The World Curator

Movement 1.

"Silk of the Universe"

Movement 2.

"Inner History Museum"

Movement 3.

"Vessel of Infinity"

Music by David Berlin

Poetry by Rosaly Roffman

Choreography by Holly Boda-Sutton

 

This event is a live performance of a media cycle1 in three acts. Created in 2002-2003 by three collaborators the essential media are dance, music and poetry. The three acts are titled "The Silk of the Universe", "The Inner History Museum" and "Vessel of Infinity".

 

The underlying and unifying theme centers around the concept that an individual human may be viewed as a country with landscapes, or a museum with artifacts; the collectibles of a life that can not be thrown away. Each individual like each culture has "artifacts" to show and the work that becomes the collective ongoing business of the universe. The story of one man or woman is also the story of the earth and every animal's resonance.

 

A museum would be an ideal setting for this piece because it is the record of peoples and community and the obvious venue for celebrating what we translate and value; a connection between collective wishing and the measuring of the private and the personal. The work is intended to call attention to the history of the made and the maker, the personal and the collective.

 

The World Curator was premiered at Indiana University of PA in April of 2004. Future plans include the development of a web site to be used by teachers in adopting, adapting, and inventing arts integrated instructional units. It opens the possibility for the world at large to respond and engage by contributing original responses to the work. Such responses could take the form of poetry, musical compositions, dramatic improvisations, plays, visual and sculptural renderings, critical responses/analyses, essays, stories or anything else that is in response to the work and relates to the thematic concept.

 

 


1. David Berlin coined the term "Media Cycle" in 1988. A media cycle is a logical extension of the song cycle". That is: a collection of formal sections such as movements, or acts centered on an underlying theme or concept. Where a song cycle is typically one solo voice with accompaniment, the media cycle genre can involve any number of artistic media (including but not necessarily technological) in the realization of an aesthetic whole.