Another Language Performing Arts Company

Elizabeth A. Miklavcic - Performance Roles

December 16, 1995 - Experiments In The Black Box, 158 West Broadway, Salt Lake City, Utah

Photographic Memory (1995)

Choreographers: Elizabeth A. Miklavcic & Jimmy H. Miklavcic
Music: (Video Credits)
Costuming: Elizabeth A. Miklavcic
Lighting: Jimmy H. Miklavcic
Set Design: Elizabeth and Jimmy Miklavcic
Set Construction: Jimmy H. Miklavcic
Dancers: Elizabeth A. Miklavcic & Jimmy H. Miklavcic
Location: Paper Box Warehouse, 158 West Broadway, Salt Lake City, Utah
Length: 11:38 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. Set in the Victorian era, the dance depicts a couple's life, showing moments of joy, dependency, connection and conflict. As the couple looks back on the memory of their relationship, represented by the picture frames, they dance the moments of their lives together. 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.

Paper Box Warehouse, Repertory Dance Theatre Studio, SLC, Utah
Repertory Dance Theater’s Brent Schneider invited Another Language Performing Arts Company to perform in a concert called Experiments in a Black Box, held at the end of 1995 on December 15th and 16th. Grateful for the invitation, Elizabeth and Jimmy Miklavcic decided to perform Photographic Memory one last time as 1995 marked the shift of the Company’s focus to digital presentations.

This new direction for the Company was motivated by the new technologies available, and the idea was to make the works of Another Language available to the public 24-7. This was a novel concept in 1995, and unexpectedly, the Founding Co-Directors met with years of resistance as they persisted in building a website that was to be an educational and performance platform.

For several years Another Language Performing Arts Company Director, Jimmy Miklavcic, had been very involved in the planning of an exciting community project funded by private donors and Salt Lake County. Construction on the first phase of a new performance facility for mainly local performance groups in Salt Lake City had begun. The Rose-Wagner Performing Arts Center located at 158 West 300 South would take over five years to complete and would be constructed in two separate phases. Before construction began, there was a paper box warehouse located at this site, which was serving as RDT’s temporary studio space. This warehouse space was converted into a black-box theater for Experiments in A Black Box.

The performances of that weekend took on an elevated meaning, because the Founding Co-Directors did not know when, or if, would ever perform live again. Marking long careers at ages 35 and 40, they were facing the very real stage in life where performing on a professional level was coming to an end. It was incredibly sad, and anyone who has spent a lifetime training for a sport, or as a dancer, eventually has to face this decision.

With that in mind, every moment in this incredibly meaningful dance was enhanced. This performance was an experience of saying a long goodbye, on so many levels, in slow motion. Ironically, that is also the story of the Photographic Memory dance. Art and life converged at this point-in-time and even with how incredibly sad this was, the Directors were very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this event. It provided closure, and is fondly remembered as a wonderful experience. December 16, 1995 marks the final performance of Photographic Memory.