History - Society in a Nutshell (1994)
March 4 - 19, 1994 - Another Language Performance Studio, 345 West Pierpont Ave., Salt Lake City, Utah

History | History Text | History Posters | 1994 | Society in a Nutshell | Poster | Program | Video | Behind-The-Scenes
Photographic Memory (1994)

Choreographers: Elizabeth and Jimmy Miklavcic
Music: (Video Credits)
Lighting: Jimmy H. Miklavcic
Costumes: Elizabeth A. Miklavcic
Sets: Jimmy H. Miklavcic
Dancers: Elizabeth and Jimmy Miklavcic
Location: Another Language Performance Studio, 345 West Pierpont Ave., 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. 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.

Society In A Nutshell, Another Language Performance Studio, SLC, Utah
The theme of the spring company concert was about depicting vignettes of behavior within American society. How do we interact? What are our relationships? How do we treat each other? What are the repercussions of behavior? How do we function or don't function within those constraints? With that in mind, re-staging Photographic Memory for this concert made sense, since this dance is about a failed relationship between a man and a woman. The couple in the dance love each other, but why the male character disappears at the end is not clear. Did he die? Did he walk away? Why is the female character left alone? Does she choose to live alone or does she perish as well? These are universal experiences and universal questions that anyone in a relationship has to confront at some point in time. The company directors, Elizabeth and Jimmy Miklavcic, loved performing this dance, and one of their favorite things to do was to dance together.