Chain of Circumstances, originally intended for live performance with piano, solo dancer, and interactive computer music, was reconceived as a screendance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Featured on this realization are pianist Richard Shuster and dancer/choreographer Jordan Fuchs, with lighting design by Dayna Ballenger and videography by Danielle Willis. The original version of this work explored aspects of recombinance, modularity, and non-linear musical structures, and was conceived as a series of disparate, distinctive, and relatively static musical states. In this screendance version, the pianist’s choices regarding the assemblage of musical modules served as an impetus for the dancer’s semi-improvised choreography, which in turn was filmed, then recontextualized and compiled into the present video by the composer.

Chain of Circumstances was supported by a grant from Texas Woman’s University, and was composed in February-March 2020 for pianist Richard Shuster and dancer/choreographer Jordan Fuchs. This screendance version was completed in October 2020.