Waiting had its seeds in my experience in Croatia, where I created
Odakle Ste with Bosnian Muslim refugees. After returning to New York, I wanted to further explore through performance the state of limbo people can find themselves in when they have lost a connection to their past and have no vision of their future. I was interested in the way this sense of personal dislocation arises not only from external events such as war, but also from inner psychological conflict. The result was a piece created for Dances at Wave Hill, in which an enclave of refugeesstuck in a campspoke of their lives arrested by war, while two New Yorkersinvoking characters from Waiting for Godotwandered through the lush environment, struggling with their neurotic, self-imposed paralysis. The piece's themes found their fullest expression in the beautiful, haunting movements of dancers in white. Andy Teirstein's music was inspired by the folk music he researched in Eastern Europe, played on accordion, violin, voice and other instruments.