March 2, 2008

The Daddy Challenge

I have been keeping a blog for a year and a half or so (now here, first here) that has mostly focused on the development of My ocean is never blue.  I've tried to show the development of the work through description, video and reflecting on the creative process. Lately I've found it difficult to focus on the process part. As I've mentioned recently I am a father - my daughter, Adelais, is almost 10 months old. And while I expected that my time would be less, well, mine, I did not expect that mainly the time I lost was time to reflect and process. I am responsible for her, by myself, about 25 hours a week - this is in addition to my normal teaching, Feldenkrais-ing, lighting design work and rehearsing. Plus the time that my wife, Andrea, and I just spend together with her. What time I have lost is two-fold, I have less times to write grants and pursue gigs as these don't pull in immediate money, which is obviously more important now. And, even more so, time to just sit and think about the work I'm creating. More than once I've thought, "oh shit, I have rehearsal in 2 hours - what the hell am I going to do today?" It is really frustrating, and I don't always feel at my height of creativity. I'm certainly not complaining because there is nothing, and I mean nothing, better than playing with Adelais, or having her fall asleep on my shoulder. But, it is making it more difficult to keep this blog up to date with the development of the work. I'm assuming this will get easier as she gets older... or at least I'm hoping it will.

Right now, as I write this Andrea is off at rehearsal, Adelais is sleeping and should be waking up any minute. I have rehearsal today at 1:30 and I think I'm prepared...

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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 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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November 7, 2007

"Authentic / Contact" Video Excerpts

This video below is some excerpts from an exercise that we do in rehearsal that I call authentic/contact. It combines Authentic Movement and Contact Improvisation. We begin doing Authentic Movement with our partner - one person moving, one person witnessing and then switching roles. Then instead of discussion or writing we move with one another, in contact. Contact Improvisation skills come into the dance we're having, but it is not, strictly, a Contact dance - it is something closer to Authentic Movement duets, with contact. At the same time, it is an effective way to open up our Contact Improvisation dancing with one another because it allows for a wide range of possible movements - many non-typical when doing straight Contact Improvisation. I like starting rehearsals with some Authentic Movement because it gets us away from trying to be interesting or correct or accomplishing anything. It allows our subconscious, creative selfs to be alittle more present when we go into other structures and scores. I also like to do some Contact Improvisation as part of our warm-up because it gets the whole body moving in 360 degree space and gets us moving in strong yet supple ways. Combing these two forms lets us get some of both of these worlds without taking too much time away from the limited creative time we have together.

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October 24, 2007

Creating a History

What are we doing when we make work? What is this process of creating a performance with a group of people? What does it mean to choreograph or direct a work?

I'm sure alot of people have both personal and more general perspectives on these questions. And, all artists create a process, or a couple of processes, to lead them through the making of work. For a while now I have thought of this process as creating a history with the other performers. Each rehearsal we make alittle more history - have experiences, gain better understanding, deepen relationships and find more options. These experiences become the history that we then perform - we don't, and can't, perform all of our history, but it is there - like a back story that a novelist knows but is not in the book, but influences what the reader gets to read. And, each performance becomes part of our history as well. When we performed at Carter Baron Ampitheater we had an experience that was unique for those people who were there - it is something we share and understand. If you weren't there you can't understand. These events and moments add up to what becomes the next performance. Even the moments at the beginning of each rehearsal where people are warming up and chatting - learning about one another's lives, or thoughts or funny quirks - this becomes part of the history of the work, or this group and, I fully believe, influences the work. It is partly a matter of building trust between the performers, but is is also intimacy, familiarity and understanding.

Most of the work I do takes quite a bit of time to create because we do spend so much time just dancing together to begin to have a history together - of course as The PlayGround stays stable with its members we already have a history and can move forward quicker. I have a colleague who once bragged about choreographing a dance in 3 rehearsals - I usually barely have an idea about who we are, let alone what the dance is going to be at 3 rehearsals. But, different processes for different folks, as they kind of say...

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October 20, 2007

Structuring Rehearsals

I'm interested in how we structure the rehearsal process when building work.

Firstly, if you are unable to have a separate company class, how do you include the building of a common language or point of view into the rehearsal structure. What I mean is creating an understanding that is larger than just the dance you're working on - concepts, approaches, etc.. that carry over and build from dance to dance. How do you make time and space and not feel like you are loosing time on "the piece"?

Secondly, how does your rehearsal process change due to the work your creating? Obviously the more time I have the more slowly I can build and discover the work. But, beyond that, does the subject matter or structure of the work change your working process? Should it? How?

I think right now, this fall, I'm enjoying our rehearsal process, and that is partly because we are taking a lot of time to dance and explore different approaches and concepts (some of which I'll write about here soon). But, in the next couple of weeks, we'll be spending more time with specific information, images and ideas for My ocean is never blue, but right now we're getting to know one another - especially with our new company members. 

Not long ago I was talking to a fellow choreographer and he was, in a way, boasting about how he had just choreographed a dance in three rehearsals - I couldn't quite wrap my head around that possibility. Even with dancers I know and am familiar with it takes me three rehearsals to even begin to find my grounding in a work. Not that his approach was wrong - it certainly worked for him - but, I do wonder about the end product and is it a fully authentic  expression. Maybe it is and I'm just a slow poke...

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