PACING                  Performance

An immersive study of cyclical temporality, embodied light, and corporeal transformation.

Pacing interrogates the interplay of light, movement, and time, positioning these elements as active agents in a dynamic performance ecosystem. Featuring dancers Tia Kushniruk and Clarke Blair, the work employs a sound-responsive light bulb that oscillates between rhythmic pendulum and atmospheric catalyst, transforming the performance space into a living, breathing installation. Through the dancers’ physical negotiations of repetition and decay, the piece constructs a choreographic language of evolution and entropy, inviting audiences into a meditation on impermanence and the elasticity of temporality.

Rooted in Susannah Haight’s cinematic sensibilities and a commitment to interdisciplinary practice, Pacing merges avant-garde visual aesthetics with choreographic precision. Originally conceived as a solo performance in 2019, the work utilized a broken hourglass as its central motif, emerging as a nascent exploration of mortality and resilience. During the collective uncertainty of 2020, the work expanded into a duet, responding to a heightened urgency for shared reflection and the acknowledgment of fragility in human existence.

Developed further through residencies including NES Artist Residency in Iceland, the National Ballet’s Open Space Residency, and the Arts Orillia Dance and Design Residency, Pacing has evolved into an intricate assemblage of light, movement, and sound. These residencies facilitated rigorous experimentation, refining the spatial and temporal dynamics of the piece while fostering a deeply collaborative ethos between choreographer and performers.

At its core, Pacing operates within the framework of ecological theater, leveraging principles of evolutionary play to investigate the interdependence of environment and embodiment. The sound-responsive light bulb functions as both stimulus and collaborator, destabilizing conventional hierarchies within performance-making and situating light as an integral co-creator. This approach dismantles traditional power structures, prioritizing mutual exchange and the emergent possibilities of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Through Pacing, Haight challenges conventional notions of performance, carving out a space for introspection and transformation. The work destabilizes the passive spectator experience, instead demanding engagement with its evocative tableaux and sensory provocations. It is not simply a performance but an unfolding of cyclical states—a work that situates itself at the threshold of the visceral and the conceptual, inviting audiences to confront the malleability of time and the fragility of presence.