Title: Coming to Troy

Premiere: April 21, 2002, Maggie Allesee Dance Theater, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

Duration: 14 minutes

Commission: More Dances Contemporary Dance Company

Dancers: Sue Clayton-Blaize, Janet Clayton-Reid, Ayumi Nishizawa, Francesca Pileci

Music : Collage score assembled by Jessica Fogel and composed/engineered by ?

Description: This was a commission from a Michigan dance company run by twin sisters Janet Clayton-Reid (artistic Director) and Sue Clayton-Blaize (founding member and company teacher). I based the dance on the stories I learned from the dancers about their lives and how they ended up in Troy, Michigan, and these stories became a part of the sound score. Susan and Janet performed in Las Vegas and on cruise ships, switching roles with each other and working with such prominent performers as Siegfried and Roy. I recall that one of the stories recounted in the dance and score was about Susan and Janet’s experiences working with Siegfried and Roy’s tigers. I do not recall who assisted with assembling the sound collage music score, but I believe it consisted in part of the interviews I conducted with the dancers about how they made their home in Troy, MI. Ayumi was from Japan, and Francesca from England. Susan and Janet’s parents were from England. I enjoyed the Grecian echoes of Troy, and capitalized on that for the title.