Not all these things are true (2021)

Choreographed by Elinor Harrison in collaboration with the dancers

Music: “A Mother” by The Herbalizer, “The Frug” by Rilo Kiley, “Sila” by Tanya Tagaq, “Allen & Lucien” by Nico Muhly, “Hocking” by Cosmo Sheldrake, “Bang Bang” by Dizzy Gillespie, “Microcosm” by Olafur Arnalds

Dancers: Kate Bircher, Leighanne Guettler-James, Chloe Hughlett, Erin Morris, Grace Myers, Clara Irina Torrente Belio, Chenxioa (Tracy) Yu

Piano and vocals: Clara Irina Torrente Belio, “Yolanda” by Pablo Milanés

Costume Design: Brad Musgrove and the dancers

Lighting Design: Lara Kling

Dramaturgy: Betsy Brandt

This work is based on the idea that autobiographical memory is integral to our sense of self. According to embodied cognition theory, memory retrieval depends on reactivating physicalized expressions within our bodies, and our animated remembrance of events from our past is how we know who we are. During the creation of this work, we interweaved movement drawn from our own and ancestral memory banks and we invite you to join us in considering how it reflects what is true about us, what is false, and what parts of ourselves we reveal to the world.

Created for Washington University Dance Theatre 2021