“Seated motionless on my park bench in GGP, I felt like not just an audience member passively watching the As Is production, but a participant: in art, in communion, in the life of our city finally, finally starting to re-emerge from this pandemic even as the weight and the consequences of the pandemic continue to hang over everything.

It’s a daunting task to translate into words the feelings that arise when experiencing an event like this. Instead, I’ll just share some questions/dichotomies/impressions that arose during the performance. Note: these are framed as “opposites,” but I didn’t see the performance as an either/or but rather the dancers — the beautiful, expressive, emotional, mesmerizing dancers — seemed to be exploring the interplay between: interior/exterior, solitude/communion, light/heavy, together/separate, syncopated/harmonic, play/effort, cocooned/exposed.

The fog rolled in and through the London Plane trees; the dog walkers and bike riders hesitated for a moment; applause spontaneously erupted from a nearby AA meeting; and children scooted past and over the “set.” And me? I was captivated by the beauty, in love with my city again, and just grateful to be alive. Thanks so much to Jennifer Perfilio and the gorgeous dancers for a moment of pure beauty and joy.”

— Erika Malzberg, One Good Quote