As We Drift (2019)

Choreographed by Elinor Harrison in collaboration with the dancers

Music by Louis Wall and The Texas Room, a collective of musicians from the St. Louis immigrant/refugee community including “Unde Dragoste” (“Our Paths”) by Dan George Spataru, “Drumurile Noastre” (“Where Love”) by Ben Tulin, Josiah DeBoer, Andy Hainz, Chloe Feoranzo, Adria and Her Treasures, Grace Smith, and Louis Wall, and “Old Hat” by Brian Landzaant and Louis Wall with Ajit Logun.

Audio clips from inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility

Text from the U.S. Citizenship Test

Costume design by Tammi Fung, Dominique Glaros & Frieda Curtis

Lighting design by Ashley Yang

Evolving out of anger over the harsh policies imposed by the U.S. government and mistreatment of immigrant detainees at the border, this piece explores the isolation and desperation of being far from home. In particular, the separation of children from their families, which has occurred at various times throughout the history of our nation, invokes a potent image of inhumanity that--in spite of public outcry--continues to this day.

Created for Washington University Dance Theatre 2019