Water in the Kettle: Five Questions with Evie Ladin
By Jill Randall
The other day I got to catch up with Bay Area artist Evie Ladin on Zoom about her upcoming evening length work with her group MoToR/dance, Water in the Kettle. The performances are February 3-4, 2023 at Rhythmix Cultural Works in Alameda. Tickets here.
Five words to describe Water in the Kettle:
Inviting
Lush
Communal
Complex
Emotional
Can you offer the elevator pitch about your show?
It has a few different angles to it. First of all – it is a body music show. We are doing self-scored choreographies. Music and dance and choreography are all coming from our bodies. There is singing in harmony, and percussive movement.
Thematically, Water in the Kettle explores American foundational ideas of freedom and equality and the disconnect between the country’s claim to these values and its actualization. Also, it is from the perspective of women. With my foundation in Appalachian cultural arts, those arts are a mix of Black, Brown, and White cultures. They are the first syncretic arts in this country. The country is founded on the ideas of freedom and equality but on the backs of genocide and slavery.
We are using the metaphor of “water in the kettle,” and this phrase comes from a song a friend wrote. Think about all of the times we put water on to boil: the first thing you do when you are greeting somebody, when you need solace, when you sit down to talk, when the activists get to work. There is so much more work to do – so put the kettle on.
What was the seed/inspiration to develop Water in the Kettle, and your first evening length work with MoToR/dance?
I thought this was going to be about 18-20 minutes in total, with 3 sections. In 2020 we were going to debut the first section at an International Body Music MiniFest (which was canceled with the pandemic). We had 3 performances planned in 2020 to premiere the 3 sections.
During the pandemic, we kept practicing and workshopping and developing as an ensemble. Over the course of it, I started realizing that it was becoming its own thing, a much bigger thing thematically. I was scared to develop it – partly because I come from a more traditional perspective where “meaning” is not so much the goal. It’s a different approach to creating art.
I was inspired by the International Body Music Festival, but I wanted to see more choreography. I started workshopping African diaspora polyrhythms on the body to explore them and learn them more deeply, as foundational in the Appalachian tradition. Layering on Appalachian songs felt very natural and connected.
With this project, I had an intentional theme and narrative.
Art as you experience it – does it move you or not? The more the work took shape, the more confident I became.
Can you share a little window into the dancing and singing? Set material? Improvised?
It is mostly set and scored. I spent a lot of time arranging the music on us, feeling how it moves, and then moving people in space.
Arranging is a process of back and forth with the music and the dance. The development of choreography from a sonic perspective. When are things being sung, when are they harmonized? Who is singing when? How are they moving?
Lara Weaver wrote “Water in the Kettle,” but we completely re-wrote the verses. All of the rest of the lyrics and melodies are public domain.
Who are the performers and collaborators? Talk a bit about the cast.
I had been developing the work with whoever was interested. Some are more dancers, some are more musicians. A lot of them are mothers. Conversationally there is a lot of shared experience.
I held auditions in January 2020. Then Covid hit, and I lost a third of the group to moving, career changes, etc.
There is a core group of 7, really seasoned performing artists. I added two people who are more musicians and three as chorus members. The age span is 27-59.
It is a phenomenal cast of 12 women. I have great respect for them.
Life as a Modern Dancer 
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