Andy Miller

Ordinary Body of Work (2013)

Choreographed by Johanna Meyer
Music and Sound Design by Andy Miller

Excerpt from the evening-length work entitled "Fracture" by Archaea Collective at the IX Santander en Escena Theatre Festival, Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Conceptually, this piece came from a sense of nostalgia and stillness inspired by the subtle movements at the beginning of the choreography. The most challenging part of the compositional process was solving how to break this beautiful silence with music. By utilizing an electronic bowing effect on the electric guitar I was able to smoothly transition into my score with a gently swelling melodic motive that haunts the dance throughout.

The overall form is in three sections, A) a gently descending sustained guitar melody with layers of isolated piano notes reminiscent of water droplets hanging in space, B) a contrasting, highly rhythmic canon for gong and bass drums that compliments the almost bird-like movements in the dance, culminating in A1) a recap of the original music, but this time with a more active piano line in counterpoint to the sighing guitar.