The VANCOUVER SUN: Wed., Nov. 3, 1963

# Vital Expression
In Dance Program

By WILLIAM LITTLER

Dance that is effortless,
dance that lets itself happen,
dance that loves the pure fact
of movement—these are some
of the avowed preoccupations
of New York's Erick Hawkins
Dance Company.

What they add up to was on
view at the UBC Auditorium
Tuesday night — a kind of
luxuriating in body motion
coupled with awareness of
how music can give movement
the spring of life.

Choreographically the effect
is to create in a piece such as
Early Floating a virtually
constant feeling of flowing
movement, in which jagged
edges are rounded off and
motion is suggested even
when it is actually suspended.

In all five dance pieces,
Hawkins and his three fellow
dancers presented, in fact,
there was basically the same
concern for continuing motion,
whether in broad, sweeping
arm and leg movements or
small scale turns of wrists
and fingers. Essentially his
dances and dancing convey an
idealist's and a sensualist's joy
in motion as an end in itself
and as a means of expres-
sion.

As a solo performer in
Clown is Everyone's Ending,
Hawkins donned a skull cap
and a look of bewilderment to
convey through the picture of
a clown the basic silliness in
all of us. He was successful,
too, for he is a remarkably
well-co-ordinated dancer.

The consistently im-
pressive feature of the whole
program. was actually the
music which accompanied it
and for this Lucia Dlugos-
zewsi deserves praise as both
composer and performer.

With an ear extremely
sensitive to gradations in tone
and texture she put together a
series of scores notable for an
almost oriental exoticism, for
a delicacy akin to Webern and
for an uncanny aptness to
each dance context.

Her own invention, the
timbre piano, proved to be a
much more subtle instrument
than the percussive prepared
piano of John Cage and, in
company with an abundant
variety of percussion instru-
ments, its remarkable range
of effects and sonorities com-
manded real interest.

For that matter, the whole
evening commanded interest,
as it should have done, for not
every day can Vancouver play
host to a composer and a
choreographer-dancer actively
engaged in extending the
vocabulary of music and
dance.

ERICK HAWKINS DANCE COMPANY
78 Fifth Avenue New York 10011
Murray Farr Personal Representative

107 W. 10th St.

N. Y. 11, N. Y.

June 26, 1962

Ch 2-2449

Dear Virgil,

I am sending you two articles of mine which might interest you both because of sassy style and lively impertinet content which I know always suits your delightfully irrepressible and intellectually inquisitive temperament. You and I have this in common that although we are dedicated and devoted composers we, in addition, do get involved with words and people praise us for it. The Wagner article of mine got praise for its "poetry" from Marianne Moore and that somehow pleased me more than any music comment. This, you will especially understand sharing as you do my great love for Gertrude Stein and Erik Satie. Anyway, I'm sending them for your especial fun.

And do let me cook a Polish dinner for you sometime this summer. I'm really very good at it. Drop me a card when you'll be in town and what night would be good for you and we'll arrange something.

I can't tell you how much your coming to the Hawkins concert meant to me and your kind and encouraging comments about the music. I treasure that above anything and it certainly gives me courage to go on. I think we both have not forgotten that music must first be beautiful fun and thank god that we, at least, haven't!

I

TIGHTROPE

Premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Festival of Dance, November 14, 1968. Commissioned by the Foundation for Modern Dance, Inc. For Sallie Wagner.

<table><tr><td>Choreography</td><td>ERICK HAWKINS</td></tr><tr><td>Music</td><td>LUCIA DLUGOSZEWSKI</td></tr><tr><td>Designs</td><td>TAD TAGGART</td></tr></table>

The Characters are:

<table><tr><td>First Everyone</td><td>BEVERLY BROWN</td></tr><tr><td>Second Everyone</td><td>ERICK HAWKINS</td></tr><tr><td>Angel</td><td>ROBERT YOHN</td></tr><tr><td>First Celestial</td><td>NATALIE RICHMAN</td></tr><tr><td>Second Celestial</td><td>LILLO WAY</td></tr><tr><td>Third Celestial</td><td>TRUDE LINK</td></tr></table>

The Properties are:

- The dark pool of looking-within glass

- The chair that is always being yanked out from under Everyone

- The angel's wings that are the ladder by which Allpeople get up to the rope

- The tightrope which is the only place where Anyone can be and not fall

SHORT INTERMISSION

II

EARLY FLOATING

<table><tr><td>Choreography</td><td>ERICK HAWKINS</td></tr><tr><td>Music</td><td>LUCIA DLUGOSZEWSKI</td></tr><tr><td>Designs</td><td>RALPH DORAZIO</td></tr></table>

EARLY FLOATING is a dance of passage, of surprise, of loving playfulness: playing with time to make the watches aware of it, and playing with movement to create tenderness and wonder. When William Saroyan says, "The surprise of art is not shock, but wonder," he describes the essence of EARLY FLOATING.

The music is for "timbre piano" of which Lucia Dlugoszewski is the inventor. This involves new bowing and muting techniques on the strings, using bows of wood, felt, metal, glass, wire and plastic. The score is structured for four different complex stationary sonorities for "curtains of timbre," each one involving a different consonant or "white interval."

The score is performed by the composer.

BEVERLY BROWN ROBERT YOHN
ERICK HAWKINS

INTERMISSION

III
BLACK LAKE

Commissioned by the Foundation for Modern Dance, Inc. Premiered in New York, October 20, 1969. For Jessica Roth.

<table><tr><td>Choreography</td><td>ERICK HAWKINS</td></tr><tr><td>Music</td><td>LUCIA DŁUGOSZEWSKI</td></tr><tr><td>Designs</td><td>RALPH DORAZIO</td></tr></table>

i sun setting

ii first star

iii night birds

iv moon

v longcomet hair

vi summer thunder lightning

vii little bear big bear bears

viii milky way

sun: BEVERLY BROWN

star: LILLO WAY

night people: ROBERT YOHN ERICK HAWKINS
NATALIE RICHMAN TRUDE LINK

night birds: ROBERT YOHN ERICK HAWKINS

moon and clouds: LILLO WAY BEVERLY BROWN NATALIE RICHMAN

comet: TRUDE LINK

thunder and lightning: ERICK HAWKINS BEVERLY BROWN

bears: ROBERT YOHN NATALIE RICHMAN

The music for BLACK LAKE is for violin, clarinet, percussion, and timbre piano. The score involves a complex structure based on extensive investigations of new timbre resources and extreme qualitative distinctions in dynamics, speed, and spacing.

The choreography of TIGHTROPE, EARLY FLOATING, and BLACK LAKE was composed first in silence. The musical scores by Lucia Długoszewski were then composed in minute collaboration with the dance, each one being a completely independent musical work which has been performed in concerts of music. The dance and music are two theatres which perform continuously side by side, and are aware of each other instant by instant.

Lighting: DAVID ERDE

It is requested that photographs not be taken during the performance.

June 19, 1970

Dearest Virgil,

Since we talked the other evening I called Sabin's sister
who has all the writings he left and asked her if he had done
anything else on me in a more technical way about the timbre
piano and the new percussion instruments. Actually I
probably chose the other writing because I was so flattered that
he compared me in some ways to you. I guess I thought he had
told you all about the timbre piano when he was still alive.
Any way as luck would have it she did find something he wrote
earlier for Musical America and I think it is more of what
you need at this time.

Please forgive me for any vagueness of material. I guess
I get so involved in the fun of creating the music I don't
take the time I should in being more explicit in defining the
means. Anyway, I do trust your intelligence to pull me
through. I think in any case you will have fun with the pieces.
And I am looking forward to our Thursday dinner. Parker Tyler
is more than delighted that you will come. Bring some pretty
music of yours (tapes) for us all to enjoy.

You know I love you,

Lucia Dlugoszewski

LLU
western union

Telegram

YSA 102(1456)(2-031321E329)PD 11/25/75 1456

ICS IPMMTZZ CSP

2122558060 TDMT NEW YORK NY 10 11-25 0256P EST

PMS VIRGIL THOMSON, DLR

222 WEST 23 ST

NEW YORK NY 10011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHING YOU MANY MANY MORE ALL MY LOVE

LUCIA DLUGOSZEWSKI

NNNN

SF-1201 (R5-69)