Dana Michel
(with Amanda Acorn, Ellen Furey, and Simon Portigal)
Lift That Up

The title of Dana Michel’s most recent dance piece seems, at first, relatively straightforward. Lift That Up. It’s a simple three-word phrase, a concise directive. Quickly, however, questions start to bubble up around the edges of this erstwhile uncomplicated command. The referent is missing, and the “That” floats untethered. What is meant to be lifted? And by whom? And how far? And then what? Do we lift “That,” and continue lifting it interminably?