Eleanor Hovda
for dancer, clarinet, double bass, percussion, and Audubon birdcall chorus
Crossings was made in 1983 for dancer Shron Friedler and clarinetist Loius friedler for my Perspectives VIII concert at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in March of that year. The piece also uses double bass, laid flat like a koto as well as bowed metal temple bells. Audubon birdcalls are played by the dancer, the musicians, and members of the audience.
Crossings takes its structural content from three sources simultaneously: Zeno's Paradox, that says that destinations (or "center") can be approached but never reached; "alternating currents" of energy, concepts - in this case, use of alternating ideas of measuring/passing time in increments ("clock" time) with "the time it takes to do something" ("process" time); and the activity of body crossings used as a physical aid to integrating right/left side of the brain functioning.
Thus, Crossings is a way to approach a center as well as to move away from a center. Crossings explores extents and limits, boundaries. Repetition is used introspectively, to probe gently, to excavate carefully.