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Stephanie Miracle's performance in "Treasure Heart" responds to the theme of "Memory" from Luke 2:19.
I chose the German translation of the verse because it highlights movement rather than static meditation or contemplation. I imagine a mix of uncertainty and awe tumbling inside of Mary.
Luke 2:19
Treasure Heart
By
Stephanie Miracle
Credits:
Curated by:
Elizabeth Dishman
2013
Dance
Primary Scripture
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Luke 2:19 is a mysterious passage to me. It is oddly placed in the middle of a narrative: it is the middle of the night, angels are singing, Christ has just been born and the shepherds have come to worship the newborn Savior. And then, in the middle of the scene, Luke interrupts the account to give us a tiny window into Mary’s heart. A small pause and then the story of the shepherds continues.
I chose the German translation of the verse because it highlights movement rather than static meditation or contemplation. I imagine a mix of uncertainty and awe tumbling inside of Mary. And I imagine that the tumbling continues well beyond that moment but continues to return throughout her whole life; kind of like a motion sickness that is more wonderful than awful. Unlike the shepherds who tell the town of all they have seen and heard Mary does not seem to have really any clear or concrete words just an incommunicable sense of …
How do you deal with something so ineffable? Like the memory of a home you have never actually lived in… like the scent of the sweetest flower in a recurring dream… like the melody of a secret song you know by heart but can’t remember the words to…. like the feeling of being weightless though your feet are still resting on the ground….
Spark Notes
The Artist's Reflection
Stephanie Miracle is an American born independent choreographer and performer currently based in Essen, Germany with her husband visual artist Jimmy Miracle. She earned her MFA in Dance at the University of Maryland and a BA in Dance from Belhaven University. She is also a teacher of Klein Technique™ and holds prestigious honor of being a 2014/15 German Fulbright Fellow in the Performing Arts. In 2015 she joined as a full-time dancer with the Folkwang Tanzstudio/FTS. In addition to performing with the company she often works in collaboration with Henrietta Horn (DE), Carla Jordao (PT), Ana Farfan (MX), Paola Ponti, (IT) and Anna Shchkleina (RU). She is the director of Fakers Club, a site-specific performance experiment based on film and serial television.
Stephanie's choreography has been described as “iconic and nuanced…with an irreverence that makes you smile unconsciously”(Rick Westerkamp, 2014). Often in vivid technicolor, Miracle’s works are crafted with a cinematic sensibility and follow subtle narrative threads. In addition to creating choreographies for traditional proscenium theaters her unique aesthetic finds special significance in common spaces for example, parking lots, bus stops, woman's prisons, hallways, staircases, and rooftops. in Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Russia, New York City, and Washington DC by various institutions including MetLife Foundation, Exchange Festival, Dance Place, Supernoval Festival, Open Look Festival, Performatica, Belhaven University, ES WIRD SOGAR SCHÖN, Barnes Crossing, The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
Other awards include the Smith Scholarship Grant to attend ImPulsTanz in 2012, dance artist-in-residence at OMI International Residency 2012, DC Innovation grant in 2013, Bates Dance Festival Merit Scholarship 2013, Goldhaber Travel Scholarship 2014, and NextNOW new work grant 2014. Her collaborative piece “Drafting Plan” was awarded Best Duo at Barnes Crossing Festival 2015 in Cologne and at the 2016 SzoloDuo Festival in Budapest. She is honored to be a 2016 Artist in Residence at Spark and Echo Arts.
Stephanie Miracle
About the Artist
Artist in Residence 2016: Stephanie Miracle
Stephanie Miracle
Other Works By
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