Henry Darger's Fantastic Landscape

Based in Seattle, Pat Graney has taken on the impossible task of turning Henry Darger’s artwork into a dance. Graney wisely does not attempt to take on the plot of the epic. Instead she creates images and episodes taking their initial poses from Darger’s illustrations. It’s a series of tableaux vivants.

The work opens on a set that consists of the hand bound book manuscripts in “Alice in Wonderland” scale. There are projections at the back, first of Darger’s room in Chicago, then of his illustrations. Graney’s five dancers, in pinafores and smocks as well as black pageboy wigs, become the illustrations. The tableaux unfold at a leisurely pace to haunting music by Amy Denio and Martin Hayes.