It’s a flower. It’s a weed. It’s music. It’s noise. There is attraction. There is disinterest. Fascination. Boredom. We live life straddling opposites, finding difference, labeling things as fact when the eye and ear belong to the beholder. Dandelion attempts to be all these things at once. It is a metaphor for being rooted, for perseverance; it is also a visual collection of poems and a meditation on time, repetition, patterns, burnout, and balance. To enter the world of the dandelion requires slowing down and focusing in, actions quite counter to the pace and scope of most daily life.

Dandelion is a video diary of sketches choreographer and dancer Daniel Gwirtzman filmed of himself during the pandemic. With the emergence of the dandelions, he was drawn to set up a camera and capture the hearty plants on film. The process was an extended one, lasting the duration of the dandelion cycle. The film is in six sections.

The fascination with the cycle of the dandelion was enhanced by Daniel’s isolated in the woods in Upstate New York. “The dandelion is tenacious and resilient,” he has written. “Dandelions can grow practically anywhere. A crack of sidewalk is enough to shoot through. That is inspirational. A symbol for the perseverance to get through difficulty and overcome challenges. We need long roots now more than ever, to stay connected and part of a community. Positive energy needs to proliferate and spread, conquering divisiveness and injustice."

Direction/Choreography/Editing/Performance: Daniel Gwirtzman
Music: Jeff Story
Production: Green Space, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company
Premiered: May 21, 2021, Take Root Festival
Public Launch: July 26, 2021

Dandelion was commissioned by New York City’s Green Space in Long Island City, Queens. The film premiered as part of its 2021 spring Take Root season.