Collaborations with Ram Island Dance

I collaborated with choreographer Danny McCusker and Ram Island Dance Company on a series of works: Pentimento, followed by Book of Hours, and later Grass.

Our collaboration began with Pentimento, a title used by writer Lillian Hellman to describe the visible traces of earlier marks that surface as layers are reworked and revised over time. I created the stage environment, working with everyday props, fabric, and slide projections. Images shifted continuously as dancers moved through the space; their bodies cast shadows that altered the projections, amplifying movement and changing the set through their presence. The environment was not fixed but responsive, unfolding in relation to the choreography.

As our collaboration continued with Book of Hours and Grass, what began as a relationship between choreographer and set designer became increasingly porous. Our roles merged through rehearsal, touring, and sustained exchange. Across these works, we shared an interest in memory—both deep and immediate—layering, dailiness, and the way gesture and repetition shape space over time. We toured together throughout New England and New York City, learning how to make work through attention, adaptation, and trust.

Danny McCusker, choreographer, on our collaboration:

Our collaboration was in part about looking for, and finding, community. It was an effort to grow beyond what we both already knew about what we did in our respective fields. What we had in common was an interest in memory, deep memory and current memory; dailiness, the value of the day in and day out that is often overlooked and undervalued; layering, the way memory is layered and the way memory layers space. We were both interested in focusing on moments, gestures, images, that had resonance for us – even when we didn't quite know why.

Speaking for myself, our collaboration was a gift, an opportunity to work with someone who was so competent and who had a broad perspective.

We were young and energetic enough to make something work, despite the obstacles we encountered, despite the obstacles we invented.