1985 – Quest / Domain:  sections of choreography by Maida Withers created for Laser Dance.  The choreography remains relatively the same but does not take place in a laser environment.  Dancers perform the intricate and spatial movements without hesitation without the darkness required for laser beam visibility.

For Quest  and Domain, in an early showing (prior to the Laser premiere) the dancers wore white plastic pants and tops and protective goggles.  At that time Quest / Domain sections were adapted and performed in celebration of National Dance Week, Dance Fest ’85 at Glen Echo Park, Sunday April 28, 1985.  Laser Dance premiered in June 1985.  The exquisite choreography lasted 14 minutes as “dancers appear again and again, their limbs slicing the air in sustained arcs.”  (See review by Suzanne Levy, Washington Post Monday April 29, 1985.

Quest/Domain/Dialogue was performed in Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, May 15, 16, 17, 1986 and toured briefly in Virginia, once again, without the laser installation.  For this performance dancers wore brilliant colored leotards and no goggles.

The choreography for from the performance in Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre May 15 – 17, 1986,  was combined with Adam Peiperl’s kinetic sculptures to create a film Sky Cathedrals.

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