Our guest choreographer Ann Carlson is a fountain of creativity. She brings brightness into every step and word, crafting this, the first inkBoat duet of Dana Iova-Koga and myself.
We began two years ago, working together in Switzerland for 10 days. Then live work stopped. Zoom came to the rescue. Fortunately, Dana and I live together. Ann in one Zoom box, us in another. Rehearsing twice weekly for “Ones” via Zoom became a balm, a comforting ritual amidst the craziness. We didn’t know if and how the piece would reach the public, but we held to the act of making, and the holding held us.
Also working remotely (though inimately and warmly), the sublime composers Carla Kihlstedt and Shahzad Ismaily. Carla’s edgy, quirky, haunting, driving, etherial compositions have been part of inkBoat’s sound and vision over the last 23 years. Shahzad’s brilliance and spirit continually uplift the quality of anything he touches. Allen Willner remains our award winning master of light. I’ve depended on his eye and artistic sensibility throughout inkBoat’s history. I’m also so grateful for Amy Rathbone’s fine, detailed, intelligent and evocative touches to our visual world.
~Shinichi, November 2021