September 11, 2011 - Choreographer Jacqulyn Buglisi, artist Rossella Vasta and flautist Andrea Ceccomori collaborate to present TABLE OF SILENCE on the Lincoln Center Plaza to mark the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Above image by Kokyat.
The performance commenced under a clear morning sky - reminiscent of the perfect weather on the same date ten years earlier - with the entree of one hundred dancers clad in white. They approached the fountain from various points around the Plaza, walking in quiet files. Unison gestures of arms and hands created a silent language while the simple melodies of the flute blended with drum, bell and a woman's voice chanting softly thru a megaphone filled the air with a timeless simplicity of musical expression.
Spectators ringed the dancing space in an atmosphere of pensive silence, with only an occasional police siren or barking dog intruding on the reverent aymosphere. The dancers wove patterns of walking and counter-walking, with gestures of supplication and hope. The ritual became hypnotic.
White porcelain plates signifyng the great dinner table of humanity were passed and lifted, expressing our common needs and a desire for brotherhood.
Dancers of all cultural backgrounds took part; their faces were streaked with ashen powder which seemed in part a sign of tribal unity and in part a grim reminder of the aftermath of the 9/11 attack which left poisonous dust in the City's air.
At 8:46 AM, the moment when the first plane struck the Tower of the World Trade Center ten years ago, silence fell: the dancers' outstretched their arms with palms opened upward, invoking peace.
To the plaintive sound of flute and drum, the recessional began. The dancers vanished from view as if in a slowly receding dream.
The performance was filmed and may be viewed on YouTube here.
A gallery of more of Kokyat's photographs from this performance is posted here. He was permitted to shoot from the terrace of Avery Fisher Hall, overlooking the Plaza, thanks to the kind arrangements made by publicist Audrey Ross.
Kokyat has also photographed the 2011 Tribute in Light; view his images here.