About The Shadows Behind Us —

FROM THE CHOREOGRAPHER

 

 I don’t really listen to the lyrics in pop songs. With some quite notable exceptions, the words are generally marked by sameness and limited imagination. What makes pop music special, is the performance… the experience that a singer pours into the way the sounds come out of their mouth, the places that they can take us to in our own memories, and the new experiences they conjure.

Jimmy Scott was born with a genetic disorder called Kallmann Syndrome. It manifested as a non-typical puberty that caused in him a high vocal range and small stature. For various reasons, he never had the career and recognition that his talent should have allowed for.

 

It made me imagine what that meant for his experience of life, the ways in which he might have felt like an outsider, and how his uniqueness could have colored the heartbreaking longing for connection that radiates from his singing voice. No matter what the words are that he sings, the quest to feel loved and to love fully is in the very forefront.

 

This kind of performance recalls our own lifelong quest to create love and to understand what true connection is. Each of us move in our own uniqueness, the blessings and the challenges, and endeavors to find harmony with the world around us. Through the experience of a performance and a sharing of this beautiful and lonely journey, we can be reminded that we are not alone. 

 

Trey McIntyre