MotherBirth

In my last post, I promised to tell you about another dance related to the Maiden/Mother/Crone trilogy that my troupe conceived of and created. We are calling this dance MotherBirth.

I was the lead choreographer on this one. I had already developed a solo dance depicting my interpretation of the Birth story, informed by my work as a Midwife. This troupe dance grew out of that one, and added in the Maiden/Mother/Crone mythology.

The dance opens with the Crone, danced by Karen. She is coming to the end of her life and must pass on her wisdom attained through the years. She dances with two veils - one black and one white. In the second part of the dance, the Maiden enters and she and the Crone dance together. The Crone is transmitting her wisdom and leaves the Maiden with the white veil.

I danced the role of the Maiden (who is also the midwife), and I used the archetype of the Goddess Artemis as my inspiration. Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo. Her mother Leto gave birth to her first, but then had a prolonged labor with Apollo. Artemis midwifed Leto during this difficult labor.

In my Maiden dance, I begin with innocence and joy, I remember what grandmother Crone taught me, and I soon realize that I must prepare myself for my adult role as the midwife.

The Mother dances next. It is a dance of abundance and anticipation of meeting her child. Anita-Cristina is costumed all in red and draped in three red veils. As she dances, she removes the veils, and leaves them scattered on the stage.

The Crone and the Maiden dance again together to prepare for the birth. We push away the darkness, we ready the cradle, we boil some water, we prepare the depression in the earth to receive the baby... When all is ready, the Mother enters as her labor begins. The labor builds in intensity until the birth - and this is where the dance ends.

We got some excellent photos taken by Allison Perkel, and you can see them here at our website (Scroll down to the bottom of this page to see the photos).