Response by Charmaine Headley
Artist Statement
If … And … But (Y2K)
Karen Palmer’s lived experience and matter of fact delivery of Y2K?! as a young journalist, frames the creation of this piece. Due to the non-event/uneventful advent of the year 2000 (Y2K), after the doom stories leading up to the turn of century flooded the airwaves/media etc, I sub-divided the choreographic impetuses into 3 sections:
- IF – unknown/submission
- AND – expectations/apathy
- BUT – choices
This was evoked from Karen’s narrative, resulting in the title: If … And … But.
Adding my imagination and interpretation to the story to “fill in the blanks,” I drew from the emotional and potential outcomes to explore the above subtext, using implied possibilities, metaphors and nuances in partnership with the dancer/interpreter, to arrive into a space of autonomy and abandonment.