When Stirling Matheson, the director of Ballet Theatre of Indiana, approached me about recreating my 2016 work Absolution for film, I was interested, but skeptical. He had a vision of a site-specific piece, filmed at night, with rain effects and fog. I wasn't sure if this meant Stirling would show up with a hose and camcorder, but I was willing to give it a go anyway.
As it turns out, Stirling had enlisted the help of Emmy Award winning filmmaker Bryan Boyd to shoot, co-direct, and edit the project. The addition of a generous grant and loan of an Angenieux camera lens set us on the path to create something really special.
We gathered at The Ruins in Holliday Park on a Wednesday evening in late August, and gave ourselves 5 hours of darkness to film every group shot, close up, and angle needed to capture the story of this piece. Stirling had, in fact, built a working rain machine, and there was a dedicated grip on hand with plenty of fog.
The first time we ran the piece through entirely, it was exhilarating. At least for me. The dancers, who were now at the beginning of a long night of dancing in cold "rain", may have felt differently. Working with Stirling and Bryan to create this film piece by piece was such a fulfilling experience, and one that I hope to have to opportunity to experience again.
