Cell Phone Ballet addresses the dichotomy between the “telephone world” in the individual’s ear, and the exterior environment of public space. During phone calls, we create a highly developed, imagined space that often contradicts the physical world, and yet simultaneously heightens and accentuates our perception of it. This framing of one incongruent world within another world is a metaphor for the many environments that we navigate in the postmodern era.

This piece was created for 12 performers with cell phones and conference call in Montreal, 1999. Previously it was performed with 4 performers and PBX switch at Headlands Center for Arts, The Exploratorium and The Lab in San Francisco from 1998-2000.