FLOODESIGN

D eborah Hay has been a formidable presence in the dance world since the 1960s. Back then she was a member of Judson Dance Theater, the collective in Greenwich Village that demolished the existing rules and expressionist fervor of modern dance. Along with Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown, David Gordon, and Steve Paxton, Hay basically redefined choreography for our era. Like others in dance, music, and theater, Hay was influenced by avant-garde composer John Cage, especially his sense of play. And play is still an essential element her work. Although she speaks about her process with a dead seriousness Deborah Hay to give a two-week workshop in 2013. Current artistic director Gabriel Smeets invited her to create a work for the company. Figure a Sea, with music by Laurie Anderson and a cast of 19 dancers hailing from Europe, Australia, the US, the UK, and South Africa, receives its US premiere at Peak Performances October 6 to 9. Hay has been living and teaching in Austin, Texas, since 1976, with frequent trips to New York City and Europe. For years she made solos for herself that were disarming in their psychological openness. In 1986, critic Mindy Aloff wrote in Dance Magazine that Hay's performing "gave one the sense of witnessing pure emotion, serenity to hysteria." and even hints at transcendence, she embraces play—with what the body can do, with one's own impulses, with moments of absurdity. This mix of solemnity and absurdity does not usually sit well with a ballet company. But Cullberg Ballet is no ordinary ballet troupe. Founded in 1967 by Birgit Cullberg, it was one of the first in Europe to mix modern dance and ballet. From 1981 to 1993 it was directed by Cullberg's son, the maverick dance-theater choreographer Mats Ek. When Anna Grip reigned as artistic director (2010 to 2014), the company brought in Canadian choreographers Benoît Lachambre and Crystal Pite and performed in parks and museums. It was Grip who invited DEBORAH HAY'S SEA OF POSSIBILITY B Y W E N D Y P E R R O N 14 www.peakperfs.org Alexandra Campbell and Eleanor Campbell in Figure a Sea. Photo: Urban Jörén

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