Ocean trash dump inspires dance

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Ariel Dance Theatre artistic director Andrea Ariel has the secret to changing human behavior: Don’t browbeat your audience.

“People don't want to be blamed, you know; people don't want to like, feel bad about their lives or feel bad about having something nice or wanting to buy things and use the conveniences,” said Ariel. “I mean, sometimes it's just about conveniences that we've created these things.”

“These things,” in this case, are plastics.

“When plastic was first invented, said Ariel, “it was like, you know, a miracle; it was lovely. It was like, ‘Wow! Look what we made. It’s lightweight and it can do all these things.’ And now plastic is such an integral part of our lives.”

That was then; this is now.

“You know, I learned this fact that the world was consuming a million plastic bags a minute and I thought, ‘This is astounding information,’ said Ariel.

Then she learned about the North Pacific Gyre, a swirling vortex of air and water, twice the size of Texas. It’s a cesspool of millions of tiny pieces of plastic that poison and kill marine life. The image haunted Ariel and turned her energies toward a multi-media dance performance.

“I think dance is sometimes a mystery for a lot of people,” she said. “I'm very compelled to create work that is about subjects that are meaningful to our lives now in our lives, things we're dealing with in our community. We started in the Gyre; that's where I started with my inspiration.”

It was extremely important, though, that the message be delivered without a hammer.

“We didn't want to, like, make a work that's about banging people over the head, like, ‘It’s so bad; our trash is so bad!’ You know, we want to make a work that is about creative transformation, audacious joy and happiness. How do we turn something dark into something light? How do we transform something and create positive change? It truly is an invitation and a mystery and a treasure hunt, and we're going on that journey and it's inviting the audience to go on that journey with us.”

Flush: The Gyre Project, Part III, features dance, music, video, graphics, lights and passion. It runs Friday, August 21st through Saturday, August 29th, at the Rollins Theatre in the Long Center on Lady Bird Lake.