Quarry Dance

Two years ago Ina Hahn realized her vision of producing a public dance concert at Halibut Point in collaboration with Dusan Tynek, resident artist at Windhover Center for the Performing Arts. Next weekend they will offer Quarry Dance #3 at Deep Pit Quarry in Lanesville (see below.)

Lisa Hahn photo 

Ina "I walk at Halibut Point every day. It's like a pilgrimage for me, and for many other people....It's a combination of inner and outer worlds. The inner world being the quarry itself and the outer world being the ocean."

 "It was built by local people, wonderful families that suffered through all the difficulties of the men quarrying....They didn't realize the were creating dreamscapes for the rest of us."

Lisa Hahn photo

Dusan "Ina has been extremely important to me personally. She was one of the first people who offered their hand to me at the beginning when I started my own company in New York City....She comes from a very specific artistic background, from the Doris Humphrey/Jose Limon area. That's not my training, but I have a huge respect for what all those pioneers of modern dance did. Her carrying the legacy is so important. It's so rare to have a place like Windhover dedicated to dance."

Sallee Slagle photo

 "For me, creating a dance is spiritual. You're reaching into those parts of you that you don't really know they're in there, and you're suddenly connecting, especially when you're outside with nature, and with the people."

 

"The architectural makeup of the site obviously dictated certain things. But then also the history of the workers, the granite, and then of course the elements - the water, the air, the rocks....It was an abstract piece, but these were the influences."

Sallee Slagle photo

"I wanted to use some distance as well as something up close. I had the dancers move to the other side of the quarry. In front of them would be the entire length of the quarry, with the cliffs and the water. Then right behind them was the ocean. I needed a pop of color. So the red, I thought, worked beautifully.... It's such an unexpected contrast in an area where everything is blue and green and gray, a beautiful element to bring into the natural environment."

"Each audience member brings a certain memory or a thought or an experience from that particular place, to how they view the performance, how it links to them. Some part of the dance might just hit that note in their psyche and bring these memories back, so they're affected by it."
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Quarry Dance #2 was performed last summer at Valley Pit Quarry, former home of Sylvester Ahola.

Quarry Dance #3 will be performed at Deep Pit Quarry, former home of Walker Hancock and now of Deane Hancock French. Friday, Aug 1 at 5:30pm and Saturday Aug 2 at 11:00am and 5:30pm. See the Windhover website for directions and parking.