Hauntological choreographies: From Solo 2009 to Finally, Fairies!

I premiered Finally, Fairies! , a 35-minute dance performance, on 11 March 2022, at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Dance Theatre. The performance integrated archival footage, an original sound score, a scenic landscape with lighting and media designs, original costumes and live performers. This writing details the creative process that began in 2009 and led to the premiere of Finally, Fairies! . I contextualize the work through the lens of hauntology, drawing from the work of Jacques Derrida, Mark Fisher, Merlin Coverley, Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi, Katy Shaw and Colin Davis. I outline hauntology’s relevance to contemporary art and performance and its resonance with the music aesthetic of Vaporwave, and I examine how these theoretical concepts directly influence my choreographic process and compositional strategies. Through performance descriptions and auto-analytical reflections, I explore the emergence of hauntological sensibilities and how they continue to shape and complicate my choreographic voice.