OBJECTS SPACES ABOUT CONTACT
DENDRON
2005 Set Design

Choreography by Mark Jarecke
New York NY at Danspace, St Marks Church
Milan Italy at Spazio P4 during Salone del Mobile

Dendron is the final installment of a trilogy of dances by Jarecke exploring the relationship “between our architectural environment and our emotional one”. Dendron’s genesis is the notion of nature and its subsequent customization. The goal of the set was to provide a context for this dialogue to emerge. The installation is an abstraction of a forest canopy. Filtering and reflecting light to create moments of intense light and dramatic shadow. The canopy attempts to negotiate the volume of the performance space down to the scale of the body. The fluid thrust of the panels pick up on movements from the dance and relay them back into the space.
Due to the fact that the venue is still an active church the canopy had to come down twice and be put up twice during the performance run. The decision to use a cable and fabric system enables the set to be rolled up and stored in a closet during the time the space is used for mass. The initial install was facilitated by accurately modeling the entire system, then producing the cable runs the exact required lengths limiting any fabrication work on site.