Every summer and winter, I return to Walla Walla, my hometown in rural southeast Washington State, to reconnect with family and the land that has remained in my heart since I left. In 2015, I began filming myself improvising movement in the fields. The impulse was born out of desire and curiosity: the desire to see myself as part of the landscape that feels such a part of me, and the curiosity about whether I, as a dancer trained in a number of different vocabularies, could connect with my own innate way of moving beyond what I was taught.

Unsurprisingly, I discovered that it was not easy to get away from certain movement habits, and that it was impossible for me to sense whether these habits were “naturally” mine or instilled through training. Yet through this practice of improvisation in the fields, I listen to my own inner rhythms and impulses as they are influenced by my experience of the environment. I attempt to use my body and movement to respond “honestly” rather than perform.

Dry, 2020

For Dry, I wanted to make a longer, more cinematic piece, but did not know what the theme would be until weeks after I had filmed. Reviewing the footage, I was surprised by how well the light and clouds translated on screen; I liked the slightly ominous visual effect. It was late summer, a time when rain is scarce in Walla Walla, and there had been a feeling in the air of a storm waiting to break (in fact, it never materialized). I recorded the soundscape later, back in Brooklyn—rain plunking on the air conditioner.

Movement can feel abstract and hard to “read” in our narrative-seeking minds. I often pair my movement pieces with text to provide a kind of verbal frame—for myself as much as others—to help contain and contextualize the movement. Sometimes the movement is inspired by the text, at other times I select the text afterwards. The passage quoted comes from Albert Camus’ lyrical essay “Return to Tipasa,” in which he reflects on revisiting as an older man a beloved place from his youth.

Dust improvisation, 2021

A segment of a typical improvisational session, filmed toward the end of summer in a harvested canola field. I enjoy playing in the dust, which becomes fine and powdery soft at this time of year.