Dance

Cathy Weis, a pioneer at fusing dance and video, is concentrating on small forms. Her new Electric Haiku: Calm as Custard blends the human body and technology. “I pare this partnering down to its essence,” she says, “so I have a very succinct idea: little kinesthetic poems, refined and distilled. Some of them are burlesque, some are pop or kung fu or lyrical. I work very hard with one performer at a time, then string the haiku together and find a linear thread. It’s like life: You have to make a decision, you have to change. As one ages, it gets a little more poignant; each decision is an opportunity to do something new, but at the same time stops you from doing other things. You have to make a choice.”

Weis is working with dancers Diane Madden, Jennifer Miller, and Scotty Heron. “I’m kind of a narrator, which is different this time. In each haiku series I have another focus for myself, another element in the group. Last year it was the sound person, Steve Hamilton: We worked on making people see things that aren’t really there. This year I’m working with Jennifer Tipton, the best lighting designer in New York.”