Awakened Ruins

"Founder's Hall at Girard College is one of those Philadelphia treasures you might never know about were it not for artists in search of great spaces. [...] The piece begins with the sound of Christopher Brooks's violin spectacularly reverberating off the domed ceilings. [...] five women dancers caked in white clay and wearing corseted muslin bodices progress through the three adjoining rotundas that were Girard College's first classrooms. Tori Lawrence's choreography, replete with fine articulations and carefully placed tableaux, often resembles a slow-moving sculpture as much as a dance. [...] One breakout moment recalls The Rite of Spring, both in pianist Patrick Fink's rhythms and in the hunkered-down group stomps. [...] Memory, decay, and slow-moving time are rich elements of Awakened Ruins."
--Lisa Kraus, The Philadelphia Inquirer



venue: Founder's Hall at Girard College (Philadelphia, 2011)

choreographer/director: Tori Lawrence

dancers/collaborators: Emily Herchenroether, Christina Knipp, Tori Lawrence, Ashley Lippolis, Pamela Vail

musicians: Christopher Brooks (violin), Patrick Fink (piano), Vicki Brown

costume design: Tori Lawrence & Virginia West

photographer: Craig Harris