“SLIDING GLASS DOORS”

Premiered in Boston, MA (January 2006)

International Premiere (Montreal, June 2006)

Choreography By: Alysia Woodruff

Lighting, Scenic Designer: Benoit Beauchamp

Poet: Ayisha Knight-Shaw

ASL Consultant: Rye Zemelsky

Dancers

Sliding Glass Doors debuted in Boston January ’06 as a collaboration between choreographer Alysia Woodruff and Deaf poet Ayisha Knight-Shaw, making movement and transformative meaning from signed language. For this show only, Knight-Shaw returns to perform her poem in American Sign Language (ASL).

Alysia Woodruff’s scholarly work explores the synthesis of the movement languages of American Sign Language (ASL) and modern dance. She is fascinated by the juxtaposition of ASL, a very specific movement language, with modern dance, an abstract form of movement as communication. Another fundamental principle of her work has been providing access to dance for non-traditional artists and underserved populations.