Q2: HABITAT
August 3rd-7th (raindate August 8th; no advanced ticket sales for this day)*
in the Old Settlement Quarry in Oceanville
Buy tickets online or call 207-367-2788.
Q2: Habitat is the second site-specific, multidiscipline spectacle to be developed in one of our island's historic granite quarries. View images and video from the first spectacle Quarryography from 2007.
Choreographed and directed by resident Alison Chase, a founding Artistic Director of Pilobolus Dance Theater, with puppet artist/choreographer Mia Kanazawa, Q2:Habitat uses professional dancers; community members; original steel pan score; and local heavy equipment operators and their machines to explore the conflicts which arise among diverse populations--from native porcupine to local fishermen, retirees and second home owners--as they compete to occupy the stunningly beautiful landscape of coastal Down East Maine.
Come see the giant puppets, including natural site inhabitants the Warrior Porcupine, Large and Small Spruce Trees and Granite Blocks; the Band of Snails (the steel pan band accompaniment); The Local Guys, the fishing descendents of the original immigrant Quarry workers, and their Trucks; the Real Estate Agent and THE CLIENT; The Carpenter Crew; and the final giant puppet/sculpture--The House. Throughout the performance, an elaborate system of winches will be an integral part of the staging; providing a metaphor for the inevitable and incremental force of change.
What happens when multiple layers of various species residing in or seeking to inhabit a small, beautiful place - from the wild fauna to a long history of residents, including the alleged civilization of humans - collide in the same space at the same time? They must improvise: and experimenting with the art of improvisation and its unpredictable, unexpected, physical results is the engine of Chase's choreography as well as the heart of any community. Inspired by an unbelievably breathtaking natural amphitheater overlooking Deer Isle Thorofare and the Merchant Islands, Chase and Kanazawa team up to bring together members of this small, rural island community to play; improvise; explore; and through this improvisation to imagine possible solutions for their differences.
The Settlement Quarry and its surrounding community are simultaneously the locations, inspirations for, and subjects of this project. Both a human and a natural artifact, exposing a history of glacial forces and community industry, the quarry opens itself up to large scale storytelling through movement, shape, sound, and color. How to use this wide expanse of natural space is a challenge we find both exciting and scary. Can we possibly create a drama, objects, choreography that will have meaning in this expanse? It is our vision that Q2: Habitat that these performances and their creation explore the ongoing dialectic between specific, local human ideologies and the natural history of a particular place.
Beautiful places such as the coast of Maine, Martha's Vineyard, etc. are under severe social and economic pressures. Desire for these limited beautiful places, for the coastline itself, creates both conflict and hardship in our local communities: between the place's current inhabitants - vanishing fish and bird populations, as well as struggling fishermen and other blue collar workers - and in-migrating populations, particularly those who are able to make significant changes to the landscape by constructing large seasonal or vacation homes. Not only do the shapes of the natural and human landscapes change, but the property itself, increasing in value as a result of its desirability among diverse populations, at times moves out of reach of its traditional inhabitants. To each group, its counterpart becomes "the other:" a cultural mystery. In this way Q2: Habitat, is extremely timely in its subject matter, and innovative in the artistic and participatory processes by which it attempts to address the heart of these conflicts.
*If it rains, then you can attend the show on any of the other days Q2: Habitat is scheduled for.
