The Line Between Night and Day is set to two movements of Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. The music, written while Messiaen was in a prisoner of war camp during World War II, vacillates wildly between strident sections and serene, Debussy-like music. The emotionality and unexpected dynamic shifts in the music conjure images of paradise lost—alternating between the turmoil and anguish of profound loss and gentle, wistful memories of the past. The dance grew out of Biblical images of Adam and Eve being expelled from Eden and from the horrific changes that overtook Europe with World War II. The idea of Paradise Lost and of people being caught in a world over which they have only partial control drove my choice of music and the choreography.