Which of my forms / Cuál de mis formas

Created by the Dante + Chin Duo

Through music and bilingual dream-story, the Dante+Chin Duo’s Which of my forms / Cuál de mis formas tells the story of a woman who can assume the forms of both cougar and deer, two creatures indelibly intertwined in a predator-prey relationship.

I. Which of my forms / Cuál de mis formas
II. The deer / El ciervo
III. El puma / The cougar
IV. El entrelazando / The intertwining

This work was born out of the duo’s fascination with the idea of dreams as stories told by the subconscious-self to the topside-self; and the power of story-telling to tie individuals into a larger human and more-than-human vision of the world. This particular dream-story (dreamed by Nina) reminded the duo of the necessity of psychic dualities, the truth of constant transformation in this life, and our visceral connection to the natural world.

The footage seen in Which of my forms / Cuál de mis formas was filmed in the Pacific Northwest and Michigan. The Dante+Chin Duo is grateful to these gravitational places for inspiring, nurturing, and sustaining our artistry.

Premiered virtually on June 1, 2021 with the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project’s Re:Sound Festival.

The Story

Dream-stories by Nina Dante
Translated to Spanish by Dalia Chin

I.

Deep in the forest
By the night-dark stream,
The woman paused.
Which of my forms will I assume today? She thought.
That of the cougar, or that of the deer?

En lo profundo del bosque
Cerca del arroyo nocturno
La mujer se detuvo.
¿Cuál de mis formas seré hoy? Pensó.
Será la del puma, o será la del ciervo?

II.

High step
Stone hoof
Arch neck
Flat tooth
Leaf ear
Ink eye
Fleet nerve
Blade tail

Salto alto
Casco de piedra
Cuello arqueado
Diente plano
Oreja como hoja
Ojo de tinta
Nervioso movimiento
Cola filosa

III.

Mmmmmm

Do you remember the dream you had
That night?
That your eyes were two night-seeing moons
And your hands and feet were bladed clouds?

Do you remember?
Mmmmm

¿Recuerdas el sueño que tuviste?
Aquella noche? 
Que tus ojos eran como dos lunas llenas en la noche
Tus manos y pies como dos nubes afiladas?

Recuerdas?
Mmmmmm

IV.

You walk my path at the opposite end of the day
Your reflection stares at me from the drinking pool

You wear my fur about you
Your bones are my bones
Our hearts and lungs beat and bellow by the movement of the other
We see through the same eyes and I dream your dreams 
You nourish me and you live by grace of my being

My shadow shifts with the movements of the sun and the moon and suddenly I walk with you
Though I always walk with you, my mirror self, my false self, my re-creator, my destroyer, my worshipper, the worshipped. 

Recorres mi camino en el lado opuesto del dia
Tu reflejo me mira desde el pozo de agua

Usas mi piel sobre la tuya
Tus huesos son mis huesos
Nuestros corazones y pulmones laten y resuenan con el movimiento uno del otro
Miramos desde los mismos ojos y yo sueño tus sueños 
Tu me alimentas y vives de mi gracia

Mi sombra cambia con el movimiento del sol y la luna y de repente camino contigo
Aunque camino contigo, mi reflejo, mi falsa identidad, mi creador, mi destructor, mi adorador, el adorado.