Since September 2018, SYREN Modern Dance and Astrophysicist Paul Sutter have been collaborating on "Ticktock", a dance that uses narrative sequences and highly physical movement to explore time concepts including Einsteinʼs theories of Special and General Relativity, the Arrow of Time, and the human experience of time such as memory and perception.
Kate St. Amand is SYREN's resident choreographer, and she developed the piece working alongside company members Alice Chacon, Rivkins Christopher, Victoria Ellis, Jessica Nolan, Darcie Perkins, Lynn Peterson, and Dr. Sutter. The piece is set to Mozart's Symphony No. 29…some say Einstein listened to Mozart often. Who knows? Maybe he was thinking about the concepts of Relativity while he listened to this same piece of music?
This creative process involved rehearsals and well-attended work in progress showings at The Ailey Studios in New York City, The STEAM Factory at The Ohio State University, and most recently at The American Association for the Advancement of Science, and National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C.
What have audience members been saying about their "Ticktock" experience:
"The integration of the company's virtuosic and nuanced movement with fascinating spoken segments from an accomplished astrophysicist was enthralling! It allowed me to participate in the realities and mysteries of time and space in a whole new way."
-Calleja Smiley, Audience member, December 2018
"I saw and experienced Tick Tock in December at Ailey and had a great time. An interesting opening, hearing a narrator taking about spacetime and physics, was intertwined with movement by the dancers and the narrator as well. Beautiful choreography followed, accompanied by Mozart. Watching these amazing dancers, I felt many things, but mostly joy! A pleasure from start to finish. I will see them again soon."
-Oren Fader, Audience member, December 2018
"Ticktock is this amazing and wonderful thing that happens when science and art create together. It's a brilliant and lasting way to learn. I'm excited to help spread this powerful experience with new audiences. When you touch the heart, you open the mind."
-Nic DiPalma, Audience member, March 2019
