WHEN THE LIGHT FADES

These are memories both distant and near

traces of them lived and felt

laughing in the company of the ones who came.

“Traces” by Matthew Shenoda

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WHEN THE LIGHT FADES is a choreographic investigation of the past, exploring how human beings alter memories to cope with trauma. Why is the past remembered as a place of pleasant nostalgia, even when we can rationally determine it to be otherwise? The Good Old Days, an episode of NPR’s podcast Hidden Brain, introduces this concept through the term “psychological immune system.” Rather than reliving traumatic experiences, we subconsciously brighten and simplify our memories as a way to protect ourselves. Although this perceived simplicity of the past is effective in masking trauma, it also separates us from the reality of our lived experiences. By acknowledging the truth of the past while still maintaining a glow of nostalgia, this piece works to reconcile the two.