I also returned to the use of fictional projected text for This Is What Happened, in contrast to the non-fictional text I began employing with Not-About-AIDS-Dance (1994). The text, just six lines, commented on the dance events:
This is what happened.
Don’t believe her, she’s lying.
He guesses his future.
Something is happening to her.
Flashback.
Back to the present.
My goal with these phrases was to open my process to the audience, in effect engage the viewer in what may be my ultimate question when taking in a dance (or any work of art) - what exactly is happening here? As an example: When I slowly eased my tank top strap off my shoulder, back to the audience, and the audience read the projection “He guesses his future,” I hoped that multiple interpretations and a range of feelings might be made possible. The options and choices of interpretation are what interested me.
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Henry Baumgartner, New York Dance Fax, 2000
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Excerpts from This Is What Happened