Adams — Whether on stage or off, connecting with those around her ranks top of mind for Fern Katz, a contemporary dancer and choreographer most curious about transmitting raw emotion from the stage to the audience. At this time last year, the West Stockbridge native was making work about death and dying as a means of making sense of her own story in the wake of her mother’s death. A year on in her process, Katz is making something entirely new, as evidenced by “EPHEMERA,” a contemporary dance residency and performance featuring “September 2nd, 2023,” an immersive, site-specific theater piece created for the historic downtown space.
“It is both performing arts and a collective ritual for reflection upon death, grief, and the search for joy after the fog has lifted,” said Katz who—rather than appearing central to the performance—is poised to direct her team of performers from the wings. “As time has gone on, the story is becoming less and less about me and more about wanting to somehow take the experiences that I’ve lived and create a space for other people where they feel that they have room to reflect and to feel their own experiences with loss,” said Katz in a nod to her mother, Montana Katz, who died in October 2021. And, while Katz is thankful for those who supported her in her worst times of grieving, she experienced the antithesis as well—namely, how difficult it was for folks to speak to her or even look at her following her loss.
“I started to feel ashamed that I was grieving,” said Katz, who vowed to take this at times uncomfortable experience and create a space for others to reflect upon and to feel their own losses—which, collectively, in recent years, have been great.
As for her newest work, to be unveiled in Adams: “[It is] centered on the feelings of what we are left with when we lose something or someone integral to our existence and the gift of emptiness, the space that can be filled up again and again only after everything is completely broken, so we can rebuild anew,” said Katz of the catharsis to be found in the creative process of choreography.
She credits Yina Moore, director of The Adams Theater, for countless forms of support, including a physical space to perform. “She’s given me free rein to arrange the space how I like,” said Katz of the veritable blank canvas rife for adaptation to meet the needs of all, inclusive of the audience and her dancers. “What I’m asking of them is difficult, but I know they’re up to the task,” said Katz of connecting to the sense of void, loss, and emptiness, regardless of whether or not they have experienced it for themselves. Instead, from Katz’s perspective, “it’s really more about feeling and being fully present in the movement,” with hopes of cultivating connection among all those present.
Since her appearance last August at Turn Park Art Space, Katz has spent time in Portugal, where several of her key collaborators are based. Ricardo Paz, her artistic accomplice and outside eye, was ultimately invited to spend time at ESTUFA- Plataforma Cultural—a dance school and residency space in Torres Vedras—to incubate the initial phase of this work which, come September, will be coupled with live music courtesy of Miguel Sobral Curado, a Portuguese composer, drummer, and performer. Curado will create the sound score during Fern Katz & Co’s residency in Adams and play live during the performance.
“I don’t think that any artist creates alone,” said Katz in a nod to the importance of asking for help, especially from artists and performers she admires, as integral to creating a shared space and—by extension—experience. This time around, in an ongoing effort to effectively bridge the gap between audience and performers, Katz’s performance process includes her sister, Liana Katz, and best friend/trusty photographer, Sara Wallach.
“Although they will not be dancing, I will guide them to use their strong presence to help hold space for the audience,” said Katz, pointing to the fact that it is often those who aren’t on stage who are best equipped to offer a different kind of strong presence that ties the work together. For the September 2 premiere, performers and audience members will be intentionally placed throughout the space as a means of inviting the audience to be active participants in the work rather than simply viewers.
From her vantage point as director, Katz remains adamant about one thing: “It’s as much my vision as the performers’,” she says, underscoring both what they feel and what they bring to the performance as central to the work. “The process is very, very important to me … and I can only hope the product touches people.”
NOTE: On August 31 at 6 pm, community members are invited to “Improvisation, Dance, Connection, and Party!,” a two-hour movement exploration led by Fern Katz. The intention behind this movement process is to offer space for each participant to connect with and expand their inner worlds; to connect with other participants; to find each individual physical capacity; and, most importantly, to have fun. The workshop is open to all ages and abilities and is free to attend. Guido’s Fresh Marketplace and the Berkshire Food Co-op are proud sponsors of the project.
