Marilyn Wood - Celebrations Choreography

Celebrations Choreography

Woods' process often begins with use of environmental scores to involve the creativity of the local community of participating artists into initial ideas of the site design. This process was highlighted in her three weeks show “Citysenses” at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York City in 1969. Her resulting choreography typically encapsulates all aspects of the site with a focus on the physical access of a large audience, often from many directions. The piece orchestrates local performing groups simultaneously at all entry points as an arrival experience as the audience gathers. The choreography includes dance sequences on rooftops, windows, fountains, plazas, parks, and waterfronts. This dance orientation extends to original music, soundscapes, fire and sky sculpture, inflatable forms, site generated films and video, daytime as well as nighttime fireworks. The design of the event offers visual access to all the sequences from one building to another, including deliberate choreographic gestures to move the attention of the audience to one aspect of the site to another. The transition into the finale predictably initiates the audience into dancing and the sharing of energy in the street.