“I love the ‘Butterflies’ work….clean and clear movements.  Dancers interrupted and interrupting others, quickly and quietly with ease and dignity!”  Maida Withers

Above:  Rehearsal – day of City Dance premiere

Catching Butterflies and Other Things That Move
A delightful fast paced dance of recurring movement  where dancers interrupt and obstruct the motion of other dancers.

(1980) May 9 – Premiere:  City Dance ’80 – presentation of select Washington, DC dance companies in the historic Warner Theater  (13th and E Streets NW), presented by the distinguished Washington Performing Arts Society. Dance Construction Company performed Catching Butterflies and Other things That Move – an innovative, pure movement work, featuring beautiful hand-painted costumes by John Bailey, noted DC visual artist and dancer with Dance Construction Company.  Each costume is a unique design based on a specific butterfly.  Dancers:  Brook Andrews, Kathryn Hartman, Anne McDonald, Vincent Wineglass, Maida Withers, and Don Zuckerman;  Music:  live, original music by Lloyd McNeill, flutist composer, and Terry Plumeri, bassist composer.

City Dance ’80 also featured an unprecedented May Day Celebration on the Mall… over 600 dancers of all ages from the DC region participated in a day-long “rite of spring” festival of dance for the entire family at the reflecting pool: “Modern, Tap Scottish, Renaissance, African Dancers, and many, many, more.”  This amazing community event was sponsored by the National Park Service with Liz Lerman as Artistic Advisor.

Background: “Catching Butterflies and Other Things That Move was based on a phrase composed by Brook Andrews for a previous work, Phase Tracing,  developed in 1979-80 with four MWDCCo dancers in a collaboration with Ron Kuivila (ultra sound made audible by movement intervention).  The phrase in Phase Tracing, created through improvisation, became the “bedrock” material for Catching Butterflies and Other Things That Move.  For Butterflies, dancers moving horizontally across and through the space (frequent exists) were interrupted by another dancer blocking/holding/pausing and then releasing the movement for the dancer to continue.  Entering and exiting was an important aspect of the choreography.  These moments of intrusion/interruption became the dance.  In Catching Butterflies and Other things that Move, dancers wore original costumes hand painted  by John Bailey, dancer and visual artist, each costume was based on a specific/unique butterfly.” Maida Withers


Brook Andrews – founding dancer, Dance Construction Company

(1979) April 27 and 28 @ 8:00 pm, Catching Butterflies and Other Things That Move, Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, Washington, DC. based on an original dance phrase Brook Andrews created in the Dance Construction work, Phase Tracing I.  Dancers: Brook Andrews, Diane Floyd, Maida Withers, Don Zuckerman, and (TBD) Kay Hartman and Ann McDonald.  Musician/Composer: Steven Bates, woodwinds; Light Design: William (Bill) DeMull,  Costumes – hand painted acrylic, John Bailey

Video above:  Rehearsal, original cast, Bldg K studio documenting choreography for  Catching Butterflies and Other Things That Move reconstruction, without costumes or live music.|

(1979) Feb 29 – March 1  Catching Butterflies and Other Things That Move, first performance in Studio K Theatre, 817 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC – a shared concert with GWU dancers performing a new work with guest artist/musician, Ron Kuivala.

Above:  Promotion video for performance Feb 29 – March 1, 1979, Studio K Theater

Photos below: Catching Butterflies and Other Things That Move

Photographer, Glen Sweetser; Don Zuckerman, dancer; John Bailey, hand-painted costumeDon Zuckerman, Maida Withers, Brook AndrewsBrook AndrewsBelow: original dancers – Catching Butterfly’s and Other Things that Move:  Don Zuckerman, Brook Andrews, Ann McDonald, Maida Withers  Maida Withers, Don Zuckerman, Diane Floyd

Diane Floyd, Don Zuckerman, Maida Withers
 Original cast: Catching Butterflies and Other Things that Move

Brook Andrews, original cast, Catching Butterflies, and founding member of Dance Construction Company

Marilyn Monroe mural by John Bailey, Washington, DC

John Bailey, founding member of MWDCCo and artist for hand-painted costumes for  Catching Butterflies and Other Things That Moves. John, a visual artist, is widely  known for the mural, located at 2602 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington D.C.  The portrait depicts pop culture icon Marilyn Monroe on the upper outside wall of Salon Roi.^[1] It was created in 1981 by artist John Bailey. It was commissioned by Charles Stinson for Salon Roi’s owner, Roi Barnard’s 40th birthday.^[2]

What the press is saying

The audience's jubilation during the finale of the fourth annual City Dance Saturday night at the Warner Theatre was an echo of the elation that marked the festival's past years, and somehow it restored the celebratory air that seemed missing from the first two evenings of this year's ediion.
Alan M. Kreigsman

D.C. Dance Fever "After a jubilant kickoff celebration last Saturday afternoon, City Dance '80 continues its celebration with three nights of performances at Washington's Warner Theatre. Ten companies plus a world premiere will be featured in the three consecutive concerts, beginning tonight, Thursday, May 8, 1980 at 8:00 pm." Carolyn Kelemen

The Washington Performing Arts Society will present ten resident dance companies plus a world premiere for City Dance'80 during the festival which continues Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm." Arlington-Alexandria Calendar