April 19, 2008

Rearranging

We've entered into a new phase with My ocean is never blue as we're getting ready for our semi-site specific performance on June 22 at the Bladensburg Waterfront Park, right along the Anacostia River. For this performance we've pulled the work completely apart and are restructuring it from the ground up. Two Fridays ago we went to the park to see what we could structure specifically for this space. We ended up working on a dock that goes about half way into the river. I had one idea that we tried (doing the Drench section) and then asked for suggestions from the dancers. We ended up creating a nice 10 minute section there on the dock that will serve as the beginning section of our performance.

One of the challenges with this project is bringing in material that is specific to the site - we already have alot of material from this project that we want to include, but I don't want to ignore where we are. We also want to not make it only about the river, but still keep the multi-faceted aspect of the work intact. So, bringing in more specifics about the Anacostia River and keep the larger, more general observations about water present. I'm not too worried about this, but it is an interesting balance to explore and, hopefully, find.

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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 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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