We Wait in the Darkness
2014–2018
Premiere: 2014, Montréal Arts Interculturels, QC, Canada
Video without audio description
About this work
We Wait In The Darkness is an art/dance work to heal the DNA scars of Rosy Simas’ grandmother, her mother, and our ancestors.
Within in an environment of images and sounds from Seneca lands, this dance work engages past and future, DNA memory, and invisible presences, to create a personal artwork about loss, family, perseverance, and home.
“It takes a special kind of performer to bewitch an audience with stillness. Rosy Simas has that gift. An articulate dancer, Simas has the ability to suffuse the smallest movements, or even complete motionlessness, with a captivating aura.” —Sheila Regan, City Pages
Credits
Choreography/performance:
Rosy Simas
Set Design:
Rosy Simas with contributions from Steven Carlino and François Richomme
Original Music Composition:
François Richomme
Letter Reader:
Laura Waterman Wittstock (Rosy’s mother)
Letters:
Clarinda Waterman (Rosy’s grandmother)
Original Lighting Design:
Karin Olson
Film:
Rosy Simas with contributions from Douglas Beasley
Tour Locations
2014:
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U.S. premiere, Red Eye Theater, Minneapolis, MN
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SUNY Fredonia Dance and Theater Department, NY
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Myrna Loy Center, Helena, MT
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The Dance Center at Columbia College, Chicago, IL
2015:
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Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Kahului, HI
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The Autry National Museum, Los Angeles, CA
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ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA
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American Indian Community Housing Organization &
The University of Minnesota Duluth Dance and Theater Dept, MN
2016:
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The Edge Center for the Arts, Big Fork, MN
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Carleton College, Northfield, MN
2017:
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Living Ritual Festival, Toronto, ON, Canada
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European Premiere, DANSEM, Marseille, PACA, France
We Wait In The Darkness
Images:
Acknowledgements
We Wait In The Darkness is made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It is underwritten by the American Composers Forum‘s Live Music for Dance Minnesota program in partnership with NewMusicUSA, with funds provided by the McKnight Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
We Wait In The Darkness is supported in part by First Peoples Fund and the Ford Foundation through grant from the FPF Our Nations Spaces Program.
Rosy Simas is a fiscal year 2014 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board and a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
We Wait In The Darkness is supported by residencies at MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) in Montréal, QC, University of California Riverside/Culver Center in Riverside, CA, All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis, and The Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis, MN.
2013 projects of Rosy Simas Dance are supported by a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation dance fellowship.
This project has been supported by over 110 supporters via Hatchfund crowdfunding and GiveMN.org.
In addition, individuals who contributed to this project through their scholarly advice, by providing housing, or participating in other ways are: Jim Simas, Laura Waterman Wittstock, Jack Erickson, John Waterman, Jr., Andrea Cooke, Berta Jones, and Becky Waterman.
Photo credits: