Tasting the Blaze

Three major artists at the forefront of postmodern dance, music and visual art joined to create TASTING THE BLAZE, an intimate performance spectacle that premiered in Austin on April 19. Choreographer Deborah Hay, composer Pauline Oliveros and visual artist Tina Girouard collaborated with 60 performers for the three-hour event.

Presented by Austin-based Women & Their Work and Deborah Hay Dance Company, TASTING THE BLAZE premiered at the Austin Opera House April 19 and 20. A second set of performances took place in Houston April 26 and 27 at the University of Houston’s Lawndale Annex.

TASTING THE BLAZE had been Deborah Hay’s largest work to date. It consisted of twelve dances choreographed by Hay and performed to music by Pauline Oliveros. Tina Girouard designed the sets, costumes and environmental effects, including a grand asymmetric, free-form pavillion.

Performing the dances were Deborah Hay solo, the Deborah Hay Dance Company, a five-member troupe, and Deborah Hay’s Performing Conscious Movement Workshop, thirty dancers and non-dancers who have spent four months of performance practice with TASTING THE BLAZE. Musicians include B.L. Lacerta, a New Music ensemble from Dallas, Strahl Music, an Austin ensemble of six accordionists, and Gagaku Orchestra, a group of twelve Austin musicians devoted to the performance of Japanese Imperial Court Music.