Created for The Foundry (2008)

Choreography by Alex Ketley

Music by Bach and Philip Jeck

Lighting by Jacob Petrie

Costumes by Emily Kirashige

Performed by:

Claire Granier, Christian Burns, Maurya Kerr, John Merke, Sonsheree Giles, Rodney Bell, Amy Smith, Sara Genovese, Kendra Samson, Miguel de Quadros, Shannon Kirashige, Malinda Lavelle

Voice of Dance
July 2008

"First up is Alex Ketley's ambitious Monument, created with members of Ketley's company, The Foundry, as well as with the participation of two dancers from AXIS Dance Company and several students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. The work takes a while to get where it should be going, but when it does, in a series of ferocious duets, it hits home in a visceral manner I have not experienced previously in Ketley's choreography. A very good, small dance is embedded in Monument , screaming to be released from its trappings."

"In the central section, willowy Claire Granier begins deceptively shifting her weight ad infinitum, but suddenly she's entangled in a scorching encounter with Foundry co-founder Christian Burns. From AXIS, Sonsheree Giles guides Rodney Bell in his wheelchair, and suddenly he lashes out with rage, toppling his vehicle, and it's something of a heart-in-throat moment. John Merke is all intense, barely suppressed emotion in this section, too; his first partner is the always exceptional Maurya Kerr, erstwhile LINES assoluta. Claire Granier is the second. At one point, Ketley turns off the sound and Granier accompanies her colleagues by crooning into a hand mike. The theory that dance can express the inexpressible has rarely been so adeptly illustrated.”