JAVA Feb 2020

Angel’s partner, Cameron Lucas Eggers, is quick to agree. “That’s why he has such
a broad set of skills,” said Cameron, who is also a dancer. “In other companies,
that same spirit is not there.”
Angel is very driven and often toils late into the night on his highly personal works.
“I have such great support [in Cameron]. He’s there with me, helping with the sets
and the costumes or whatever I need,” Angel said.
Cameron’s skills came in handy recently when set pieces for their upcoming show
arrived. They’d rented a geodesic dome that had been used at Burning Man.
The dome came in dozens of pieces, with minimal instructions for assembly. “It
reminded me of those IKEA instructions,” said Cameron. “I’ve done a lot of IKEA,
so it was easy for me.”
He had the dome assembled in just a couple of hours, safe and ready for the
dancers’ rehearsals. Cameron prefers his role in the company as support for Angel.
He isn’t an official member of HALO, but takes a lot of classes with the dancers. He
and Angel were once featured in a duet for Scorpius Dance Theatre, where they
both perform.
“A lot of couples do duets together and it’s a great experience,” Angel said. They
smiled at each other, then Cameron finished Angel’s sentence. “But it was a
lot.” They’re both happier being life partners rather than working as professional
dance partners. A part of that reason may be because Angel’s work is so
autobiographical.
“Before Cameron, I’d been in a bad relationship, and it left me in a dark place for a
while. During that time, I spent three days in a room alone, exploring what was in
my mind. We’re all so scared of mourning that we avoid it. But you have to go into
the dark place to get out of the darkness. I put a time limit on it and did it, so now
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I’m fine,” Angel said. His experience of learning how to manage those feelings
formed the basis of his past two shows, “Cell” and “Exile.”
“Those shows were three years in the making,” Angel said. People who’ve seen
“Cell” and “Exile” will find familiar concepts and themes in his new show,
“Rest in the Mourning.” All sixteen members of the company are in the new
production, and they each play different aspects of the same person – all based on
Angel himself.
“This feels like the completion of that period in my life,” he said. “I’m not sad
anymore, so this show has to have some resolution.” Although he has specific
events and feelings in mind when he creates and directs a show, Angel wants his
audience to feel free to view it through the filter of their own lives.
“Not everybody understands the language of dance movements, but they don’t
have to. I’ve gotten really good at creating a mood,” he said. “My work is openended
so people can each have their own experience.” For “Exile,” he asked five of
his dancers to contribute a story about a time in their lives when they felt isolated.
Each wrote a dialogue, and then all five monologues were delivered at once, with
words and stories told in layers that overlapped and intertwined.
“Audience members might hang on to one word, or they might hear a whole
sentence,” Cameron said. Angel believes that the choice to have five dancers talk
at once allowed for something almost spiritual and healing in the air. “The stories
were really personal and raw. I knew theat people would hear the specific words
they were meant to hear,” said Angel.
“HALO makes you search for abandonment. It can be mentally exhausting for the
dancers, but they trust me and are willing to do that work,” said Angel.