Escapades (2023)
For clarinet, cello, and piano (and two dancers)
Choreography by Evita Zacharioglou
Duration: 10.5 minutes
Commissioned by the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation
Written for Periapsis Music and Dance
Program note: This was the last work created for Periapsis Music and Dance, and one of several works of mine generously commissioned by the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation. It was my second collaboration with choreographer Evita Zacharioglou, and her initial vision was of two female clowns performing together in a partner act. So there is a lightness and sense of play, but the characters share a rivalry that bathes the work in a dark humor. Ultimately the emotional story became complex, with elements of competition and codependency mixed with the comic exaggerations of clown mannerisms.
The title of Evita’s dance work is The Sad Clown Paradox, and the video above shows some behind-the-scenes excerpts.