Sagittarius A, An Introspection of a Star’s Lifespan

The scene is set as the audience pours into the EMPAC Concert Hall on a Friday night. Strips of cloth hang from the ceiling and converge in the center of the stage as the lights begin to dim. From the cloth pile emerges a woman named Ana (Jennifer Payan) who begins to dance as the narrator begins to recount the story of the goddess Sagittarius A. The story follows that Sagittarius A was consumed by a wolf who was jealous of her power and that pieces of her body collected together and formed our galaxy. The on stage performance is interrupted by a lecturer, Dr. Amalia (Catherine Correa), entering from the back of the hall to give us a presentation about the lifespan and death of a star and the resulting birth of a galaxy. There are many parallels between the description of a star, the story of Sagittarius A and Ana and the feminist undertones are clear. Close up shots of Ana’s body and an instance of Ana being catcalled during the film drive home the message that the star is a woman and her death is caused by her objectification.

The techniques “Sagittarius A.” uses to communicate the story are avant garde in nature. Certain instances of the performance included live video projected on the front screen of events occurring behind us. Throughout the performance, our (the audience) focus is brought to different areas of the concert hall: the ceiling showing a projection of Ana’s hair as it whips back and forth emulating a black hole, the front stage as we observe Ana dance and Dr. Amalia inform, and the back of the room as we watch Ana dart through the seats of the upper row. The entire concert hall is the stage and medium of this performance and adds to the overall immersive aspect of this multimedia experience. Characters interact with the audience and in one instance, we are called upon to turn on our flashlights to simulate the creation of the galaxy, allowing for us as viewers to become part of the act itself. The performance incorporates strobe lights and harnesses connected to sheets of cloth to emphasize the majesty and power of the character, Sagittarius A, as she runs to the front of the stage causing the cloth to blow forward as if pushed by a giant gust of wind. The music varies as it switches from a resounding otherworldly sound composed of instruments like the piano, violin, and saxophone to a folk like tune with acoustic guitar and vocals during lighter moments to the grungy riffs of an electric guitar present in the “wolf” scenes. I was personally shocked when I realized that there was a live band playing throughout the performance and even during the pre-recorded video.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed “Sagittarius A.” to the point where I can say it is my favorite EMPAC experience to date. I loved the risks that it took and how immersive it was, a sensory overload where I was stimulated in the visual (imagery and actions displaced all around the room), auditory (the intensity of the violin and saxophone which continuously drew me in), and to a degree touch (feeling the rush of cool air from the billowing sheets as Sagittarius A moved) realms of the senses. My only issue with “Sagittarius A.” is that I think it could have been even more immersive. During the production, I struggled to locate where the next part of the performance would occur and found myself craning my head in all different directions to view what was going on. A possible solution for this is to allow the audience to move around (especially during the parts that incorporated the upper level seats in the back) as opposed to being restricted to their seats as events occur around them. There could also be some visual or auditory cues to help the viewer find the right area to look at. It would also be interesting to incorporate other senses like smell (maybe the scent of pine or wood for the video scenes in the forest) into the performance to bring the audience deeper into the experience.