Video | Kristin McArdle Dance

Aqua / Biolumes.mov

Aqua / Riptide.mov

Field Guide.mov

Aqua Borealis.m4v

Ghostfishing.mov

Primavera.mov

Dances Aqua explores the transformation from light to darkness in a journey from the shallows to the deep. Polyrhythmic percussion and lyrical orchestration conjure up the quick shape shifters of the bait ball and the rhythmic flow of the tides.

Aqua Borealis is inspired by the extraordinary marine organisms that use bioluminescent light to communicate in the ocean. The lyrical voice of Dr. Sylvia Earle narrates the dance, which pairs LED lights with dancers’ movements, creating a world expressed in blue saturated structures, vibrant rainbows, and prismatic leaps. The audience descends into the world of liquid light, as if their seats were deep-sea submersibles.

Field Guide celebrates the staccato movements of the killdeer, the ubiquitous one-leg stand of the heron and egret, the darting head and eyes of the neighborhood robin, the mating rituals of 'bird spring', and the complex flight patterns seen during the winged migration.

Ghostfishing considers the perils of consumption, as predator becomes prey and back again. Enter the world of the slow chase, the beauty of the cast, the new ‘catch of the day.’

Primavera illustrates the ocean’s ability to invoke and embody memory and experience, sanctuary and danger, love and loss, catch and release.