ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance performs one show a year. For their 2025 season, the dance company will present “Appalachian Phoenix & Other Works,” a showcase of resilience, community and 14,000 16.5-ounce plastic bottles.
“Appalachian Phoenix” will be held at 8 p.m., Thursday, July 24–Saturday, July 26, at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, 18 Biltmore Ave.
Heather Maloy, Terpsicorps founder and artistic director, began to conceive of the show after Hurricane Helene.
“Like everyone else in town, I was collecting scores of water bottles and not knowing what to do with them. So, the first idea that I had was to collect as many water bottles as possible and make a backdrop out of that,” Maloy said. “The entire back of the Diana Wortham stage will just be the bases of water bottles facing forward. That’s over 6,000 water bottles right there.”
In total, Maloy collected over 14,000 bottles, all sourced from the Western North Carolina region. She received bottles from schools, businesses, neighbors and individuals, all delivered to her front porch and then sorted into bags of 50.
“They’re up to the ceiling,” Maloy laughed. “They take up like half an entire basement of a house.”
After the bottles, the Terpsicorps show began to take shape. Maloy wanted the performance to evoke the bravery of the people of WNC, whom she calls “heroes.”
Maloy invited the community to submit their stories about people who had made an impact in their lives after the hurricane. She ultimately published over 50 mini profiles of WNC heroes on the Terpsicorps website.
The stories heavily inspired the development of “Appalachian Phoenix.”
“I just kept meeting people who I thought were so inspiring, and I was like, let’s do something. Let’s not just do a dance piece. Let’s do something that pays homage to these people,” Maloy said. “The arts are a way for people to come together, to be inspired, to feel hope, and hope is challenging for a lot of people right now. And it’s integral to our healing as a community. So, that’s really what I wanted to get at.”
In the lobby of the Wortham Center, a statue of a male dancer with large wings will stand sentinel for the show. The wings are constructed from the remainder of the bottles that Maloy collected.
“I’m collaborating with the STEAM Studio at UNCA. They’ll be building a base and then putting the water bottles on top of that base, but the concept is that it’s a male dance with these huge wings, and the water bottles that make up the wings will have the stories of the heroes printed and inserted in them,” Maloy said. “The stories of the heroes are rising us up out of the ashes.”
The full “Appalachian Phoenix” program will feature several vignettes, including depictions of the storm itself: clothing the impacted, digging through storm debris and the work to rebuild afterward.
The “Phoenix” finale will follow a male dancer rising from a heap of clothing and debris on the stage.
“He gradually gains strength, and the more dancers who come out and dance with him, the stronger he gets,” Maloy said. “He represents Asheville. He represents the community.”
For tickets to “Appalachian Phoenix,” visit www.worthamarts.org/events/appalachian-phoenix.
For more about Terpsicorps, visit www.terpsicorps.org.