Solo, 4.5 minutes

In the spring of 2014, Jody Sperling was invited to participate in a 43-day polar science mission to the Chukchi Sea (north of the Bering Strait), as part of an outreach team on climate science communication. In anticipation of the journey, Sperling created the solo Arctic Memory as a reverse memory, or an imaginary projection, of the realm she had yet to encounter.

The solo begins in stately way, suggestive of thick, slow-moving multi-year ice floes that are highly endangered. As the dance rolls on, the movements become quicker and more dynamic, mimicking the movements of thinning sea ice itself. In the end, there is a chaotic fracturing and a melting disappearance.

Sperling wears a long cape hand-painted with designs suggestive of Arctic pack ice. This costume accompanied Sperling to the Arctic, where she wore it on the dozen occasions she danced on sea ice.

The music by Brooks Williams and Beo Morales re-mixes early vibraphone recordings made for scientific purposes in the polar regions. The costume, music, and Sperling’s solo can be seen in the short film Ice Floe.

Arctic Memory was re-conceived as an ice-dance solo for Ice Theatre of New York, performed by skater Valerie Levine. The work was in ITNY’s active repertory from 2017-2022.

CHOREOGRAPHY/DANCER: Jody Sperling
MUSIC: Brooks Williams & Beo Morales
COSTUME DESIGN: Mary Jo Mecca, Gina Nagy Burns & Jody Sperling
COSTUME CONSTRUCTION: Mary Jo Mecca
TEXTILE PAINTING: Gina Nagy Burns
LIGHTING: David Ferri