BRIEFS// A History of Violence: Samantha Virgilio’s “Trapping Butterflies”

By Michael Workman

As a victim of physical and emotional violence, which I’ve written about extensively both for Chicago alt-biweekly Newcity and in discussing the motivations for the birth of his Sophie Allen system of dance notation and choreography, the story behind Chicago-based dancer Samantha Virgilio’s “Trapping Butterflies” is profoundly resonant. Her performance makes its Chicago premier Valentine’s Day at Links Hall.

For those readers who may not know, can you tell us a little bit about Ashley Hall — who she was and the story you’re trying to tell about her through this performance?
Ashley Hall was my older cousin. She was an intelligent, giving, strong, beautiful human being and devoted mother. Ashley was killed in 2013 by her husband, after years of domestic violence and a recent separation, leaving behind two young daughters. Her body was found in her estranged husband’s apartment, so battered we had to have a closed casket service. Nobody deserves to die like that, especially someone so beautiful. Ashley and I always shared this bond through dance and performance. Every child in the Virgilio family has a discipline growing up, anything from sports like soccer, cheerleading, music or the performing arts. We were the two dancers in the family.

When she had her daughters, she made it her mission as their mother to instill in them a deep love for the arts. Performance and dance was a huge part of who Ashley was. That’s why I wanted to create this piece in the first place; Ashley always believed in the power of art to make a difference. It’s only right that her legacy continues onstage, where she lived so much of her life. This piece is Ashley’s legacy onstage, but it’s not just Ashley’s story. Trapping Butterflies is a vehicle, an outlet for other victims, grieving loved ones, and allies to share their experiences alongside Ashley’s. Ashley never had the chance to share her story with the world. Even after her death, many news outlets just wouldn’t cover the story because, unfortunately, it’s just so common. I think she would’ve liked for others to have the opportunity that she never got. Trapping Butterflies is an artistic outlet that gives a voice to a group that has been forced to sit politely, cry alone, and die in silence for too long.

It’s a powerful, and heart-wrenching story. How did the idea for Trapping Butterflies start and how has it evolved into the performance you’re presenting now at Links Hall?
It’s a rather long and odd story. Ashley died on Black Friday 2013. We were so close to Christmas and, as a family, we were as just completely destroyed. We held the annual family gathering, and we all tried to put on a smile for her daughters, who were still very young. I remember I got them both ballet shoes, and they were so happy, but the youngest’s pair was too small. She forced her feet into the shoes and walked around in them with tears, refusing to take them off. She was only two at the time, but I could tell why she didn’t want to take them off: they reminded her of her mom. And it just hit me, Ashley needed one final dance to place that important missing punctuation mark on her life’s journey, and the girls needed something, years from now, that they could turn to and say that their mom really does live on through her art, that her life sparked something great. It took almost a full year for me to be ready to tackle Ashley’s life and death in such an exposed and vulnerable way, and the process never gets easier, but it’s brought me so much closer to Ashley’s memory. I really hope that the Trapping Butterflies movement really does become the ever-spreading wildfire that Ashley sparked in everyone who had the privilege of knowing and sharing in her inspiration.

You originally staged this performance in Tampa Bay. Can you tell us a little about the story behind how and why you brought it from there to perform at Links Hall?
That’s right. Yes, Trapping Butterflies originally premiered in Tallahassee, Florida at the FSU School of Theatre, with a cast of roughly 15 students. We rehearsed late at night and between classes, and performed in one of the FSU rehearsal studios. If you watch any of the videos or photos online, you can see blue mats stacked up against the wall and a kitchen in the background. We played the sound through a tiny old guitar amp, there was no stage lighting, our audience sat on the floor, and the dressing room was constructed out of some of the blue mats, stood upright. Still, it had this impact that I really wasn’t expecting. People filled the space, we raised a good amount of money from broke college students for the Ashley Hall Fund and the Spring of Tampa Bay domestic violence shelter. In the talkback, people were engaging and coming to realizations about dangerous situations they didn’t know how to handle and we were able to talk through that.

I wanted to bring Trapping Butterflies to Chicago, because there was still so much explore in this dance now as its own artistic organism. I owe so much to the staff at Links Hall. This is my first full work since moving to Chicago, and they have been has been incredibly supportive of this piece, and the movement it has generated, from the first moment I asked how to make this thing happen in the city. When I originally made Trapping Butterflies, it wasn’t really my plan to continue past its premiere, but now its become this living thing with its own momentum. It’s become this movement for artists to speak out against domestic violence and a way for victims to break their silence about their experiences through art. Now I don’t intend to stop working on it for the forseeable future. And wherever I go, Ashley goes with me. I want this movement to really make a difference, to become a resource for artists and the community. I don’t know what the next step is for this movement and this piece, but the journey definitely isn’t over.

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Samantha Virgillio, in collaboration with Claudia Moreno, Brittany Burns, Law Chan, Sarah Schiff-Berger, Trapping Butterflies at Links Hall, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL 60618. (773)281–0824. Sun., Feb. 14, 7pm. Purchase tickets online, and learn more about the performance on the artist’s website.