“Security is both a reality and a feeling and they’re not the same thing… The foundation of security is trust, both personal trust and global trust.” —Security specialist Bruce Schneier, an inspiration for 2018 Fringe Festival piece Proceed with Caution

Fear. Insecurity. Trust. Security.

The topics broached in Lyons and Tigers’s Proceed with Caution (September 7-9 at The Iron Factory in Kensington) are relevant on a personal, political, and geopolitical level. This new full-length dance theater work explores security in a time of global violence, the Trump presidency, police brutality, mass shootings, and the #MeToo movement. Through dance, the show asks, “How do humans build trust?”

Creator Darcy Lyons spoke to FringeArts about her timely show.

FringeArts: What was the inspiration for Proceed with Caution?

Darcy Lyons: In 2012, I created a short version of this piece that was about rational and irrational fear. I have always wanted to return to the piece and this year felt like the right time. The initial inclination came from my own struggles with anxiety. The concepts around fear and trust are important to me to continue to explore, especially in the uproar of the Trump administration.

FringeArts: Can we ever really trust anyone about anything ever?

Darcy Lyons: Yes. Trust has a lot of layers of meaning. We are constantly working with trust in our everyday lives.

FringeArts: How do you use dance to convey feelings about trust and security?

Darcy Lyons: The performers and I created a series of four improvisational scores based on the performers answers to the question “How do you build trust specifically through dance itself?”

From improv one through four, the dancers went from strangers to friends. Eventually we collectively created choreography from these four improvisations. The dancers wrote stories about the places they felt the most safe and the places they felt scared, but ended up being safe. The final section is comprised of personal stories about the dancers being fearful and how that relates to current issues and movements like the #MeToo movement and school shootings in America. The personal stories are recorded and played or spoken live and we created dances that occur simultaneously based on those stories.

FringeArts: How would you describe the performance style?

Darcy Lyons: I like to think that my work is equally physical as it is emotional and intellectual. There is a balance of large flowing movements, pedestrian movements, and stillness. The dancers interact a lot. There are few moments of unison movement.  I think that the dancers and I really made an effort to build the dance based on an honest reflection of our personalities and emotions around safety and fear. There is a feeling of rawness. The dancers are incredibly vulnerable and brave inside of this work.

FringeArts: What choreographers have inspired you?

I am inspired by many choreographers, but to name a few: Pina Bausch, Diana Szeinblum, Rosanna Gamson, Manfred Fischbeck and Brigitta Herrmann of Group Motion, Nichole Canuso, Ronn Stewart, and William Forsythe.

FringeArts: What other shows are you looking forward to this Fringe?

Darcy Lyons: The undergird by Meg Foley, manger by Boris Charmatz, Variations on Themes from Lost and Found and other works by John Bernd by Miguel Gutierrez and Ishmael Houston-Jones, The Museum Workout by Monica Bill Barnes, feral wild girl child by Magda, Metal & Kinds Indestructible Flowers by Lily Kind and Mark “Metal” Wong,  and The Graveyard Slot by 3AM Theatre.

FringeArts: Thanks Darcy!

What: Proceed with Caution
When: September 7-9
Where: The Iron Factory, 118 Fontain Street, Kensington
Cost: $15
Created by Darcy Lyons and performers
fringearts.com/event/proceed-with-caution