Skip to main content
← All works

2019; remaster 2023 · Dance – stage work

Let Slip the Witches

Amy Foley (Bellwether Dance Project)

A near hour-long work for women that reclaims the witch archetype as a figure of feminine power, ritual and resistance, moving from a hushed invocation to driving, rhythmic, body-percussive sections. The title quotes Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' ("let slip the dogs of war").

Recollections

“When making Let Slip the Witches, the dancers and I were working with using voice in certain sections of the work. Ben had the idea to record the dancers' voices and to incorporate them as a part of the score. Because the voices were recorded, the audience could hear them, even when whispered. The dancers still vocalized, but they were supported by their own voices, making the overall effect multi-layered and incredibly powerful.”

Amy Foley, choreographer

“Amy combines a wellspring of feminine intuition and strangeness with a strong sense of rigor and form. I wish she made more work!

I remember a really fun session recording all the dancers' voices at ODC, and weaving that throughout the score to give coherence to all of these disparate pieces of music. I still get goosebumps.

I also remember some Bay Area choreographer drama at the premiere…”

Ben
Premiere
2019-04-04
Venue
ODC Theater (Bellwether Dance Project inaugural home season)
Where
San Francisco, CA
Performances
Revived September 14–16, 2023 at ODC Theater on Bellwether's 2nd Home Season 'Aurora Sad Magic' (expanded to five dancers). A 6-minute excerpt video was circulated in the company's December 2019 newsletter.
Credits
Choreography: Amy Foley. Music: Ben Juodvalkis (score incorporates the dancers' voices). Visual artist/set and gobo design: Julie Chang. 2019 dancers: Kaitlyn Ebert, Elena Martins, Karla Quintero, Juliann Witt. 2023 dancers: Iva Dixson, Caitlin Hicks, Elena Martins, Olivia Caldeira Holston, Juliann Witt. Lighting (2023): Del Medoff. 2019 photos: Stephen Texeira. 2023 photo: Steve Disenhof.

Photographs

Five dancers in black costumes on a dark stage lit with blue light and a dappled leaf-pattern gobo pattern on the floor, in dramatic reaching and pointing poses.

The 2023 revival.

Steve Disenhof

Four dancers in dark rehearsal clothes in a studio with cream curtains and a wood floor — one seated on the ground, three standing close together, one reaching a hand across to another's shoulder.

The original four dancers in rehearsal, 2019.

Stephen Texeira

Ephemera

Ben Juodvalkis sitting on the front steps of his house, playing an acoustic guitar and smiling, wearing a maroon shirt and blue pants.

Photo Amy took before rehearsal at my place.

Lavender duotone poster reading "let slip the witches" in large outlined type over a dancer reaching both arms overhead; below, four dancers in profile stand in a line, with the text "ODC Theater April 4-6 @ 8pm, Works by Amy Foley, Special Guest choreographer: Robert Moses, presented by Bellwether Dance Project."
On a dark stage with a faint lattice-patterned gobo on the floor, one dancer in black stands at left facing three others at right who crouch and kneel low to the ground.

2019 premiere, Kaitlyn's solo.

Four dancers in black against a deep purple backdrop, one in front reaching an arm high overhead with her face turned upward, the others behind her mid-gesture and in a low lunge.

2019 premiere.

Excerpt from the 2019 premiere
Silhouette of Juliann's solo, from rehearsal
Silhouette of Kaitlyn's solo, from rehearsal

  • Class recording used under Juliann's solo

  • Temp track from an older score of mine

  • The dancers' voices, recorded for the canon

  • Whispered voices for the ending

  • The dancers' body percussion

Amy's brief for the score, when she asked me to write it.

Amy: The idea behind it is exploring the renewed, intensified feminist association with the concept of a witch, as an embodiment of sisterhood, a return to nature and a form of resistance. The dancers create a world of ritual and rhythm on stage. I am looking for a minimalist score that eventually builds to include some of you gorgeous piano/percussion music. The dancers vocalize at beginning and end and they stomp/clap in a few parts that would need to be relatively "quiet" but I'd still love to have some sound in the background.

Amy's invitation to the premiere.

Amy: For Let Slip the Witches, visual artist Julie Chang has created custom artwork which will be incorporated into Del Medoff's lighting design. Composer extraordinaire Ben Juodvalkis has created our lush and eerie score. The dancers are embodying their witchy selves in this rhythmic world of ritual and feminine resistance. We have been creating this piece for the last year. I cannot wait to share it with you.

Press

“Ben Juodvalkis' music was literally rumbling our chairs and bones—the driving drum beats of ancient peoples”

“Featuring an original score by Ben Juodvalkis, Foley's 'Let Slip the Witches' calls on women to take action for the betterment of the world.”

“a rhythmic world of ritual and self-resilience helped along by visual artist Julie Chang's set design and a score by composer Ben Juodvalkis”

“The performers communicate in body percussion, slapping thighs, chests, and naked arms to generate complicated rhythms and replies.”

“On the program was Foley’s “Let Slip the Witches,” a chilling quintet with original music by Ben Juodvalkis that reclaims the power of the witch archetype and casts a rhythmic and visual spell.”

“Let Slip the Witches, performed by four dancers, featured an original score by composer Ben Juodvalkis and explored ideas of female power, ritual, resistance, and collective identity.”

Elsewhere

More with Bellwether Dance Project

Ben Juodvalkis © 2026