Polymorphic Suite is a set of five compositions for solo violin, electronics, and dancers that I made in collaboration with Sadie Weinberg’s company LITVAKdance and four guest choreographers: Micaela Taylor, Yoshito Sakuraba, Yolande Snaith, and Keith Johnson. When Sadie approached me last year about composing a new work for LITVAKdance's Fall 2020 concert, she had the idea to make something that involved a composer-initiated dance work. One of my first ideas was to explore how our bodies absorb sound and to somehow integrate the sonic filtering effects into a music score. I envisioned designing a sound system where the dancers could be staged directly in front of an array of speakers, so that the audience could hear how the sound changes as the dancers move in front of it.

After several conversations we settled on a basic outline for the process. Each choreographer would get a toolbox that included a specific number of dancers, a music score that included a recording of the music, and a spatial map that would describe how to set the dancers in relation to the sound system. Then the pandemic happened. So the concept shifted. Without the ability to work in-person, I had no way of working out the details of how to achieve the sonic effects I was after. Instead I decided to let go of that idea and use it as a jumping off point to write five pieces. In homage to the original concept, I titled the first four pieces after a different type of sonic filter: bandpass, band stop, all pass, high pass, and low pass. Like the bass, mid, and treble dials on your stereo, each type of filter can be used to turn up or turn down different parts of the overall sound, making the music sound brighter, or darker, or like it’s cascading from high to low or low to high.

I composed all five works remotely and corresponded with each choreographer via Zoom, rehearsal videos, and audio recordings. Although I wasn't able to work out the details of realizing the sonic effects of the spatial maps, I decided to instead write poetic renderings to share with each choreographer as a jumping-off point. The spatial maps, titles, and choreographers are listed below.

Bandpass: A Counterpoint of Being
Choreography by Micaela Taylor
Spatial map: Each oscillating along a discrete arc-shaped trajectory that bends inward toward the other.

Band stop: Triads and Triangulation
Choreography by Yoshito Sakuraba
Spatial map: Three 3-dimensional trajectories traveling left, right, up, down, near, and far; in continuous intervallic modulation.

All pass: A Continual Transformation
Choreography by Yolande Snaith
Spatial map: Traveling gradually along a single trajectory, with no seeming beginning or end.

High pass–Low pass: Patterns and Disarrangement
Choreography by Keith Johnson
Spatial map: Oscillating along trajectories that bring each in and out of pattern and disarrangement—from magma to crystal, from cloud to raindrop, from murmuration to flock formation, from sphere to wheel.

Feedback: A Self-amplifying Loop
Choreography by Sadie Weinberg
Spatial score: A solo for many, one beginning where another ends, in perpetual relay.