9:11 caught in motion (From Harrow Times)

9:11 caught in motion

2:54pm Thursday 2nd February 2012 in Theatre News By Melanie Dakin

September 11, 2001; what do you remember? At 8.48am (EST Eastern Standard Time) events began unfolding in the skies over America that culminated in tragic loss of life and the destruction of New York’s World Trade Centre.

At 9.41am, photographer Richard Drew captured an image of a man falling, his body silhouetted against the backdrop of the Twin Towers.

The day after, the picture ran in newspapers across the US and worldwide. Then came the backlash. The public outrage. The image was vilified and buried by the media.

In September 2003, Esquire journalist Tom Junod wrote a moving report titled The Falling Man about the importance of that photograph to the human story of that horrific day. Who was the man and who was the photographer – should they be forgotten? Did he fall or did he jump? His passionate article was updated in 2009 as the search for the man’s identity continued. That same year, director Tommy Small of the Scottish dance company Smallpetitklein was inspired to conceive a new dance work Falling Man, in which Tom’s words become a monologue that the dancer recites while in motion.

“The Falling Man picture was actually one of a series of ten,” explains Tommy. “In the one publicised, he looks calm and serene but in others it’s quite grotesque. You realise you are seeing a body falling at great speed and from such a great height. That was the dichotomy of it and I felt weird about doing it. I thought, how do I have a right to comment?“

In answer to this, Tommy and his creative team undertook meticulous research and addressed each issue in turn – fear, grief, loss and confusion, among others. As well as Falling Man, the work encompassed a duet S/HE (2010) and two later pieces, Lost and Embers (2011).

“Bizarrely what came last was the first part of story,“ Tommy adds. “We felt something was missing and we didn’t want it to be hugely about movement but to be inspired and drawn from movement. It uses 4,000 pieces of paper and after the duet the technicians and dancers come and clear up the mess. You feel something beautiful has been destroyed and then they clear it up and make sense of it.“

In April 2011, the company travelled to New York.

“We went to perform it Cunningham Studios, which is not only one of the most renowned disciples of modern dance but geographically it’s round the corner from the World Trade Centre site.

“It was overwhelming for us just to meet up with the survivors – one woman whose husband was above the point of impact talked about her life before and since.

“All the emotions came back to people and we were surprised they wanted to share their stories of the day and what happened to them and their friends. They were walking us to the windows and saying ’it happened over there, just on our doorstep’.“

Along with the events of 9/11 unfolding on stage, SmallPetitKlein has put together a display recalling people’s experiences at the time, whether first- or third-hand, passed from parent to child.

Appearing for one night only outside of Scotland and ahead of a US tour, the series of dance pieces and the accompanying exhibition are coming to Trestle Arts Base this Saturday.

“The exhibition is there if people want to be anonymous and talk how it touched them and their thoughts about the show.

“The piece has been developed over a long period of time and it’s still evolving. It is informed by the audience who see it and by online interaction.

“It is hugely helpful to receive feedback.“

Falling Man is on Saturday, February 4 at 7.30pm at Trestle Arts Base, Russet Drive, St Albans. Details: 01727 850950