From the Director of Fighting Water
Daniel Wilkins
Fighting Water came out of my experience coaching my dancers, trying to teach them to let the movement happen on its own rather than controlling it. I used the example of being in the water you cannot fight the water to make it move you. There are laws that you have to abide by to conduct the water in an optimum fashion to propel you. Even, strong, directional force allows for optimum inertia. In this sense the project will be a growing process for the dancers to better learn how to conduct themselves.
As a choreographer, I too can challenge myself to add more lyricism to my work to counter the bursts of athleticism. Adapting my course of action to the teachings and potential of water, I am led into an investigation that many masters have searched out including martial artists.
Once I decided on the theme, ideas started percolating. I tend to see a production with visual elements as well; multiple projections are my medium of choice because it has the most freedom and adaptability. The stage is about light and projection infuses catalytic information into that light with eye-popping color and energy. The pond liner surface came from my love of the slip-n-slide as a child and the rain, well, beautiful dancers, wet and athletically engaged, seemed to me a diving board into the very watchable.
My new mission, which started with the partnership of Real Change and The Door with Poor Man's Boogie, is bridging new partnerships with organizations that positively effect change in the world outside the theater. Every new work I create comes from evidence in society. I hope to not only affect our audience with moving emotion and strength of spirit but also be a community leader in topics that deserve our attention.
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