"Arts Preview: False Prophets"

 

Jim Fischer, Columbus Alive!
April 11, 2018

 

Dance group examines identity, community.

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Sarah Hixon is as concerned as anyone about the current political climate, and had been simultaneously investigating and resisting making art as a response.

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Not wanting to make dance that was overly timely or political, Hixon ultimately conceived “False Prophets,” an examination of the assault on individual identity from outside forces.

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“I started with an old idea, that your life, your identity, is fated,” Hixon said. “So then what happens when we give up autonomy to war or propaganda or consumerism or social media? In the end, it’s kind of a statement about finding that individual self.”

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While there is no linear story, the program does feature “a series of images or vignettes that all relate and are cohesive,” she said. It’s the recurring theme of identity and the challenges to it that binds the program.

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Eight performers in varied groupings will present the primarily metaphorical story, accompanied by pieces of recorded and live spoken word.

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“In the end it’s a hopeful piece about the power of the individual to participate in a community but not be forced to conform,” Hixon said.