Avalanche of Sun (2022)

Experimental, Dance, Short

Avalanche of Sun is an aerial dance film about queer embodiment and the magic it takes to conjure ourselves into being. It features trans-nonbinary aerialist and choreographer, Rae Boyadjis, who creates a poetic mediation on the “symbiosis of past, present and future self” that is the trans experience.

The film title is taken from a letter by Emily Dickinson, in which she describes her lover Susan as "Sinew and Snow in one" and an "Avalanche of Sun." Rae and I were inspired by the duality of these images, both stark yet ecstatic. Avalanche of Sun is also a love letter— but a love letter to queer resilience, hope and love in the face of isolation, alienation and self-estrangement. It features original music by Sxip Shirey, and aerial apparatus “Lazarus,” designed by Rae Boyadjis.

Avalanche was produced with the support of STREB, NYFA, House of Yes and Irondale, and premiered at the historic Brattle Theater in 2023.