‘A sacred kind of feeling’: Performance explores the intimacy of the ultrasound experience
Performance still courtesy of Amelia Garretson-Persans
On Thursday, Sept. 26, a special collaboration between the and Portland’s SPACE Gallery brought the deeply personal experience of medical imaging into the public eye through the performance piece “Ultrasound Dance.”
Directed by Maine artist Amelia Garretson-Persans, the event explored the emotional terrain of ultrasounds and other internal medical imaging, combining light, choreography, and music to offer an evocative portrayal of these often-private moments.
“‘Ultrasound Dance’ is a project I conceived of years ago about the experience of watching ultrasounds, or any kind of internal medical imaging, of someone you love dearly,” Garretson-Persans said. “You sit in a quiet, dark room, with a glowing trackball, and it has a sacred kind of feeling … a contemplation of what it means to love and be mortal in this world.”
This sentiment permeated the performance, which took place at SPACE Gallery, accompanied by original choreography from Dana Dotson and a musical score by Michael Huff, a medical doctor and longtime collaborator of Garretson-Persans. Both solemn and mesmerizing, the piece used movement and sound to mirror the emotional complexity of medical imaging — the hope, the fear, and the profound powerlessness felt by those witnessing it.
Attendees were drawn into this world of quiet observation, where, as Garretson-Persans explained, the “abstract thing” unfolding on the screen holds immense significance, though often beyond the viewer’s ability to interpret.
This thematic exploration was enhanced by Dotson’s choreography, which brought a human scale to the performance. The dancers embodied the tensions between fragility and strength, embracing the visceral sensations of love, loss, and mortality that echo through the experience of an ultrasound.
The performance was presented as part of ongoing exhibition,