Queer Pas - 2007

Choreographed by: Joel Smith

Performed by: Michael Szanyi and Meredith Horiuchi

Music:

Costumes: Joel Smith

Lighting Design: Eileen Cooley

 

Commissioned by: Scripps College Dance Department.

Premiered at Garrison Theater, Scripps College. Claremont, CA. Friday, April 13, 2007.

 

This duet interrogates the codified, heteronormative structure of the ballet Pas De Deux.  A queer man and woman pair to sensationalize the sexual tension and dramatic representation of heterosexual male-female coupling in western dance. The dance is in 3 parts, much like a traditional 'pas' and the dancers challenge how social roles, the gaze and choreography gets assigned and directed. The dance is filled with irony, is often humorous, and through campy gestures and complicated partnering and dancing the Queer Pas offers an alternative to the conservative tradition.