History - Rediscover Downtown (1990)
September 8, 1990 - Memory Grove Park, Salt Lake City, Utah

History | History Text | History Posters | 1990 | Rediscover Downtown | Video Program
Photographic Memory(1990)

Choreographers: Elizabeth and Jimmy Miklavcic
Music: (Video Credits)
Costumes: Elizabeth A. Miklavcic
Set Design: Elizabeth and Jimmy Miklavcic
Set Construction: Jimmy H. Miklavcic
Dancers: Elizabeth and Jimmy Miklavcic
Location: Memory Grove Park, Salt Lake City, Utah
Length: 12:11 minutes
Description
Inspired by the title of a poem by William Butler Yeats, To A Wealthy Man Who Promised A Second Subscription To The Dublin Municipal Gallery If It Were Proved The People Wanted Pictures, from the book Responsibilities: Poems and a Play. Elizabeth pictured as she read this title, dancers in frames instead of paintings. She thought of old photos on bureaus of great, great grandmothers and grandfathers posing in their Sunday best for a family portrait.

Danced by Elizabeth and Jimmy Miklavcic, Photographic Memory is based on the concept of a troubled relationship. In this case, the couple begin together then split apart, and come together again, ending when Jimmy finally disappears, leaving for good. The dance movements combine moments of stillness as if frozen in a picture frame; constrained, resistant, slow motion movement, as well as fast release movement symbolizing moments of freedom for the individuals, especially for the female dancer. Her sadness by the eventual leaving of the man could be interpreted in such a way, that her life ends when the relationship ends.

Elizabeth and Jimmy performed Photographic Memory twice on this day. The first recording focused on Jimmy's character, and the second Elizabeth's, with the idea that the two videos would be edited together one day, which never happened.

Memory Grove Park
This performance was held on a beautiful fall day in front of the the Meditation Chapel at Memory Grove Park located in Salt Lake City at the base of City Creek Canyon, for a Repertory Dance Theater Rediscover Downtown event. The physical address is 370 North Canyon Road, Salt Lake City, Utah. Memory Grove Park contains several memorials dedicated to Utah war veterans and the memory of those who died in various battles, from World War I, to the Vietnam War. The park features the quiet sounds of City Creek. It is also the center of a series of hiking trails that wind through one of the state's botanical gardens.