As I walked into the Miller Bird Refuge this week, I was handed a pair of headphones and binoculars. A small group of us gathered and talked before being quieted by Mitsu Salmon, warmly welcomed, and guided through the experience of Feathered Tides. I had never been to the refuge and this performance introduced me to the landscape and its species in an intimate and personal way. Dancers wove through the trees with a bird-like movement vocabulary that was also somehow so human. The Lazuli bunting’s flirty shimmies across the river at each other, the Wilson’s Phalarope’s cautious tiptoes over the stairs, and the Robin’s curious peek over the bridge all felt like familiar movements I’ve done before. The choreography created a kinesthetic connection where I began to feel that these bird-beings that were being portrayed in the dance are not so Other as we are often taught to think. As someone who counts the birds out at Great Salt Lake every fall with the Sageland Collaborative, I felt their characters were very well captured in the movement and costume design.
Our little group of audience members were turned into birdwatchers, peeking through the trees, crouching down to look through the bushes, and quietly trying not to disturb the peace as we watched with wonder. While the music and narration in the headphones offered guidance and questions, we also had time with the headphones off to listen to Red Butte Creek below us and reflect with other members of the audience. The stories woven through the performance built a sense of empathy with the bird populations in our valley. I was reminded that their stories are our stories and what happens to them happens to us. As we are watching biodiversity dwindle across the planet, this performance made it personal for the birds that call Great Salt Lake home, just like us.
The performance is running May 24, 25, 30, and 31. If you have binoculars bring them and keep an eye out for the While-faced Ibis, that one is my favorite!
Kara Komarnitsky grew up in Salt Lake City and recently graduated with a BFA in Dance from Ohio State University with minors in Environmental Science and Business. Her work approaches the complexity of human interconnection with the planet, pulling inspiration from the natural world and environmental research. While her primary medium is dance, Kara regularly uses projections, film, sound, and interactive technology to create immersive performance experiences. Her piece Tales of the Deep (2018) recently won third place in the Midwest Climate Summit’s Climate Stories Competition and her thesis, Interconnect (2022), received an Honorable Mention at the OSU Denman Research Forum 2022. Other places her work has been presented includes the OSU Student Concert, OSU BFA Showcase, and the Ohio Dance Festival Professional Concert.