Mourner’s Bench

This emotional solo portrays spiritual struggle through the muscular interplay between a male dancer and a bench. The work was inspired by Howard Fast’s novel Freedom Road and refers to the tragic influence the Ku Klux Klan has on a mixed-race community in the rural South after the Civil War. The soloist asserts himself within and against the themes of oppression and transcendence through the highly stylized, gestural vocabulary of the piece. The dancer, “sitting on the mourner’s bench,” reflects upon the end of his community and the horror of its slaughter. It’s set to the traditional spiritual "There Is A Balm in Gilead."