Gifts from Crows - "The Empty Mirror"

Inspired by the photograph by Helena Whitten pictured above, Richard Laurence’s engaging neo-classical project Gifts from Crows continues to the exploration of memory and past lives through the device of the haunted house. Often a trope in horror movies, Gifts from Crows uses the theme of lives tied to location to give this mesmerizing performance a sweeping sense of classical elegance and score dancer and choreographer Kristine Berget’s movements as she reprises Helena’s role from the photograph and we follow her as she moves around the rooms and hallways of the crumbling mansion. According to Laurence, “The track evokes the memory of our ancestors and imagines all the living souls who have passed in front of the now long gone mirror. The protagonist appears to be channeling these spirits out of the ancient walls of the house, at times contorted by the energy flowing through her and then flowing with serenity.”