by AMANDA DONATO

The dance performance A WAKE doubles as a memorial service for Donato’s maternal grandmother and woman with advanced Alzheimer’s disease: Catalina Trezza. It is an active attempt to make work that vibrates with Catalina’s tenacity and preserve her precious memories through creative expression.

A WAKE is a personal outpour of the unexpected things that emerge when grieving the healthy mind and identity of a loved one.

In her performance experience, Donato connects to the emotional wavering between Deep love and deep loss as she navigates imaginative landscapes communicated through movement, light and sound. The space becomes a surreal vacuum, cushioned by the low frequency Sound vibrations of Stefanie’s score.

In Act 5, Donato works vigorously to knead dough as a final offering, representing her grandmother’s cooking as the most repetitive and monumental act of love received in her childhood. Though primarily rooted in classical contemporary dance, there is a humanity to this work that prioritizes unrefined emotion. Donato’s body shrinks, breaks, dissociates, disintegrates and tangles as it mirrors the rippling complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

The audience is invited to reflect on their own encounters with trying circumstances and how beautiful it is to remember.

A WAKE is a production by Amanda Donato, created in collaboration with Stefanie Egedy, MXM (Mirella Brandi and Muep Etmo), and Maximilian Franz-Josef Melzel with dramaturgy by Ruben Nsue and Juan Paulo “JP” Deapera. Promotional photography by Isabelle Östlund, graphics by Darlene Huynh and videos by Tom Chansiraphet.

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