Cloud Cover
Over every day we are framed, and lit, by the sky. It’s not so hard to understand why we ignore the sky, and don’t recognize even what’s there.
There are only four kinds of clouds. Many sub-genres, and mixes. But basically, whenever you look up, you see one of the following:
1 – Cumulus
These are the cotton-ball, friendly looking things.
2 – Stratus
These are flatter, and frequently give the appearance of a ceiling, a flat space. Lots of time these are our grey skies.
3 – Cirrus
These are called ‘mares-tale’ and other nice things. They’re wispy, and usually occur higher in the sky.
4 – Cumulonimbus
These are called ‘anvil-heads’ for obvious reasons, and are our serious storm clouds.
We walk around and don’t necessarily recognize what’s overhead. Performances are somewhat the same way. There aren’t so many different kinds, and they’re all related. I was in a conversation with a producer (of dance) who said that she no longer books things into her stage-space by default. That she now must understand why a piece should be on a stage, with a fourth wall, instead of some other location. As dancers, and audience, we can understand more what we see, and why we’re seeing it where we’re seeing it.
“Dream not of other worlds.”
- John Milton, Paradise Lost
