A Thousand Several Ways

Choreography: Gabrielle Lamb
Music: Henry Purcell

For this work I have used four pieces by Henry Purcell. One in particular, “Music for a While”, is close to my heart. I fell in love with this aria the first time I heard it—so much so that I have choreographed four different arrangements of it during the past few months. The lyrics, by John Dryden, state that “Music, for a while, shall all your cares beguile”. Referring to Alecto, one of the snake-haired, bloody-eyeballed Furies from Greek mythology, Dryden goes on to say that the power of music made the snakes drop away from her head and the whip fall out of her hands. What better image to hold in our imaginations in times of turmoil and uncertainty?

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