In the commissioned work, Rituals of Abundance for Lean Times #3: Delicate Extraction, guest choreographer Peter Carpenter posits that the rigorous development of choreographic material stands as a metaphor for the possibility of abundance and sustainability within myths of scarcity. This work is part of a cycle of dances under the “Rituals of Abundance for Lean Times”heading, which, as a whole, recognizes abundance within overwhelming, societally pervasive narratives of dwindling resources. This third installation of the cycle departs from Carpenter’s signature deployment of talking dances in favor of a sustained attention to a visceral movement vocabulary, compositional syntax and the creation of generative choreographic systems.
“Though Carpenter is known for agenda-driven pieces–most recently the Reagan-focused My Fellow Americans–he wanted the cycle of which this piece is part to be “more a contemplation,” an abstract meditation on abundance and scarcity. His guiding principle, he says, was a rule imposed by his teacher at UCLA, Victoria Marks: Get as much as you can from as little as you can.”
Laura Molzahn (from MaryAnn McGovern and Dancers, With Peter Carpenter 2011), Chicago Reader
“Whisper “politically charged choreography,” and just watch people run for the hills. But we couldn’t get away from—or enough of—performances hell-bent on raising issues…Peter Carpenter’s Rituals of Abundance for Lean Times (our review) proposed that creativity and compassion are the most stable (and most valuable) global currencies.”
Zac Whittenburg, Time Out Chicago, 2011 in Review