Letter to the World VII

Double image – one of a white table and two white empty chairs. Overlayed on that image is a black woman’s hand holding a brown man’s hand. We only see the hands and the bottom of the white sleeves they are wearing.

Year: 2024-2025
DanceForce Member: D. Chase Angier
Partnering DanceForce Member: Margaret Kaiser
Artists: D. Chase Angier, Markéta  Fantová
Community Partners: Alfred University; Buffalo Central Terminal; Cayla Mae Simpson; Elaine Gardner; James Levy; Kathy and Mike Sherman; Torn Space Theatre
Audience: 1,210
Counties: Allegany, Erie

Letter to the World VII is the 7th iteration of a 12-year collaborative project, Letter to the World, created by D. Chase Angier, Marketa Fantova, and Evelyne Leblanc Roberge and produced in partnership with Margaret Kaiser and the NYS DanceForce that addresses the erosion of public spaces and its effect on the larger community. During their October 2023 research residency in Buffalo, they explored sites, partnerships, and ideas, creating questions that fueled their investigation. “What sites and neighborhoods work for this 7th iteration? Who are the people and the leaders that inhabit the neighbors and make up the community? What elements of the previous LTTW iterations can be brought forward to engage dialogue and conversation? How will dance, video, sound, music, print text, scenography and light be activated in this work? What will the artists and audiences learn about and from members of the community? What are they hearing from community members?” Margaret Kaiser connected the artists to sites, organizations, performers and community leaders.

Our project is a two-year project that includes a one-month event June 2025.

LTTW VII would begin with a Billboard placed in the Broadway Filmore neighborhood. The poetic combined image of a table, two empty chairs and two held hands. This new image created with layers from past iterations of the project, will be on a commercial billboard for a month without text. The lack of text and the image will spark the curiosity of the viewers.

That same image will be on posters, flyers, and newsprint that will be placed throughout the neighborhood – in laundromats, bars, neighborhood grocery stores, restaurants, diners, etc… continuing to familiarize and spark the interest of the community members.

That image will be placed on LTTW mailboxes placed within the neighborhood. Attached to the mailboxes will be instructions on writing their own letter to the world, in any language. Those letters will be collected and read by the three creators and possibly used for a future iteration of LTTW (with the participants permission).

We will create an installation within the Central Terminal – specifically in the former post office inside, and in front of the baggage and parcels area. This installation will a include film using footage of two Buffalo choreographers/dancers – Elaine Gardner and James Levy – performing their letters to the world edited by filmmaker Cayla Mae Simpson. There will also be objects placed in the terminal with sound scores within that align with the concept of the work, and tables and chairs for audience members to write their letters to the world.

After the Central Terminal event the artists, performers, audience and community members will meet at a community gathering space to further engage in in-person dialogue about the content of this project. The artists will be able to hear from the community and the community will be able to hear from the artists.