molt

molt premiered under the title fOXYMORONIC, April 6 to 10, 2005, as a presentation of the Firehall Theatre’s dance series in Vancouver (please see attached reviews). The creation of molt was made possible by a highly productive creation residency at the Banff Centre in October of 2004 for which creator Cori Caulfield was a recipient of a prestigious Paul D. Fleck Fellowship.

molt is an original “adult fairy tale” about Magpie whose desire to be a “beautiful bird” leads her into the enchanted forest where “mostly bad things happen…but the clothes are so fabulous”. molt “shakes down classical ballet and documents its… course in neutralizing female power,” with choreographer/performer Cori Caulfield’s trademark humour and “lethal combination of kinetic sensuality and academic precision.” (Penelope Mulligan, Discorder Magazine) molt is a full length solo show in sixteen movements:

Raven: “Ride of the Valkyries”, the post-modern solo dance version
Feather Solo: just that, a red feather takes the spotlight and dances its little heart out to frenetic ballet class music
Kaleidoscope: duet for coloured light and “Magpie” who craves shiny, pretty things
A Murder: (the proper term for a group of crows) a dance on the old rhyme “One crow is sorrow…”
Feather DuetGopak: Magpie chases the red feather to frenetic ballet class music
Dancing in My Dreams: “… I leave the earth behind,” a video flight fantasy
Baby Bird: “from the beginning mouths agape wanting…” a newborn Petite Cygne tries to take off
Ring of Fire: “Feather Head the Circus Freak” shows up in a ring of flames singing the anti-Bruhild anthem: “I don’t want to set the world on fire”
Feather DuetTango: to a ballet class tango, Magpie puts on her party pants and tries to seduce the red feather
Rave’n Rant: the Raven Queen interrupts Magpie’s internet research on the terrible Brunhild’s reincarnation as Sleeping Beauty and the other Valkyries’ demotion to the swan maidens of Swan Lake
Anachronism Schism: Valkyrie Warrior Goddesses and the Swan Maiden Ballerina battle for supremacy
Lament: Magpie has finally caught and eaten the red feather; ballet music commiserates
Dying Duck: with images of oiled marine birds and a simultaneous projection of black oil pouring onto Magpie’s arms, the famous Fokine ballet solo to Saint-Saëns is reinterpreted as the last hurrah of a hideous oil industry cheerleader
Circus Time: Magpie has finally achieved her goal: she is the shiny, pretty thing; as “Feather Head the Circus Freak” she dances on the swing within a beautiful gilded cage
Two Crows are Mirth: after escaping her cage, a reprise of “A Murder” with the happier predictions revealed
The Rite of Swing: Magpie revisits the trapeze, this time as an expression of her genuine desire for self-acceptance and freedom from senseless want

Mark Taylor’s original score incorporates Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”; Tchaicovsky’s “Swan Lake”; Saint- Saëns’“Dying Swan”; and other iconic musical quotations. Voice-over is by performance artist Myra Davies as “Raven Queen”, and Cori Caulfield as “Magpie”. Original video produced by the award winning Tim Matheson is rear-projected onto a 6’ diameter round screen that “floats” in and out of the space like a moon. At the show’s climax, a glittering twelve-foot tall golden birdcage descends around a trapeze swing and then disappears again for the conclusion of Magpie’s journey.