Future of Memory (2003)

Premiered: The Duke on 42nd Street, NYC

Awards: 2004 Honorable Mention: Prix Ars Electronica • 2003 Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award

Choreography & Direction: Dawn Stoppiello in collaboration with the performers
Videography, Music & Direction: Mark Coniglio
Lighting Design: Susan Hamburger
Costume Design: Akiko Sato
Set Design: Joel Sherry
Performers: Danielle Goldman, Dawn Stoppiello, Michou Szabo, Sandra Tillett,
Musicians: Fireworks Ensemble – Leigh Stuart – Cello; Julian Moritz – Marimba; Alicia Lagger – Violin

Commissioning Partners: Jerome Foundation, Nancy Quinn Fund and Oberlin College.

Photo Credit: Richard Termine

DESCRIPTION

Four fictional characters selectively recreate their life experiences by returning to memories. Their stories and actions reveal the fallible and impermanent nature of human recall, where romanticized, repressed, lost, and recreated selves are the norm. Future of Memory posits that the process of how we store, recall, and embody the events of our lives defines who we are as individuals and, thereby, who we become as a community.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

Watch the Full Performance Video (1h 2m)

REVIEWS

Into the ‘Future’ with Troika’s Smart Video Dance: “Dawn Stoppiello (choreography) and Mark Coniglio (composer and sensory system designer) collaborated on the video design, one of the key elements of the piece. Here, video actually seems to be intelligent, capable of learning and quick to use its newfound material. A periodic montage of images — a water drop’s crater, feet planted in sand washed by a wave, the sea, more feet being dripped with blood — later includes video feed taken during the performance, giving it a voyeuristic feel. And we watched video of the performance streamed seconds after it was performed. It’s a chilling reminder of the world we live in and that pervasive video surveillance makes us invisible to no one.” – Susan Young, Dance Insider (Read Full Review)

Innovation Powers Company: “The evening- length work, a fascinating fusion of movement, music, text, video, costumes and lighting, will premiere later this month in New York. [The work created] a surreal world of vivid memories that became blurred, distorted, dramatized or destroyed. The dancers alternately moved together in flowing unison or took the solo spotlight in collaboration with co-artistic director Mark Coniglio, who used interactive video techniques to transform the dancers’ faces and voices.” – Wilma Salisbury, Cleveland Plain Dealer (Read Full Review)