Few words by Steve Paxton

The lockdown is not much locked down around here. I live on a large farm with a bunch of other people, separated widely by fields of snow at this time (April 2) and later, fields of hay.

We live about 30 meters from the road, and our car, and the snow drifts making the path in difficult.  So visitors are rare in winter, and isolation feels normal. This means lots of time to observe the nature around and what’s happening with the weather. It means lots of unpressured time, even unstructured time.  Now I have been traveling and touring most of my life. What I have missed is being home. So for the past couple of years, I have tried to stay home, and feel a great sense of calm and security.

But everyplace is reacting to the pandemic, so the option to go out to the store feels less free, though the chance must be taken sometimes.  I notice that there is calm and silence naturally, and isolation and lack of community which is enforced and feels very different. This is isolation with danger all around.  I am very grateful for the supply chains and workers who keep the stores stocked. It is possible to imagine a bit more damaging situation in which we could lose even this support.  It is a time to see our own needs, and the social structures on which we depend more clearly than before the pandemic. As serious as this is, it illuminates our situation. I think we will need patience, and that the discipline required of us will reform our lives and consciousness.  I see an opportunity to build new habits, new thoughts. It is a horrible situation but within it, we can plan for how we want to be when we emerge.

Steve Paxton

Vermont, 2 avril 2020

Contribution du danseur, chorégraphe et pédagogue Steve Paxton, pour le projet Chroniques de la danse en suspens.