Three hundred and sixty million years ago when the granite coast of Maine was forming, the fairies and wood nymphs were planning their debut. A massive rock formation consisting of microcline, plagioclase, and quartz seemed perched at the end of the world—too perfect a place to remain inert. This site of enduring materials was fashioned by the gods, shaped by mortals, and then resurrected by artists. Fast forward to the present, a now abandoned granite quarry, and a choreographer named Alison Chase, founding artistic director of Pilobolus Dance Theater. This explosive combination of person and place recently sparked a site-specific theatrical event called Quarryography. Chase realized that the quarry would be a full partner in this working relationship; her dancers would become sculptural pawns on a game board of granite.
