“You can recognize a small truth because its opposite is a falsehood. The opposite of a great truth is another truth.”
Niels Bohr
Choreographer: Rachel Toburen
Dancer: Christina Bargelt
Music: Sonatina, from Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, J.S. Bach,
Performed/Recorded by Arandel, featuring Vanessa Wagner & Wilhelm Latchoumia
Mixed by Rachel Toburen
Performance Date: March 3, 2023
Location: People’s Building, Aurora, CO
Event: I AM, Integrated Arts for Mental Health
At first glance, this performance is just…a dance. Set into a circle, to a small piece of music, a single dancer, and a single night… A Small Truth is deceptively simple on the outside, but the complexity of the piece comes from the choreography that builds on itself. Tackling the idea of a “dance for mental health” Rachel and Christina worked together to draw on the experience of finding one’s strength from within after being confronted by one’s own vulnerability.
The music being used is from an early cantata composition by Johann Sebastian Bach assumed to date to approximately 1708 for a funeral. The sonatina that opens the piece was reimagined by French musician Arandel in 2020 for his album InBach, featuring pianists Vanessa Wagner and Wilhelm Latchoumia.Rachel Toburen then remixed the music with another Arandel track, Invention 2, from the same album, and layered it with a recorded heartbeat that slows down over the duration of the performance.
Both Christina and Rachel had specific incidents in mind during the creation of this piece, but we chose to keep them to ourselves (as far as words go) and to rather let the dance convey the emotional impact and response.
A Small Truth was commissioned by the board members of I AM for the exhibition in March 2023
The artists are eternally grateful to Jessica Larson, owner of Blissfully Yours Ballet in Englewood, CO for her generosity in supporting this work with studio rehearsal space and feedback during the artistic process.