Keep Me Wishing in the Dark
Music by J.S. Bach
Choreography by Jodie Gates
Assistants to the Choreographer: Jennifer Lott & Robert Amamizu
Costume Design by Melanie Watnick
Lighting Design by Kirk Bookman
Keep Me Wishing in the Dark is a new full company work set to the music of J.S. Bach. The dance is a neoclassical composition abstractly based from two favorite quotes by the English poet Robert Browning:
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?
The moment eternal – just that and no more – When ecstasy’s utmost we clutch
at the core While cheeks burn, arms open, eyes shut, and lips meet!
The piece challenges the artists with their creative and collaborative spirits, and equally calls upon a variety of dance styles during the process. Weaving a sense of humanity throughout the work is a common theme with looping gestural movement and interlacing duets that permeates the dance.
Premiere: Kansas City Ballet, New Dance Partners, September 27, 2013, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas