December 27, 2007

Not The Center of Attention

During the fall some of the dancers in The PlayGround went up to Baltimore to perform at the Maryland Art Place as part of their annual  gala. One the dancers, Christine Stone Martin, has written a short bit about the experience:

Recently we were invited to perform at MAP (Maryland Art Place) in Baltimore during their annual gala. It is quite a different experience performing in a gallery, verses performing in a theater. Last year we performed at Transformer and (so far) was my favorite showing of My ocean is never blue. Because Transformer was a good experience our expectations were high as we drove to the MAP event. This time however, because of the venue, we were not the main attraction, but rather part of the art or entertainment. Along side the art work displayed for the silent auction and a film projected on the wall we danced among the people, around the tables and next to a towering stack of martini glasses. For some viewers we were just a snap shot, others paused to watch when we caught their eye. One group even socialized in what we had defined as the dance space. The lines between audience and dancer are quickly blurred since there was no stage to determine dancer and viewer. So perhaps we had invaded what they had determined was their chatting before dinner space. It was a challenging evening behind the scenes too. Our dressing room was a closet, we shared a sandwich for dinner, we could not hear the music over the chatter, there were long periods of time we had to wait between performances and most people did not stand around to watch us. Well, we were rock stars and kept dancing! Looking back, I do not think it was our best performance, but we rose to the occasion. We added texture to the evening and the director of MAP told us someone from the Hirshhorn was present that evening and liked our performance. Perhaps we caught the right eye.

Photo by unknown

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December 24, 2007

Night Beach

This video is from a rehearsal in which we were working on a new section - Night Beach - for My ocean is never blue. This section was inspired by a quote from The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson:

    "The shore at night is a different world, in which the very darkness that hides the distractions of daylight brings into sharper focus the elemental realities." 

It began as a solo section, but as we worked on it I liked the multiple solos all happening at the same time - with Stephanie coming forward alittle after the other dancers. Each dancer has a slightly different set of directions (or score) than the others, but they are all working with the idea of "hiding and revealing", as well as some specific focus (eyes) choices. Also, image a single source of light coming from the right side of the space (or stage left).

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December 20, 2007

Doing One Thing

Toward the end of the improv class I was teaching at the university we were working to integrate many of the skills we'd worked on over the semester. Solo, duet, and group scores, as well as authentic movement and contact improvisation were all part of the mix. I wanted them to work on entering the space and performing with no or very little predetermined structures - or what is sometimes called an open score. The challenge of the open score is to have everyone stay on the same page as the dance progresses and develops. One way to do this is for each dancer to have the intention of the group, at any one moment, to just be doing one thing. Often in open scores I see, for example, a duet on one part of the stage and a trio somewhere else with little awareness of one another - as if there were two separate dances being performed at the same time.But, if everyone is focused on doing one thing they cultivate an awareness of the group as a whole and work towards a kind of group unity and clarity.

This idea is sometimes presented as agreeing - so as to hold the idea of adding to what is happening and not breaking it or countering it. I like that idea as well, but sometimes it is too abstract for beginning improvisers who don't have experience with framing while creating. Doing one thing, in a way, is simple to grasp. After they get the basic idea you can start questioning what one thing is and add juxtaposition, foreground/background, naming, initiator/supporter, The 3 Rs, and an array of other concepts/approaches.

Some examples of doing one thing could be:
     • Everyone rising and falling to the floor
     • A duet that keeps changing as dancers continually enter and exit from it
     • Everyone gradually, continually slowing down
     • Dancers playing with proximity - moving towards and away from one another

Obviously, doing one thing could also be more complicated with different people contributing different elements to make a complete whole.

With the class this idea seemed to give them a handle to keep coming back to as they tried to create a coherent work - even though they have very little direction to begin (in a way).

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December 4, 2007

The Three Rs

When working with students (and my company, for that matter) I try and work on a number of different levels - intuitive, intellectual, kinesthetic, etc... At times I am intentionally vague, other times I try and be very direct. When building their composition skills I usually try and be on the direct side of things. One of these skills that I introduce (and recently introduced to my university class) is what I call "The 3 Rs", or repeat, repetition and reoccurrence. I first use The 3 Rs in relation to movement vocabulary, or picking up and passing specific movements or phrases back and forth among the dancers. Specifically, The 3 Rs are:
       • Repeat: directly repeating something you see or sense someone else do. This could be a turn, lifting a leg, or any specific movement repeated directly or soon after another person.
       • Repetition: doing a movement or sequence a number of times in a row. This could be your own movement or someone else's movement, but it is repeated a multiple of times.
       • Reoccurrence: returning to a movement that was performed earlier in the dance. This could be your own movement, someone else's movement, or repetitive movement.

Having this type of simple strategy gives the dancers a tool for connecting, paying attention to one another, building a coherent structure and creating a vocabulary for the current dance. I wish I had alittle video to add to this post, but I don't right now....

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December 2, 2007

Yield Push Reach Pull

This video is of a solo exercise we did in rehearsal that explored the
developmental sequence of Yielding and Pushing and Reaching and
Pulling. This sequence is explored by infants when they are learning to
lift off the ground (as in coming to their hands and knees) as well as
when they begin to explore locomotion. We took this sequence and
explored it through more complex movements of dance. I found it helps
me feel grounded while allowing a clear exploration of space. For the
video I overlayed the solos and faded them in and out, somewhat
randomly.

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More Elite Discussion

If you're interested in this discussion about elitism go to Amanda and Lotta's blog. Amanda wrote about it and a number of people have responded there (include me).

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