Dancing the Story of War
Written by Ms. Madelaine Burnett
Company Member of Alison Cook Beatty Dance
January 2023
Dance, to me, is about storytelling. It is about sharing stories that are too nuanced and complex to express in any other way than through movement.
A recent performance of mine, “Echoes of War,” was inspired by the current tragedy in Ukraine. It premiered in New York in 2022 and was choreographed on Alison Cook Beatty Dance. This modern dance company explores “the universal human condition through expansive and emotionally-driven movement.” Alison, the choreographer and a former dancer with the Paul Taylor American Modern Dance company, tackles choreography spanning from the exuberance of baseball and Bach to deeper topics such as suicide and war. “Echoes of War” was her portrayal of the war’s personal impact, primarily on the children of Ukraine..
Human tragedy is a delicate topic. It is a story that needs to be told with raw honesty. The piece begins with the imagery of a chaotic train station full of people desperate to find their own paths or perhaps their own escape. Next to these seven dancers, dressed in flesh tones, sits a girl dressed in blue. She holds a bouquet of sunflowers, curled up alone on the train.
As the “Girl in Blue”, I represented the optimism of childhood, and the heartbreaking loss of this innocence. Alison was inspired by the image of the girl in red from Schindler’s List, as well as the 10-year-old Ukrainian boy who was sent to escape the war by train with nothing but a scribbled phone number on his arm. My challenge was to portray the combination of youthful hope, vulnerability, and loss as only a child can experience it. I thought of these in every movement, every stillness, and every breath. I reflected on the trauma suffered by children of war and how that tragedy will echo through their lives.
Drawing from my own experiences, I imagined the emotions young victims of the chaos must have felt. I recalled the loneliness and worry I felt for unwell family members and the helpless sense of space between us. I reflected on my own experience of moving alone to a foreign country as a teenager, in pursuit of my dreams. I thought of my own grandmother as a child, with only her doll, as her family was herded onto a train out of Sudetenland in World War II. These thoughts triggered emotions that affected every movement and altered my breathing, bringing a trembling quality to my entire body
Throughout the piece, the dancers intertwine and separate, riding the same passing trains but each on their own desperate journey. Alison’s choreography evoked the tightening of a lens, illuminating individual stories of fallen soldiers or families torn apart by war. Eventually, the seven dancers fall and fade into memories. The “Girl in Blue” dances above the bodies with youthful naivety, not yet understanding the grim reality. To portray the hope and abandonment of a child, in stark contrast to the morbid imagery, I used visualization to inform my movement. I imagined myself in the center of a beautiful open field or mountaintop.
In the end, the “Girl in Blue” begins to comprehend her devastating surroundings, and at that moment, her childhood ceases. In my performance, I wish to honor all of the victims she represents, and I strive to bring the audience into her story with me; its tragedy, its lifelong impact, and its glimmers of hope.
Madelaine Burnett is a British Columbia dancer, who has been dancing in New York since graduating from high school in 2015, having danced at the Ailey School on scholarship, been a member of Martha Graham’s second company, Graham 2, and as a company member in Alison Cook Beatty Dance.
Photos by Russ Haydn
