The improvised movement score for this 45-minute duet was created during a residency at Mad Brook Farm with Lisa Nelson and Steve Paxton, placing their work PA RT (1978-2002) at the center of our research. Robert Ashley’s music Private Parts provides a scaffolding for our exploration, cultivating a landscape of deep listening and rigorous attention. The Backyard is thus a palimpsest of Paxton/Nelson’s PA RT—an effaced manuscript, written over, but still bearing traces of its original form.

The Backyard is a project of , an experimental performance company in Philadelphia, PA, and was partially developed in residence during “Camp Fringe” at FringeArts, Philadelphia, and with support from the Net/TEN Foundation’s Travel Grant. also receives support from the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.