Light’s love of choreography began around the age of three, when she started dancing.
“I very much remember little plastic flower props and going around, being very into what narrative I was telling from like a young age,” says Light. “And then as I got older, I just loved making up dances with my friends in elementary and middle school. I was always choreographing for a talent show of some sort.”
By the age of 11 or 12, Light was enrolled in a dance academy, where she continued to hone her craft. With support from her parents, one of her fondest memories is gathering her friends to choreograph a routine for a nursing home.
Over the course of her dance career, Light’s Jewish heritage has remained the subtext of her pieces. Ode takes inspiration from “L’dor vador,” a Hebrew phrase which means “from generation to generation.” A sequel to her previous dance piece Inside Voices, Ode follows the narrative of Fever Ray’s musical body of work, as Light applies the concepts of L’dor vador to the movements, lighting and costumes.
“Each [Fever Ray] album represents a part of this cycle,” says Light. “So with the new album [2023’s Radical Romantics] and with the theme being so like cyclical, I was just like, ‘Well, it really deserves to have a part that follows the next generation.’ When I heard [Radical Romantics], I was like, ‘Ah, it's just bringing back so many memories working on Inside Voices.’ It really made me want to do a part two, because the themes in Inside Voices followed an abstract narrative. There’s no singular clear storyline going on, but definitely characters that I think an audience can connect with.”
As Light strives to provide a platform for artists, dancers and other creatives from North Texas, Ode is very much a community effort. Light specifically chose dancers from the Texas Ballet Theater to provide opportunities to local dancers during slow periods in the year.
“Ballet dancers are almost never hired for the entire 52 weeks of the year,” says Light. “So a good contract is usually 40 weeks out of the year. Our contract currently at Texas Ballet Theater is only 35. So that means for the other weeks out of the year, we're not getting paid and we're not dancing. We go on periodic layoffs, and they don't come as a surprise, but we still have to go on unemployment benefits. We're not doing the work we want to do, that we typically do, full time. It's sort of a bridge between the pay period that we lose, because I will fundraise to make sure that dancers get paid, but also creatively and physically, like staying in shape, we want to be working.”
In addition to providing opportunities for local dancers, Light also wants for the general public to have access to behold pieces like Ode, as well as other works at The Modern. While many venues charge guests for a ballet performance, Light wanted to allow viewers to come see it at no cost.
“Being a young woman, motherhood is on my mind a lot,” says Light. “I know that it can be difficult as a mom – you can't just go to Bass Hall and pay $100 for a ticket. If you have a baby, and it starts crying, you might not be able to sit through a whole production. This is the kind of space where people can come and sit and watch, even for just five minutes, if they know that that's all the family is going to be able to handle. They still get that access, and it’s going to leave a lasting impact. So the fact that the space can accommodate all sorts of different viewers, I think is fantastic.”
Ode runs April 13–14 at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell St.
