Click here for part three in this series, which shows the artistic and conceptual development of a key scene from Electric Blue over a period of six months in 2005.
By October of 2005, six months before the premiere of Electric Blue, this scene had taken substantial form, with pairs of dancers developing their own work under choreographer and creative director Cheryl Flaharty. Rehearsals, several tough evening hours, 3-4 times a week, became more intensive.
This scene from Electric Blue was inspired by the Irish/Scottish myth of the selke, sea creatures that shed their skins and dance for humans on the land. For IONA, the “skins” become vintage fur coats and the humans are men in stylized tuxedos -- with ropes.
We filmed this gritty handheld video in a gym room at the downtown YMCA in Honoulu. You get a sense of the sweat and precision required to create each second of the final program.
