Stillness in Four Movements

Henderson, Alden

Publication

Stillness in Four Movements

Henderson, Alden

Date

2017

Additional date(s)

2017-05-19

Abstract

Stillness in Four Movements, a dance performance culminating from a year-long research process, investigates conceptions of stillness as movement in a manner similar to that of John Cage as he explored silence in music, or Rothko as he explored nothingness in the visual arts. In my research, I found that stillness is solely a perceived notion due to the fact that stillness is impossible: humans have hearts that are always beating, cells that are always decomposing, and atoms constantly moving. Thus, the question became this: how can one, through dance, engage with the notion of stillness as choreographic material?