Buzz
Saxophonist/composer Jorrit Dijkstra and I have been collaborating improvisationally since 2018. Buzz draws as heavily upon both free improvisation practices in music and in dance, as it does on relationship dynamics and awareness. Buzz inherently explores the politics of our identities in space together. What does it mean for a white Dutch American man and a biracial Jamaican American Jewish woman to share the stage? How do we communicate as equals?
Over time, Buzz has come to explore the fine edges of humor and theatricality. There is something magical for us in the moment of not knowing or seeing how each other is responding. We explore how these random instances affect our interrelationship, relative to the space. Will we touch, or won’t we? Will you as viewers see something we don’t? Will you laugh even if we’re not overtly clowning? What happens when we simplify our roles even further to two bodies in space and one instrument?
Buzz has been adapted for large proscenium stages, outdoor site specific areas, and for small spaces, presented by:
Wesleyan University, Middletown, MA
Tiny & Short at The Dance Complex
The Lilypad, Cambridge, MA
Driff Music Fest, Cambridge, MA
Constellation, Chicago, IL
Somerville ArtBeat Festival in Davis Square, MA
The Dance Complex in Ten Tiny Dances®
Non-Event, YouTube
