2022 April

Movement: Concetta Cariello, Kiori Kawai
Music: Aaron Sherwood
Film making: Kiori Kawai

Developed with support from Ahmed Alyafei at Al Khatim Art Hub, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E

About the project: This piece is a part of a larger project where Italian dancer Concetta Cariello and Japanese dancer Kiori Kawai are exploring their movement in three different environments in the U.A.E including mangrove forest, rocky mountains, and sandy desert.

About the music: The piece begins with a synth drone, paralleling the starkness of the desert. The drone swells from time to time, in a manner similar to desert wind gusts. As the sun rises and the dancers move closer to each other and eventually touch, the music builds and various rhythmic patterns are introduced. There is a definite pulse, with everything fitting together precisely, but, because of the polyrhythms, it’s hard to find exactly where the pulse lands. This feeling mimics the dunes which, one after the other, keep rolling and falling on top of each other, never finally landing, never reaching a point of rest. The listener has to give up on finding that point of rhythmic rest (the downbeat). Thus the music becomes an invitation to let go and dwell in the wild beauty, yet stark brutality, of the desert.