Miserere mei, Deus
It all begins with an idea.
Gregorio Allegri, The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge
The rain begins to pound on the roof when he comes in from cutting timber. He lights the fire, turns on the music. “Let’s dance” he says, and the rich, ethereal chorus of Miserere spreads through the warm air.
She begins by stepping into him, lifting his arms with hers overhead, bringing them down in between them, palm to palm, in the holy pilgrims’ kiss within their sacred chapel. A movement which recurs often over the next eight minutes.
She follows until she takes the lead to send him into double time here, sustain the step as the boy’s soaring soprano denies the step a moment through her, using him as its servant to express the delay.
Then she plants her left foot, bent at the knee as she swings her free leg to follow the swing in the crescendo. He steps around her supporting leg, bringing her with him, through 360°, 720°, until she redirects the swing of her right leg to place her foot next to his supporting foot.
She leads a quick triple step change of weight and pulls him together towards her backwards step, releases control.
He drops into a rock step, scanning for direction. Finding the rhythm, listening for the melody. Expressing the melody, changing feet, 1, 3, 1, 3, being unable to stop himself from following the tunes, being so connected through pelvis, chest, shoulders, arms of his partner, the transmission expressed through her feet in perfect time.
He leads her to step as he does not step, turning his chest as she steps across him in double time. She flicks her calf in half a circle as she takes the step, twisting her axis around in front of him, moving his arm overhead. Bringing their arms in front of her, embracing. She softens her knees, her back into his front, and he takes her weight, backwards a step, a step to the side, her upper body has double gravity and drags forwards, to the side, creating a play with the gravity of the plain song.
The choir respond in galaxy defining angelic union. She faces him and explodes with movement, trying to touch the sound. He touches her, holding her waist, supporting her chest, lifting her above her legs so she can fly.