The Next Episode

Literally, though.


Last winter, Meghan and I introduced a character, aptly named Meghan. She's a quiet, unassuming, though quite lovely girl, looking, as we all are, for love (or at least a really satisfying hookup.) we have, however, the benefit, of seeing beyond her neatly manicured exterior to the nagging, neurotic insecurities that embitter even the sweetest of cocktail conversations.




We reprised [a more refined] Meghan in the spring [complete with day-dream dance sequence!]

And now it is time for what happens to Meghan after.

Assuming that anyone who is reading this has dutifully watched the aforelinked video, you know that Meghan has, in fact, hook-line-and-sinkered her mystery man into engaging in ...well, SOMETHING, at the very least.

What happens next is the same thing that happens to all of us after our sweaty palms have dried and our nervous tick has tocked. We find new reasons to be uncomfortable and awkward in otherwise comfortable and casual situations. DUH.

..

Meghan is, of course, the artistic embodiment of the very same woes and idiosyncratic paranoias that plague us all in our everyday (or at least, weekend to weekend) life. Though, not us personally. We created Meghan after talking to friends who are less suave and debonaire than we. (This may be a lie.)

While the Meghan Chronicles are not entirely a dance-specific work, I know that my favorite part of creating the characters is exploring the gestures and body language that they employ. The contrast between the way the two characters move (I hope) is almost more telling than the dialogue. My hope in creating this piece was that the audience would, even if they couldn't relate to the specific situation at hand, they could SEE the way one of us was moving and be able to identify "yes. I have absolutely felt like that."

Making that kind of connection with any part of an audience is worth all the emotional turmoil, public humiliation and personal embarrassment that I had to trudge though to fortify this installment. Everything for the art.


So stay tuned for the next episode, which is something I've been dreaming/nightmaring about for a good few months now. I'm hoping it will be uncomfortably relatable, unfortunately telling, and moderately entertaining.




-A.