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Notes on Must Come Down:

A little over a decade ago, I read The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough, a striking work of nonfiction about a tragedy in 1889 Johnstown Pennsylvania. The disaster, with its many tangled causes, haunted me over the years. I was drawn to reread the book in late 2023 as I began to build concepts for a new dance work, Must Come Down

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When an unseasonably heavy rainfall met the poorly-maintained South Fork Dam, the entire contents of the manmade Lake Conemaugh tore through the working-class steel mill town below. The disaster was both natural and unnatural, and I see echoes of it in increasing frequency today—in hurricanes, droughts, wildfires. I watch from an ever-decreasing distance, feeling angry and small.

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How do we bear the weight of such destruction? Who can be held responsible? What will I do when the flood comes for me?

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I’m reflecting, as I make Must Come Down, on resilience. In the weeks and months after the Johnstown Flood, a global relief effort was undertaken. Aid in the form of money, supplies, and volunteers poured into the area, and Johnstown rebuilt. There is something pure about the resilience of a community. I find it hopeful, but more than that, I find it simply true. I hope that Must Come Down illuminates our resilience not in the face of nature, but as a part of it.
 

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