audience reflections
performance set design 2019
Evolve Dynamicz’s Production LUCIDITY
Dance: “If You Don’t”
Choreographed by Alaina Sawyer
Photos by Olivia Moon Photography
The dance piece explored the compulsive habits of one experiencing symptoms of an eating disorder. Mirrors were used as a part of the piece to demonstrate the outword fixation of body image that may accompany disordered eating.
Prior to the show starting, a speech was made highlighting the idea that not all mental illnesses are experienced the same, and the company was in no way claming that their representations are the only way in which a particular mental illness may be experienced. To that idea, the mirrors also became an object of reflection for the audience members. The piece was performed in an intimate black box theater, with the audience only three feet away from performers. The audience members could see not only the reflections of the performers in the mirrors, but also themselves.
The mirrors became a subtle nudge to the fourth wall of the theater. Reflections of the back of o brought the audience onto the stage itself, making the audience an active part of the piece.