drill piece

Performed at Center for Performance Research as an Artist in Residence, The Flea Theater, West End Theater, and Virginia Regional High School Dance Festival (2013)

Drill Piece examines military custom, ritual, and tradition as a re-inscribed performance practice. Brought up in a military family, choreographer Motley considers how influences of the Marine Corps have impacted her art practice. Examining gender and notions of soldiering from a cultural production perspective, Drill Piece considers the codified movements of the changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the cadence of USMC Silent Drill Team as well as presentation and representation of evening parades and basic training. Dancers generate sound scores with a vocal processor, using the existing military language of metaphors with which we describe our lives, such as “shot-gun,” “battle,” and “take a stab at it.”   

Performed by Meredith Fages, Lea Fulton, Josselyn Levinson-Dustin, Sharon Milanese, and Jane Sato

Live Music and original score created and performed by Colonna Sonora.

Projected animations by Visual artist Aleta Lanier.