Choreographed by Sebrena Williamson, The Spectrum and the Fluid seeks to explore gender and sexuality through a Pansexual point of view. Created through SIEDC’s research based choreography method, The Spectrum and the Fluid is a dance narrative about the past, present, and future of gender and sexuality—particularly in regards to how we interact with and see one another. Integral to how we understand one another, the work unpacks how gender in an of itself can be a performance.

The Spectrum and the Fluid articulates the history of gender and sexuality through color, sound, and movement. With a cast cloaked in the binary blue to pink spectrum, group structures coupled with stereotypical gender movement reveal the piece’s meaning. In the beginning, the piece opens with the original and unequal definition of the gender: binary femininity and androgyny as things that exist, but are always at the mercy of masculinity. Next, the piece establishes femininity as equal to masculinity. After femininity is accepted as equal, the piece moves to an inclusive spectrum accepting of a multiplicity of gender identities, ending with an awkward applause. After the applause, the spectrum becomes rigid, and someone breaks the spectrum—signaling the acceptance of gender fluidity. Finally, the piece ends with a complete release of gender wherein 4 characters strip their clothes away, symbolizing an ability to connect—completely—regardless of their gender.

The Spectrum and the Fluid, at its root, is a piece about how gender, and the power structures that reinforce gender, can interrupt human relationships—on a global, communal, and individual level. On one level, the piece reflects the confusion of the pansexual experience, ending with the joyous vulnerability of connecting past gender in romantic and platonic relationships.

On another level, the work reflects a path forward for everyone, regardless of gender identity and sexuality. Because gender is the primary way in which we all understand one another, it often overshadows our universal human qualities, personality traits, interests and skills that are central to how we connect. Human qualities like curiosity, strength, and compassion are all qualities that are internally found in all of us, but gender argues that even these universal qualities belong on the spectrum. The Spectrum and The Fluid argues that only once all the power structures and indoctrinations around gender are stripped, can we view gender as secondary to persona and fully meet each other for the first time.

Choreographer: Sebrena Williamson, 2018.

Cast:

Alexa Austin

Kailey Baez

Zoe Couloumbis

Alex Espinosa

Daria Gilbert

Celinna Haber

Katie Meeks

Fiona O’Brien

Katelyn Peters

Music: Pachima by Balkan Beatbox, Mirando A Las Muchachas by Mexican Institute of Sound.