Horses and Foxes

HORSES & FOXES is a 40-minute durational immersive performance featuring dance, sound, and sculpture performed live by three artists, three women. 

Built on the histories and mythologies of its namesake, HORSES & FOXES will take over Studio A at Pittsburgh’s WQED (The Fred Rogers Studio). This black box television studio space is a 78’x76’x30’ raw space with a lighting rig, projection capabilities, multi-channel speaker setup, and cyclorama backdrop. HORSES & FOXES breaks the traditional proscenium setting by positioning the audience in the round, using the freestyle dance style of cypher as the stage where the audience and performers meet and engage.

Concept 

The horse (Equus caballus) is a one-toed, hoofed mammal – often in herds with a clear hierarchical structure, born with wild strength and elegance, and is seen as a display of natural power, pride, freedom, and agility. In the human world, they are often domesticated and led by a dominant individual in command. Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are wild, rarely domesticated mammals with long snouts and a distinct full-bodied, voluptuous fluffy tail. They have excellent hearing and are able to detect the low-frequency sounds of their prey. The piece is inspired by the metaphors and mythologies surrounding these creatures across various cultures, in particular, how patriarchal societies have historically associated women with these animals as symbols of fertility and guardianship, as well as of impulsiveness, seductiveness, and cunningness. 

In this project, we ask:

When power is given, how to wield it;

When power is exercised, what comes from it;

When power is feminine, who provokes it; 

When power is a threshold, where does it break and

How does one heal

To be re-empowered

Project sponsored by Tomayko Foundation and The Frank-Ratchye STUDIO For Creative Inquiry