Dancing the Numbers has a hushed elegance, perhaps because everything Motley does seems carefully chosen, whether or not she's improvising… She stands on one leg for a long time like a resting heron. She deconstructs what might once have been a Javanese court dance…
Your eyes behave differently when confronted with work this intimate and unpressured. And you put your expectations to sleep, grateful for small, lovely surprises.
Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice
2004 Burlington, Vermont
What made the solo mesmerizing was Ms. Motley's rapt concentration, her total absorption in every step. Her slightest details commanded attention...
Jack Anderson, The New York Times
Danspace Project 2004
Dancing the Numbers is an evening length solo with timed sections corresponding to the Fibonacci numerical sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13… The dancing is personal, virtuosic and unhurried. The live sound mix by German composer Jens Galler includes ragas, birds, beats and pulses, silences and lyrical strains. Microphones installed on the outside of the performing space brings real time sounds of the environment into the mix.Dance and mathematicians united to create a sense of mystery, which was enhanced by Paul Geluso's sound collage, which blended electronic music with ordinary noises like bells, auto horns, train whistles and cricket chirps. All those familiar sounds began to seem wondrous.
Jack Anderson, The New York Times
