August is the ending of summer and its green and the beginning of fall, with leaves showing small hints of color growing more brilliant in the coming days. It is a bridge month of endings and beginnings.

These hints of color and promise of metamorphosis remind me of the piece that became an anchor point for the Ensemble during the pandemic: Colorfields, an exploration of the late work of abstract expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler, created in a collaboration with the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA) and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation.

Our first rehearsal for the piece took place just as the pandemic was announced and we all sheltered at home for so many months. Plans for the work radically shifted, and we moved rehearsals to Zoom, filling them with explorations that each Ensemble member did at home, in nature (a key inspiration for Helen), and based on her paintings that were part of the NBMAA exhibit of her late work.

It was a hopeful and inspiring project, delving into Frankenthaler’s groundbreaking use of color and feeling the healing effects of that immersion during the dark days of Covid.

The solos that emerged based on the paintings, originally planned for audiences in the museum galleries, were filmed in the empty galleries with costumes and masks evoking the colors of the paintings. They were then performed for live audiences as a group piece on the museum grounds. It became a different, unexpected kind of site-specific venture, and audiences were invited to in-progress Zoom rehearsals and virtual film showings of the work as well as the outdoor performances.

The work evoked and presented beauty in the face of an unfathomable health crisis with gorgeous music created by UK composer Daniel Birch, a connection made also via Zoom. As always, art heals.

The colors released us—allowed us to dream, to feel like a ‘normal’ rhythm to life might emerge again. The dances were emblems of hope for performers and audiences alike.

That same feeling of hope seems to be percolating now. In recent weeks, a sense of color and light has emerged amidst the sharper edges of political conflict, racial and gender oppression, and the ravages of war.

Let’s continue to dream together, and let our hopes and dreams help to realize a world that is just, kind, and true to the idea of freedom for all.

And let’s make it happen together, with peace and compassion as our guide, brilliantly and in color.

And remember, November 5 is less than 3 months away—let’s do whatever we can to get out the vote and to get there ourselves with bells on!

Click here to view excerpts from ColorFields in the gallery.

For the virtual opening and tour of the Helen Frankenthaler Late Works 1990 – 2003 exhibit that was held at NBMAA February 11 – May 23, 2021, click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrj7D9HRedU