LAURA HALM

What is your most memorable performance?

When I was with the second company, we toured to Portland, Oregon, and spent a week performing two lecture/demonstration presentations per day. Our educational outreach took us to many non-traditional venues including a children's hospital, a facility for rehabbing juvenile offenders, and a home for teenagers with psychological issues. It is at this last venue that I experienced my most profound moment as a dancer. Kellie Epperheimer, William Cannon, and I performed an excerpt from Alex Ketley's The Wish for Even Ground. They perform a duet that merges with and eventually transitions into my solo. It explores alienation and loss and can be both approached and interpreted in so many ways as to define the cause of this deep sadness. The atmosphere in the room was tense and uncomfortable and I used the physical setup of the room to my advantage. An already emotionally overwhelming experience for me (that solo always got me), the solo brought out what I consider to be my most honest performance. Following the presentation, during the Q&A session, a girl raised her hand and said, "I know how you feel. Lonely." I have never been more complimented.