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I. Rebecca Bruno (left) and Samantha Mohr (right) run through Marion Davies’ guest house and pose in front of paper screens decorated with giant black-and-white prints of parties and events from the 1920s. This stretch of the performance can only be viewed through the windows of the house, leaving the dancers enough space to delve into every room.

II. Mohr (left) and Bruno (right) aim to be a part of the transitional space connecting the modern beach house with Marion Davies’ 1920s guest house. They slowly roll away from each other and spread across the concrete, folding and uncurling in isolation as they make their way toward opposing corners.

III. After sprinting across the sand, Mohr (left) and Bruno (right) contemplate the ocean before engaging in a series of fluid and confrontational mirrored poses. They transition their mermaid-like bodies onto their backs, raise their legs into tabletop positions and finally extend their limbs outward as they are steadily engulfed by a rising tide that tries to pull them back into the sea.

IV. Mohr (left) and Bruno (right) begin crawling back to the pavement in front of the Annenberg Community Beach House. Curious spectators form a crowd behind and on either side of the pair.

V. Upon reaching a sparsely-used bike rack, Mohr (left) and Bruno (right) immediately begin twirling in small circles as they drag their feet across the sandy sidewalk, squat up and down and push their arms out, tilting back and forth before going into their next spin forward. Once they reach the front of the rack, they pause to play rhythmic beats from a boombox and tie on a pair of shoes. Completing their outfits with a silver-gray, see-through cardigan, the two make their way back to Marion Davies’ guest house.

VI. Bruno (left) and Mohr (right) descend into a sunken garden attached to Marion Davies’ guest house, spread their arms, and begin to pivot and rotate away from each other, then back toward each other again. The dance mimics the music in its repetitive motions, their shadows criss-crossing on the floor, although their bodies never touch. Suddenly they stop, walk backward, turn to their left, and disappear into the house. The performance is over. Applause follows.

Rebecca Bruno‘s Fixtures was anything but fixed. On September 26 and 27, Bruno and her collaborator Samantha Mohr performed a conceptual dance at the Annenberg Community Beach House that redefined audience participation. Every section provided opportunities for the crowd to approach the duo, snap photos, mimic their movements and even discuss one another’s reactions.

These interactive tiles allow our Ampersand audience to hear commentary from the choreographer and experience what it was like to be there.

Annenberg Community Beach House choreographer-in-residence Bruno diverted our attention to surrounding natural elements—air, water, wind, bird sounds—and made us sense them through an archaeological lens. Sand. Fossils. Ocean. Ants. Garden. Shells. Shadows. Dressed in shiny silver uniforms reminiscent of ’20s bathing suits, Bruno and Mohr combined slow motion formations and erratic gestures representing these Santa Monica Beach natural and artificial elements.

What’s your experience of Fixtures as “re-told” and “re-shown” by us? Share your responses to our work—and to Bruno’s, if you were there in the flesh in late September for her performance—by writing us at:
altunian@usc.edu and jshiffle@usc.edu.

Sound, audio editing and drawings by Jonathan Shifflett.
Photography by Lara Altunian.
Text and interactive designs by Lara Altunian and Jonathan Shifflett.