Beginning of the End

Tonight we had our first performance of what will be the last version of My ocean is never blue. My company has worked exclusively on this for 3 years and after many variations, in many venues we are going to let it rest. It has been a fascinating journey exploring water from multiple perspectives ranging from water's molecular structure to the scarcity of water, the Japanese Tea Ceremony and our Hurricane solos. We've performed it as a loosely structured 20 minute improv to a highly structured 55 minute work with a cast ranging from 5 dancers to 28 dancers in formal theatrical venues, studio performances and outdoor site-specific locations. And now, as I think back over the versions we've created and certainly the many people that have performed the work I am feeling melancholy about it ending. Usually you stop performing a work because you are ready for another challenge, to explore new material or find a new inspiration. This work - My ocean is never blue - has continually been a new thing to work on. Whether we are creating new sections, changing or deleting others, rearranging the structure, putting it in a new venue or adding new performers, it has always been shifting, transforming, and evolving. Even though we're performing the last version, it is not the final version nor the version - it is simply a version. One of my goals with My ocean is never blue was to never create an authoritative version of the work - and we haven't. Tomorrow night will be the last chance to see My ocean is never blue in any form and it will be the last time we will perform it. That thought both makes me smile and tear up some.