Title: HEEL live at Newsteps
Category: Performance
Year: 2008

Synopsis: This collaborative piece, with Julie Fotheringham, was performed at the Newsteps series at the Chen Dance Center (NY). Julie was responsible for the movement/choreography and voice. The music for this piece consists of solo mandolin, using a full range of tonal and percussive sounds. More info on Julie Fotheringham here. The title "Heel" has the obvious double-meaning of being a noun and a command. Employing nightmarish and/or surrealist imagery of the fishnet stocking on the head and the high heel shoe taped to the face and head, the obvious interpretation that can be drawn from this work is that it is a statement which is critical of the societal pressure placed upon women to look as 'feminine' as possible. Although the high heel shoe is largely impractical and uncomfortable, it is nonetheless worn in a formal or overtly sexualized context because of its purely aesthetic qualities.

Production Notes: Soon after Julie told me she wanted to do a piece with a shoe on her face, I suggested that we place a wireless mic inside the shoe. By amplifying her whispers and breathing sounds, the symbolism of the shoe (being a communicative visual element) is underlined and exaggerated.