Running on Empty
Program Notes
We all know the feeling. The needle on the dashboard gas meter slips down that last centimeter and hits zero. The red gas light glares on. Our destination lies miles away, and suddenly we don’t know if we can make it. We plow forward, becoming more anxious as the seconds tick by, trying to deny it but acutely aware of the fact that we’re running on empty.
In America, we’re so often goal-oriented, and the list of to-dos is endless. Finish that math problem. Graduate High School. Go to college. Have a career. Make an impact. And while keeping up sometimes feels impossible, slowing down can feel like a failure. So how do we do it? How do we lend and receive strength when it feels we’re running out?
Director and choreographer Wendy Jones began conceptualizing Running on Empty last spring. She wanted to create a piece centered around the feeling of exhausted strength, the psychological need to keep pushing toward a goal, and the support and comfort that others can lend in this tiresome pursuit.
Around the same time, Jones became fascinated with the look and mechanics of the wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow, a strengthening exercise where one person planks and walks forward on their hands while a partner holds their legs, is not a typical dance move. It’s ungainly, slightly awkward, and stands out from the fluid movements often found in modern dance pieces.
The pieces clicked. The wheelbarrow seemed the perfect vehicle to express the message behind Running on Empty; physically exhaustive in nature, the exercise requires both partners to play different supporting roles. The person in the plank sets the pace but is in the vulnerable position of not having their feet on the ground. The dancer holding the legs allows herself to be led but is responsible for the weight of her partner. Both have a destination, and while the journey is draining, the support is constant.
For senior co-captain Nicolina Arellano, other people can help relieve the monotony and stress of day-to-day life. “The more you do something, the harder it becomes mentally and physically to keep going,” Arellano said. “Especially at Lowell, there’s so much homework, there’s so much stress, everyone has extracurriculars. Sometimes you need people to check you, to see if you’re okay.”
Arellano feels this supportive check in one specific section of Running on Empty. She charges from the wings down the diagonal only to be caught and pulled back by a net of dancers. “It feels like they’re helping me to stop overwhelming myself,” Arellano said.
The first half of the dance has an urgent and slightly frantic edge to it. Dancers fill the stage, wheelbarrowing, skipping and stomping, sometimes in unison, sometimes tracing their own paths. The music, a frantic piano solo, races along with them. However, the pace abruptly changes in part two. The focus shifts to smaller groups of dancers, who continue to move through space as individuals but are prepared to catch their companions if they fall.
This change reflects the intention behind the dance as a whole. However hard we may push, there comes a time when we need someone to catch us, to let us know its okay to stop. “It’s not possible to do everything yourself,” said senior co-captain Peony Cheung. “It’s easier if you can accept the help of others. You don’t have to carry it inside you.“
