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The work is anchored in vignettes from the life and death of specific people with whotp Ms. Marshall has been connected. Through quotes, songs, poetry and dance, she and her assembled troupe recall Alice Marshall, her mother, Blanche Kennedy, her mother-in-law, and Amira Skaljic, a refugee from Bosnia who survives that war-tom Hell only to die in America of cancer. There are other stories, at once painful and uplifting of Clarence Dearing, of Willie Bell Dunn, of Shirley Fein, and Mythili Nakkiran. These are people of varying colors, beliefs and countries of origin who have lived vastly different lives, but they are lives which have touched or been connected with Laurie Marshall. They are not the people of the headlines, they are in the words of the popular song, “everyday people.” It is in this recognition, that Ms. Marshall has achieved something of such great value. Our individual lives are worth recognizing, and are the source of art. So, too, are our collective lives, and this is made specific in the song “We Are One Tribe” based on a poem by Melanie Moffett, at the time she wrote the poem a sixteen year old student in a school where Ms. Marshall worked as an artist-in-residence. '
The theme of the recurring dust is manifest in the brooms, serving as both prop and symbol, which are used in the dances throughout the performance. The dances themselves are sometimes transition pieces, sometimes primary focus, and sometimes counterpoint to the spoken word or visual images. The cast is varied in gender, race, and age, with children (including one of Ms. Marshall’s sons) reminding us of beginnings and of the hopeful future.
Slides of various images highlight the spoken or sung words and the choreographed movement. Some of them represent the people being spoken of and some are images which Symbolize the importance of the world of nature. In addition to the Visuals provided by the slides, Ms. Marshall’s actual paintings adorn the walls. They are detailed images often realistic, but often also combining images of the real and the fantastic, a central image bordered by related smaller ones. Saturn, with its rings, recurs in both the visuals and in the spoken words. The colors in the oil
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