Performance with video, electronic sound and live acoustic music
1998. 15 min. Hayden Auditorium (Greenwich House). New York City

ALYSSE STEPANIAN: performance, costumes, text, video
PHILIP MANTIONE: music
JOHNNY REINHARD: conductor
STEVE COHN: improvisations on shakuhachi, hichiriki
PAULINE KIM: violin
VICTORIA VORONYANSKY: viola
CURTIS WOODSIDE: cello
JAMES MARENTIC: speaker

Out of Line is a multi-media performance with videos, costumes, and live and recorded music. I act out my fantasy of freedom from the burdens of society. In one section I appear to mesmerize, challenge, and seduce the video projection of a line gone awry. At first I make greeting gestures and dance to the accompanying rattling noises of Mantione’s recordings. The reflections from the silver dots of my long dress and the video of the crazed zigzags jumping around in excitement send sparkles around the stage. Then in silence I outsmart my challenger, when I turn to reveal my figure through the transparent fabric. The line then quietly withdraws and disappears in horizontal submission. This work deals with resisting the pressures of conformity and remaining true to the self.

The live music and recorded sounds are created by Philip Mantione. He uses non-synchronous individual musical gestures, improvisations on shakuhachi by Steve Cohn, recorded samples of the writing on a chalkboard and the percussive effects created by a sound machine (a device he built from the spare parts of an old VCR). The ending of the piece is based on an ancient Greek melody.