(May 15, 16, 17, 1986 – Tour in Virginia, 1986)
Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, Washington, DC
Virginia sponsored tour

Quest / Domain /Departure – sections of choreography by Maida Withers created for Laser Dance, Lisner Auditorium, June, 1985, were performed in Washington, DC  May 15, 16, 17, 1986 and toured in Virginia, Fall 1986, with state arts funding.  Original music by Bob Boilen, composer with Synclavier II, Laser Dance premiere in Lisner Auditorium. The choreography remains relatively the same but does not take place in a laser environment.   Two new male dancers performed in Quest / Domain / Dialogue.  For this performance, dancers wore brilliant colored leotards and no goggles. Dancers perform the intricate and spatial movements without hesitation without the darkness required for laser beam visibility. Performances in Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre May 15 – 17, 1986 included projection of Adam Peiperl’s kinetic sculptures.  This combination eventually became a media work, Sky Cathedrals.

(See review by Suzanne Levy, Washington Post Monday April 29, 1985.)  Larry Graves and Stephanie Simmons
Ben Watts and Susan Short Bensinger

What the press is saying

"Of particular interest was the Dance Construction company's tantalizing excerpt from Maida Withers' Laser Dance," which is to be premiered in its entirety in June. Withers, who often collaborates with other performing and visual artists, is working in "Laser Dance" with argon laser art by Rockne Krebs and digitally synthesized score by Bob Boilen."
Last night's performance of "Quest," the 14-minute opening section of Withers' evening-length work, was a given sans laser art, allowing for a concentrated view of the dance itself.
The opening of Quest sees dancers in high-tech translucent plastic suits and goggles pour through a break in the backdrop in a seemingly endless stream. The effect is that of the visual trickeryof a Mobius strip as the same dancers appear again and again, their limbs slicing the air in sustained arcs. As the section ends, the windmilling of the limbs gradually breaks down into an intricate tracery of quick, delicate footwork." Suzanne Levy Suzanne Levy

"Withers and the company mix art and technology as if they were country cousins." Dianne Capelon