Catherine Gallant, (choreographer) discusses her new work, Escape from the House of Mercy, which will be performed at The Performance Project @ University Settlement on March 21st and 22nd.
Escape from the House of Mercy is a choreographic rendering of sensations and images evoking the spirits of women whose lives were forever changed by the workhouses and laundries in the US and Ireland.
The House of Mercy was a home for abandoned and troubled women in Inwood NYC; most inhabitants were brought there against their wills. A young woman could be locked up for years for an offense such as dancing in public or walking alone at night. Inhumane and demoralizing treatment was disguised as rehabilitation as the rights of the poor, especially women were completely denied.
As part of her research into her work on Escape from The House of Mercy, Catherine filmed a site-responsive dance in Ireland at the Portumna Workhouse, called Stones: Whispers from the Workhouse. Her research and background resources have included: Justice for Magdalenes Oral History Project, Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries A Campaign for Justice by McGettrick, O’Donnell, O’Rourke, Smith and Steed. (A)Dressing Our Hidden Truths-by glass artist Alison Lowry from an Exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, 2019, Lost Inwood by Cole Thompson, Damnation Island by Stacy Horn and Ten days in a Madhouse by Nellie Bly.
Join Catherine in conversation with Elizabeth as she discusses the tragic history behind the dance, the ongoing need to support women's rights throughout the world, and the wealth disparity which results in struggle for women and families.
Catherine Gallant has created work in NYC for thirty years, with her work performed in Times Square, a pedestrian block of E. 91st Street in Manhattan, Green-Wood Cemetery, and Inwood Hill Park. She has also presented work at the 92NY Harkness Dance Center, WestFest Dance, Danspace (Dance Access), American Dance Guild, and Jacob's Pillow's Inside/Out Series. Catherine is also the director of Dances by Isadora which, since 1989, performs, teaches, and collaborates with dancers worldwide. She is on the faculty of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) and Hunter College. Ms. Gallant is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory and holds an MFA in Dance from Temple University.