Commence is a new site-responsive performance proposition for libraries inspired by the ten beginnings in Italo Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler.  Created by director and performer Erin Tracy in collaboration with playwright Kristin Idaszak and composer Ryan Welsh, Commence continually poses the question how do you begin? The answers are told through archetypal beginnings found in literature and it is revealed how each informs the creation of theatre, dance, and music. Through all of this, the performance tells a larger narrative of relationship between performer and accompanist. They strive together, fall apart, woo, fail, abandon, and threaten one another as they continuously attempt the problematic task of starting anew. 

Commence premiered at Salon Dances No. 6 at the Encinitas Library and was presented by the Patricia Rincon Dance Collective.

All photos by Jim Carmody.