1976 – Quartet based on structure of pulse and accumulation.  The dance begins with finger snapping the pulse and dancers continue the finger snapping off and on during the first 10 minutes. The pulse appeared in the movement or as sound throughout the entire continuous performance.  The dance had distinctive sections for concepts and choreography.  The final section titled, 44’s, represented an accumulation of 8 count phrases contributed by each dancer.  The sequence must begin with 1, and then 1/2 and then 1/2/3 and so on.  You could stop/hold/arrest the movement on any given count, but  you must come in on the count (up to 44) that has moved forward either by the other dancers or just keeping the pulse.  There was a slow section and there was a “marking” section.  The goal for each dancer was to take advantage of the unexpected ways to create choreography dropping in and out while changing locations on stage.

Choreography: Maida Withers and Company.  Dancers worked collectively on concepts and choreography, directed by Withers. Each Company member had a solo they created with group accompaniment.  One group section, dancer clustered together up stage, involved slow and difficult movements with cues for shifting speed – slow and fast.  The ending, 44’s, challenged each dancer to accumulate from one movement to repeating one and adding, two, then returning to the first movement and adding to movement 3.  Dancers could drop out by holding a count but had to track the counts to reenter on the exact accumulative point in the phrase of 44 moves.

Costumes by John Bailey:  Tie-dyed layers of cotton costumes in shades of died sky blue, yellow,  and water green.  Each dancer had a leotard, cotton shorts and a T-shirt, long cotton tie pants, or a skirt.  Clothes were de-accummulated (taken off during performance coming down to the leotard, only, during the end of the dance.

Maida Withers, Solo for Time Dance

First performance was live music created and performed by Steve Bloom, gong pulse and instruments (1976) using tape and live instruments and a synthesizer.  For the second performance music was created by John Driscoll.  This performance featured John reciting poems by Gertrude Stein (Sacred Emily); Geography and Plays by Dick Higgins (Cowboy Plays) “Foew & OMBWHNW”.

Premiere: Hand Chapel, Washington, DC.  March 26, 27, 28, 1976.  The second performance was in Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre (1977???) (1984) Music for miniature objects by John Driscoll.  The third performance was on the steps by the Lincoln Memorial looking down over the Potomac River during Rush Hour (see photos), no music for this performance, except the sound of cars driving by the stairs.

Photo:  Maida Withers, Solo, Time Dance

There is a script for the choreography in the early archival notes prepared by Cynthia Word.