Clearly or Darkly is a flexible structured improvisational and new media performance. During its year long development, Leslie worked with a team of programmers to design a wearable gyroscopic sensor and visual effects. When the specially designed piece of technology is worn on her torso, Leslie is able to trigger different videos, effects, and transitions based on her directional change in movement, momentum, and speed. Working with an improvisational movement score based on somatic aesthetic performance practices, movement energy modes, and Butoh, each performance of Clearly or Darkly is visually unique. Leslie enters into a duet with herself, in and in between her physical and virtual body. The sound score for CoD was designed by composer Carlos Johns-Dávila, using a blend of instrumentation and interactive electronic sound methods. Since the project’s inception in 2019, Leslie has added other visual programs, such as Isadora, and motion capture technology, using a Kinect for Xbox 360, to expand on her “body jockey” practice—a term she coined to encompass her ongoing investigation of improvisation using technological prosthetics.

Clearly or Darkly premiered February 21st, 2020 at The Whole Shebang in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A review of the work can be found here.