Hope Mohr Dance takes on motherhood

By Tiffany Maleshefski
Special to The Examiner 2/26/09

Telling a story: Choreographer Hope Mohr moves from abstract to a somewhat linear format in “The Force That Drives the Flower.” Courtesy photo Q and A: New works

San Francisco-based, post-modern choreographer Hope Mohr explores issues of loss, vulnerability and motherhood in her new piece, “The Force That Drives the Flower,” a reworking of the myth of Demeter and Persephone, featuring an original score by Paul Fowler. Hope Mohr Dance’s second season program is onstage this weekend at Project Artaud Theater.

Taking a look at your last production (“The Grief Room”) and your current production, it seems that your work is moving from abstract to a more narrative style — is that true?

My training and aesthetic lineage is definitely in the more abstract, postmodern realm, having trained with Trisha Brown in New York. Up until this year, that has been the nature of my work. This is the first time I’ve explicitly tried to tell a story. I’m still interested in the marriage of narrative and abstraction, so I’m not trying to spoon-feed the story to the audience, I’m trying to see how little I can do.

What prompted you to explore a narrative-style program?

I felt more of a pull to connect emotionally to the audience; to reach out beyond purely formal connections.

Have you found this format to be more challenging?

In some ways it’s easier. You don’t have to worry about if this scene comes before the next one. It pushed me to ask certain dancers in character roles to strike a certain balance of conveying emotional meaning without overdoing it.

Why did you decide to focus on motherhood in this show?

I chose to work with the myth of Persephone and Demeter because of the mother-daughter story. Being a mother has forced me to be more emotionally generous and more emotionally vulnerable.

How have the new feelings affected your work?

I’ve been really interested in that combination of vulnerability and openness in the face of a lot of loss. I was really interested in that territory and making a work that explores that territory and fear of loss as a parent. Being a parent has really cracked me open. On a more practical level, it’s given me perspective. The world has become bigger than just what happens in the studio.

How was it choreographing while pregnant?

Luckily, I made most of the material before I was very pregnant. I had to rely more on improvisation from the dancers and work on maintaining a cohesive aesthetic.

Do you think you will continue to create character-driven roles in future productions?

To some extent I always rely on improvisation, so that’s not going to go away. I am primarily a formalist at heart and find myself being drawn back to that for the next iteration.

IF YOU GO

Hope Mohr Dance

Where: Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida St., San Francisco

When: 8 p.m. today through Saturday

Tickets: $18

Contact: www.brownpapertickets.com

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