Shamokin

About

Shamokin was originally created for a multi-media public art installation part of which took place along a small alley in Philadelphia called Shamokin. A Lenape word meaning, among other things, Eel Creek or A Place of Crawfish, it had used to be a stream, and possibly named after Shamokin the village, which was a major multi-ethnic Native American trading village along the Susquehanna River in the 1700s.

Later the piece was re-worked two different ways for two different choreographers, Matthew Neenan and Caili Quan.

Cellist Kate Porter recorded a sequence of composed motifs, giving me many interpretations and qualities to work with. I then composed from her recordings, collaging the piece together into what it is here.