Growing up listing to his mother’s childhood stories of leaving her native land in pursuit of love, Brian Arias noticed a common occurrence. Over time, the stories became embellished and the themes of sadness, love, loneliness, freedom and joy became more audibly defined with each retelling. 

“Personal stories that carry the weight of human experiences are often adapted,” says Arias. “We intuitively enhance emotions and events through the connection we feel with the listener. And as a listener, whenever we hear a story, we want to relate it to one of our existing experiences.” In Motion of Displacement, Arias explores this cause and effect of storytelling using ten dancers to teach us about things we viscerally and physically could not otherwise understand.  

This work is a study of some of those stories, and the embodied emotions that connect them. 

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Scottish Ballet premiere:  2015

Choreography: Bryan Arias 
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, John Adams 
Set & Costume Design: Bryan Arias 
Lighting: George Thomson