FINE ARTS
Alums Britta Joy Peterson ’08 (left, with Christian DeMarais ’11) and Sara Brown ’01 (right, with professor emeritus Doug Huff) at the opening of the Rob and Judy Gardner Laboratory Theatre in February of 2020, where they first met.
WHEN TWO FINE ARTS ALUMS MEET This fall, director and choreographer
GUSTAVUS QUARTERLY | WINTER 2021
to make the work accessible. “You don’t
about [Peterson] is that she is extremely
need to be an expert at accessibility to
there, an immersive dance installation
open to the expertise that the rest of her
make your work accessible,” she says.
at the John F. Kennedy Center for the
team is bringing to the process. I enjoy
Performing Arts.
very much her clarity and her generosity
at Gustavus: “Trusting in the skills that
of spirit in collaborating.”
you’ve amassed, and trusting in your
It featured scenic design by alum Sara
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Says Brown, “What I really appreciate
Britta Joy Peterson ’08 debuted already
Brown ’01.
already there is an immersive
That’s one of the things she learned
ability to be vulnerable and ask for help,
The two actually met on campus in
installation designed for small, timed-
that’s the way to begin,” Peterson says.
February 2020, on an alumni panel that
entry audiences who explore, indulge,
Brown offers a similar lesson: “Run
was part of the celebratory opening of
and play in a sensory labyrinth of dance
towards things you do not understand
the Rob and Judy Gardner Laboratory
and design. Dancers were recorded
but are curious about,” she says. “I
Theatre. Peterson remembers listening to
individually and spliced together to
end up doing a lot of dance work…
Brown talk and feeling “so inspired and
project the performance onto the walls
because I welcome the challenge of
aligned with her values. It feels like I’ve
of the space. Peterson worked with the
creating spaces that are not tied to a text
known her now for years.”
Institute for Human-Centered Design
necessarily,” she says.
