Talia DeLeo

haze (2022) is a haunting piece that explores the uneasiness and confusion that arises in understanding our feelings, anxieties, and thoughts.

Dancers: Bettina Cuddy, Sarah Moreno, Serena Pellegrino, Talia DeLeo

Music: “Smoke Signals (Reprise)” by Phoebe Bridgers, and “Hush” by Ben Laver

Videography by Kalos Chu

Message from Talia:

while the tone of this piece is more eerie in concept, I actually had a lot of fun putting it all together. my mom worked hard creating the beautiful floral headpieces for the dancers, and everything from the music, to the costume colors, to the lighting on stage was such a joy for me to think about. one of my biggest choreographic inspirations is Crystal Pite, as I love the haunting nature of her work and admire her ability to combine beauty with the avant-garde. haze was a chance for me to tap into the side of ballet that is conventionally beautiful, while twisting some of those balletic steps to create something slightly off-putting and chill-provoking. I wanted to mimic the feeling of having one’s life unfold fairly smoothly, yet always having a feeling as if something is off. my anxieties love to creep up on me even when things seem to be going pretty well, and it can create this mind-blurring, confusing feeling as if I’m walking through fog – nothing is necessarily “wrong”, yet it’s as if I have an extra heartbeat racing in the back of my mind trying to tell me something that I can’t make the words out of. it almost feels as if the brain is brainwashing itself, trying to convince itself that these uneasy feelings are factual – this aspect really inspired the “cultish” nature of this piece from the visual costume to the circular movements. the music was so eerily stunning and was a great representation for this piece conceptually, and I had such a fun time working with the dancers to bring it to life!