Moving Pictures

Starr Foster transforms images into dance with “Spitting Image II.”

The photo captures a winter scene that is tranquil but also formal, intimate and somehow mysterious: a blue heron stands alert, perched along the shore of a river, the surrounding foliage blanketed in white as snow actively falls. How does someone turn that into a dance?

“I immediately saw a duet,” says Starr Foster, artistic director of Starr Foster Dance. “A duet between the snow and the heron.”

For Foster’s next dance event, called “Spitting Image II,” the choreographer returns to an idea she first pursued five years ago to use pictures submitted by notable photographers as inspirations for a series of dance pieces. This latest series features the work of seven different photographers including two who have worked regularly for Style Weekly, Scott Elmquist and Jay Paul.

The images they submitted serve as a jumping off point that Foster often has to augment with further exploration and research, like with Douglas Hayes’ portrait of the winter heron. “I watched so many heron videos,” she says. “To see how they moved, to see how they move in the snow and then to see how the snow reacts to the bird. All of that is incorporated in the dance.

“It has turned out to be this really beautiful, somewhat strange duet.”

Developing seven individual dance pieces can be a lengthy, arduous process that has taken months. Foster develops each piece in collaboration with her regular company of dancers but also invites guest artists to take part. Kayla Xavier, a local dancer who is also a choreographer, jumped at the chance to be involved.

“I am just having a ball,” says Xavier. “What’s fun about being both a choreographer and a dancer is the opportunity to continue learning. As much as I’m showing up with my background, I’m also learning Starr’s process and what’s inspiring to her, how she comes up with her movements and then teaches them to us.”

Xavier points out a unique aspect of this troupe, that Foster also creates all of the costumes. “They’re all tailored and fitted, which is phenomenal,” she says. “For modern dance performances, I’ve worn so many Amazon one-size-fits-all costumes. When you’re trying on custom-made costumes at rehearsal, it cultivates a culture where you feel special. It’s delightful.”

“It’s actually one of the things that I really enjoy,” says Foster. “It is so important that costumes fit well. When you create something for a certain body, for that one person’s body, it makes all the difference in the world.”

For the photographers, participating in the process can be one of artistic discovery. “If you asked me to somehow interpret a still image into a dance, I’d just look at you dumbfounded,” says Elmquist.

The photographer has won countless awards during his more-than 20 years taking pictures for Style, with his images from local protests in recent years gaining national attention. While he submitted a number of photos featuring individuals or crowds of people for Foster’s consideration, he was happy when she chose a nature shot, a view looking upwards at loblolly pine trees in a forest.

“What really struck me was a blast of red in the foreground from some sweetgum tree leaves,” he explains. “It wasn’t too much of a leap to think of movement in the contrast between those leaves.”

Even though he had an inkling that it was a good photo to use, he hasn’t yet seen what Foster actually choreographed. “For me, this is new territory; I have no idea what to expect,” says Elmquist. “It’s going to be really fun to see what they’ve come up with.”

Starr Foster Dance’s “Spitting Image II” will be performed April 27th through April 29th at Firehouse Theatre, 1609 West Broad St. Tickets are available at https://www.starrfosterdance.org/spittingimage2. Photography that inspired the pieces can be seen at https://www.starrfosterdance.org/photography.

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