House of Jasmine & Bone was conceived and created as part of an evening of dance theatre pieces by three New York choreographers: Heather Harrington, Aleta Hayes and Zach Morris. With Morris, Chris created a sculptural threshold through which the audience passes as they enter the performance space. This work serves as the thematic frame of the evening and draws its inspiration from a mythical structure “the house of our collective mother.” It is built literally and figuratively out of the bodies, memories and echoes of the lineage of women who preceed all individuals. The collage of imagery used in the installation is reflected in the dance pieces, and at the end of the evening, the audience exits to find the installation transformed in surprising ways.

“… a soul-drenched delicacy” — The Village Voice
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“… a grand art installation …” — Dance Insider
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The installation is presented in two formats. The first is the procession; the audience enters the theatre space through the ‘chapters’, each of which portray periods in a life from birth, childhood, adulthood to death or assumption. The second format is the full house, where the elements that made up the chapters are combined into a single unit. Transience and perpetual motion are important themes that motivate this transformation, and elements such as the wheeled cart, legged trunk and suitcases emphasize those images. Since the residents of this house and the house itself are interwoven, the transformation shown during the dance pieces is reflected in the installation itself, to be revealed after the audience exits the theatre at the end of the evening.

Photos are coming soon!