VIRGA

2017 Audience Choice Award winner, Utah Dance Film Festival

FILM DESCRIPTION
The true motion of clouds is almost imperceptible. Timelapse photography reveals their motion is quite complex; like dancing. They roll and twist, rise and fall, shrink and expand, appear and disappear. Virga is a tiny reciprocal act of acknowledgement, imitation and appreciation for this aesthetic natural wonder that has been occurring for over 4 billion years. This performance took place during monsoon season on a plateau near Kanab, Utah. While being filmed in real time and timelapse, the performer, Alissa Schirtzinger Baird, moves at a speed similar to the perceived motion of clouds, approximately 2 inches every 6 seconds.

DANCER / CHOREOGRAPHER STATEMENT
"I was intrigued and eager by the challenge to dance as slowly as a cloud. What I didn’t expect was the absolute feeling of serenity. Just as the wind moves clouds, I was inspired to feel the wind and reflect it’s touch. To discover how a small initiation reverberated into every inch of my body was so powerful and a lesson in the unification of mind, body, and elements."
-Alissa Schirtzinger Baird