Inspired by fragments of historical and mythological duets, Togetherness creates a new narrative that celebrates, reconstructs, and explores the synergistic power of what it means to be with another.

Togetherness began as an exploration of how we tell story and narrative, and how that can be done in a more ethereal, non-linear way. Specifically, Ross was interested in the narratives we assume between two bodies in duet with one another. She began investigating these ideas with dancer Taka Yamamoto and musicians Heather Treadway and Christi Denton during a residency at Studio 2 in Portland in April, 2013. Stacey Tran soon joined the project after Ross realized that she wanted some form of text in the work to act as an overlying narrative. The two artists began exploring historical pairs and different modes in which their stories were told (interviews, autobiographies, essays, paintings, mythology, photographs and more). Togetherness pulls from those images and narratives and weaves them with the personal narratives and constructed mythologies stemming from the cast.

Choreography+Concept: Danielle Ross

Text+Concept: Stacey Tran

Sound: Jesse Mejia

Performers+Collaborators: Mike Barber, Erin Kraemer, Katherine Longstreth, Ruth Nelson, Vanessa Vogel

Costumes: Atum Aron

Lighting: James Mapes

Performed: BodyVox Dance, 2014