Fairy Sighting, multimedia dance performance

Directed by Amelia Garretson-Persans
Choreographed by Dana Dotson
Eastern Promenade, Portland, ME, 2021

Presented by TempoART, as part of Gathering Resilience, a series curated by Tessa O’Brien.

Dancers used wall mirrors and mylar blankets to disappear into and emerge out of the landscape over a 45-minute performance. The piece culminated in a cliffside shadow dance overlooking the audience.

Performed by Andreas Aronsson, Dana Dotson, Jen Hoffer, Alana Saleeby, Chel Preville, Mae Livermore and Bridget Parker. Stage management by Cam Howard.

“Historically, fairy sightings have an air of longing to them, a deep desire for a visible bridge between ourselves and the natural world. As an artist, I’m interested in the relationship between truth and charlatanism, in what we’re seeking when we’re so eagerly tricked. In her book Fairies: Real Encounters with Little People author Janet Bord describes a fairy sighting that two or more people have witnessed as a ‘shared hallucination, a parallel vision’. More than anything else, I think this is something we could all use a bit more of right now.”