Thirst (2009)
World Premiere March 14, 2009
At the Music Center at Strathmore
Commissioned by CityDance Ensemble, Washington, DC
Thirst is a multimedia work that includes projections designed by Shannon Schwait of photographic images of industrial waste taken by the renowned photographer J Henry Fair, whose Industrial Scars series has changed the world of environmental art. By asking the question, “What do you thirst for?”, the audience literally becomes part of the performance as their audio responses are mixed into the sound score live each night. The piece looks at how one’s thirst, or desire, might lead to greed, and in turn how greed can become over consumption, and is creating some of the planet’s environmental problems.
Having been performed in venues all over the world, the interactive sound score for Thirst has accumulated sound bites from audience members, speaking at least a half dozen languages.
Choreographed by Christopher K. Morgan, Thirst had creative contributions from its original cast members: Giselle Alvarez, Elizabeth Gahl, Jason Garcia Ignacio, Delphina Parenti, Kathryn Pilkington, Maleek Makhail Washington and Alice Belle Wylie.