Birds on a Wire integrates dynamic dancing, poignant text, original music and video projection to illuminate human disconnection in a highly connected world. This multi-media performance flows between two stages in this large open venue.

The evening begins lightheartedly by examining the role technology plays in human connection. The performance then explores how we are all migrants in our own lives, and the connection and disconnection that accompany this journey. Through both literal and abstract vignettes, the production addresses the questions:

• How do our belongings define our essence?
• What do we keep and what do we leave behind on our unique journeys?
• How do we gather pieces of ourselves that we’ve lost along the way?

Video footage including Twitter feeds, interviews with people walking the streets, and deconstructed choreography is projected onto three screens placed throughout the space. Jonathan Holt Howard’s original sound scores accompany the dance and theatrical vignettes, while musicians Chad Johnson (drums/guitar) and Julia Wilson (vocals) perform live, offering a range of melodies from Leonard Cohen to Nina Simone to Janis Joplin. Collaborators Keith Rice and Lara Kirksey bring their national expertise in technical direction, lighting design and costuming to this one–of-a-kind performance designed to inspire and provoke audiences of all backgrounds.