Amy Cova – A Very Fast Man in a…
Credits: Composer, live performance (piano, processed vocals, computer).
For this dance project, I composed a 30-minute piece which I performed solo live on piano, processed vocal, and computer using Logic Pro 9 and Ableton Live. The performance took place at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, 2012, on August 22nd.
This piece was a ball of joy – working with Amy Cova and her wonderful dance crew was smooth and magic… it felt like we were constantly in awe of each other. My first assignment for this project was to read the novel “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall. The book details the lives and customs of a native tribe in Mexico called the Tarahumara, the most shocking of which is an occassional 50-100 mile casual run over and around steep and treacherous mountains, after a night of heavy drinking and dance. The craziest part is that they do that in sandals, and don’t get injured.
The piece is inspired by the effects of running on the mind, the way long runs lull us into a drone-like state of peace and the way stress seems to melt and reform into energy that pulses through the body. The first excerpt occurs right around the 0:14 minute mark, where a trio of dancers are moving in unison. The final excerpt occurs at the end of the piece.