one thousand pieces

2024-03-24

Philip Glass - Etude No. 2

America Windows | The Art Institute of Chicago

i was in Seattle this weekend where i had a date to take a girl to the ballet (PNB; One Thousand Pieces). both the ballet and the girl were breathtaking.

the highlight of One Thousand Pieces was the climax of the first half, when columns of mist fall behind the dancers. the water on the stage in this part of the performance both expands and restricts movements. the slick surface forces restraint. bodies enter controlled slides where they would otherwise stop abrputly. light is dispersed by the cascading mist and water droplets stream from the performers, throwing long symmetries across the stage.

for the whole time i've known her, my date has pursued her transition with an intensity i can't help but admire. i rarely see her not healing from one or more surgeries, laser sessions, tattoos—as an exercise of bodily autonomy, tattoos can be a trans technique. her intensity is powerful, but i can also see that it takes its toll.

my own pace is more patient, tempered by my focus on motherhood. that is its own kind of trans technique and offers its own forms of intensity.

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