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DESCRIPTION:For Immediate Release: Dance/ Theatre, Entertainment, Health, 
 Family\nContact: Sarah Day, Co-Director\n831-435-9557 or 
 shahandblah@hotmail.com\n\n\nAnatomy of a Cloud: a premiere dance theatre 
 performance \nby Shah and Blah Productions\nat The 418 Project, 418 Front 
 St.\nAugust 17, 18, 24-26, 2007\nwww.the418.org, 831-466-9770\n\nSanta 
 Cruz- If our sense of self is comprised of a life’s succession of 
 memories, who are we as these memories fade and disappear? What remains of 
 identity as the personal coordinates of our stories and our physical 
 abilities disintegrate?\n\nThis August, Shah and Blah Productions present 
 Anatomy of a Cloud, an evening of dance-theatre performance exploring the 
 poignancy and intricacy of these questions. \nThe performance is being 
 produced as part of The 418 Project’s two-year-old Artist in Residence 
 program. \n\nAnatomy of a Cloud is a compelling look at the continually 
 shifting internal landscape of a mind in the midst of Alzheimer’s 
 Disease. Inspired by the personal family experiences of co-directors/ 
 performers Sarah Day and Daniel Bear Davis, this dance-theatre piece is an 
 intimate and sometimes humorous portrayal of the elements of identity and 
 the process of losing them. \n\nAccording to Davis, “The questions this 
 disease catalyzes about identity are the same questions tackled by Tibetan 
 Buddhism and countless other spiritual traditions. Close examination 
 requires us to acknowledge that we all have stories, and without them, 
 there’s not much to hold on to.”\n\nFeaturing Day and Davis’ fusion 
 of unique and dynamic movement, symbolic narrative, and original music 
 composed by Ilan Heer, Anatomy of a Cloud illuminates the corridors of an 
 episodic mind gradually dislocated in time and space…\n\nThe tinkling of 
 music boxes twists and distorts. A chorus of whitewashed ghosts of memory 
 hang suspended from a clothesline, swaying and empty but for spontaneous 
 bursts of story echoing the moments of one woman’s life. A woman 
 converses with her mirror image, unsure upon which self to apply her 
 make-up. A tight clump of bodies becomes a mass of flailing heads and 
 laughter, caught between fear and absurdity.\n \nThe desire to connect and 
 the progressive inability to make connections is innovatively conveyed 
 utilizing contemporary dance forms, butoh, live vocalization, traditional 
 theatre, and video projection. The performers form a surreal chorus, 
 embodying rapidly changing mental states and giving form to the personal 
 ghosts we encounter as the notion of “self” and body disintegrate. 
 \nThe Context- As the medical community develops greater understanding and 
 treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease in the realm of scientific research, Day 
 and Davis see the development and presentation of Anatomy of a Cloud as a 
 way to engage, evoke, and raise awareness through artistic expression. A 
 recently released study* states that the U.S. as a whole can expect a 44 
 percent increase in Alzheimer’s cases by 2025, strongly indicating that 
 awareness of this debilitating disease must be brought to the forefront. 
 According to the Alzheimer’s Association, in Santa Cruz County alone 
 there are 4,000 people grappling with Alzheimer’s Disease, not to mention 
 the families, loved ones, and caregivers who’s lives are tremendously 
 impacted. While there is much clinical documentation available to 
 caregivers and related alliances, there is little artistic exploration. 
 \n\nAccording to Day, “Anatomy of a Cloud seeks to give creative voice to 
 the personal essence and very human experience of this rapidly growing 
 issue, promoting introspection while encouraging a community 
 conversation.” \n\nThe Performers- Anatomy of a Cloud will be performed 
 by Jo Birns, Laura Bishop, RD Bolam, Daniel Bear Davis, Sarah Day, and 
 Amanda Greenlee. The piece is, true to Shah and Blah form, 
 interdisciplinary. Original music from local composer Ilan Heer, and piano 
 played by Jesse Autumn add to Shah and Blah’s already strong recipe of 
 image-rich dance and evocative language.\n\nDay and Davis catapulted onto 
 the Santa Cruz performance scene two years ago. In that short time they 
 have collaborated on five original movement theatre pieces exposing the 
 layers of human psyche innovatively and evocatively. They have performed 
 these works in Santa Cruz at the 2005 and 2006 SoWat Contemporary 
 Performance Festivals, the Human Condition, What is Erotic, at Counterpulse 
 in San Francisco, and Earthdance Center for Improvisational Dance in MA. 
 \n\n “Daniel was able to read my play, vision the execution of the 
 performance and bring it to completion exactly as I always dreamed. Sarah 
 embodied her character to a depth I myself never imagined. They are 
 absolutely to be trusted as shepard’s of sensitive and complex emotional 
 material.”\n-Aliza Ansell, playwright/educator, Massachusetts\n\nDaniel 
 Davis has been performing in theatre and dance work for most of his life, 
 training at Boston University acting conservatory before shifting focus 
 towards performance art and movement-based work. He has trained with many 
 renowned international teachers including Nancy Stark Smith, Eiko & Koma, 
 and Nita Little, and has performed with a company dancing on construction 
 scaffolding (Wire Monkey), in a site-specific dance film in Joshua Tree 
 (Body Cartography Project), in an inter-generational company, in butoh and 
 clowning performances, as well as numerous modern dance projects. Last 
 summer he assistant-choreographed a dance for 35 seniors in Hamburg, 
 Germany under English Choreographer Royston Maldoom (Rhythm Is It?).\nSarah 
 Day has been engaging her relationship with the expressive potential of the 
 body over the past 10 years. Initially influenced by contemporary dance 
 forms and contact improvisation, Sarah has since found inspiration from her 
 exploration of butoh, her studies with Frey Faust and Keith Hennessey, and 
 performing with Berlin choreographer Felix Ruckert. Her background as a 
 visual artist and writer allows her to utilize a strong sense of 
 image-based material within her performance work.\n\nThe 2007 418 Artist in 
 Residence (AIR) program culminates with a two-weekend run of Anatomy of a 
 Cloud, an evening of performance by Shah and Blah Productions (Sarah Day 
 and Daniel Davis). Anatomy of a Cloud opens August 17, and continues Aug. 
 18, 24, 25, 26. Tickets available through The 418. For more information 
 contact 831-466-9770/ www.the418.org\n\n* “State Specific Projections 
 Through 2025 of Alzheimer’s Disease Prevalence”\n\nCALENDAR 
 LISTING:\n\nWHO: Shah and Blah Productions (Sarah Day and Daniel Davis) 
 \n\nWHAT: Anatomy of a Cloud, an interdisciplinary dance-theatre 
 performance exploring the shifting internal landscape of a mind grappling 
 with Alzheimer’s Disease. \n\nWHEN: Fri-Sat August 17, 18, Fri-Sun August 
 24-26, 2007 @ 8pm (Sun @ 7pm)\n\nWHERE: The 418 Project, 418 Front St., 
 Santa Cruz\n\nTICKETS: $15, contact 466-9770 for 
 information\n\nINFO/RESERVATIONS: 831-466-9770\n\nWEB: www.the418.org\n\n 
 \n\n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/07/12/18435063.php
SUMMARY:Anatomy of a Cloud
LOCATION:The 418 Project.\n418 Front St\nSanta Cruz
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/07/12/18435063.php
DTSTART:20070818T030000Z
DTEND:20070818T043000Z
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