, rewarding, and so unique to the space that I wonder if I’ll ever have a chance to meet my twin again.