Spillway is a meditation on the insuppressible power of nature and its influence on the course of human lives--an unending journey with determinate direction and indeterminate end. Form and dynamics from nature are reflected in our natural being and the artifice, the art, that we make: the veins that carry our lifeblood follow the forms of rivers, and likewise the construction of our roads, highways, byways, and the course of our relationships through life. The form and flow of rivers is elemental, the shape of pure energy and life. Inspired by Jennifer Higdon's study of three rivers in Tennessee, Concerto 4-3, Spillway continues the composer's sonic journey into the course and flow of dance.