Here's a round-up of new dance blogs as well as blogs I've recently come across or omitted before. I find increasing diversity of voices and perspectives very enjoyable to follow:
- Critical Correspondence blog - From Movement Research: In their most recent post, you'll find video clips from October 15th performances at Judson Memorial Church. Including this one A Genda, choreography by Barbara Mahler and performed by Mahler and Jeremy Laverdure:
The movement in Map Me did not come out of a ballet class or a modern dance class. It came out of life. It was sparse and imaginative and wacky and poignant. I cannot strongly enough state how much I believe in this approach to performance making...Any human body that is alive is, however subtly or radically, moving. It follows, then, that a live human body moves even in "stillness." The movement within stillness includes breath and the many subtle ways we communicate deep parts of ourselves.
Movement that is sparse or subtle requires the audience to meet it half way. It's a question of imagination and personal responsibility. As an audience member, do I have the capacity and patience to look closely at what is onstage? Do I give myself the authority to find movement and meaning in any human being onstage?
- Dance Theater Workshop Blog: And on the topic of DTW, they've recently launched a new blog. Here they capture footage of their large orange banner being carried through streets of Manhattan to reach new dance audiences - plus, you can watch one of their flash performances:
- Seeking System: Writer Anna McDonald shares her experience at ABT premiere:
I carried my copy of Alastair Macauley's ABT recap with me to City Center on Saturday night with the intention of looking it over in my seat before the show began, figuring out which parts of it I had to try and agree or disagree with, but it was too electric in the lobby and in the grandstands to get in any good alone time with the Arts section. For $27, I was seated in the left rear mezzanine, a chilly region so far north of the stage that the dancers are rendered before you as tinily as they look on the cover of your program. Saturday night was my first premiere, and with it came its donors in all of their uptown splendor: bejeweled and upper-easty and cocktail-dressed (and fighting gravity). It didn't feel like old New York (whatever that is), but it did feel energetic and tipsy, and somehow that audience pulse transferred straight through to the dancing (or maybe all along it was the dancers projecting their energy into us).
There was a time, not too long ago, when pregnancy meant retirement. It was unheard of for a dancer to have a child and return to the stage. Fortunately, times have changed, and so have our options. Today, many ballerinas take time off to have children, find their "grace" once again, and return to those bright lights and pink tutus. Stanton Welch, born to a ballerina mom, encourages dancers to have children when they are ready. Houston Ballet has had many ballerina moms over the last decade. Some have come back and some have retired, but it's great to know we now have the choice.
Of course, just like perfect ballet technique (or feet), this technology is but a tool which can be used well or badly. An interested, knowledgeable, enthusiastic human still has to fill the blog with interesting and relevant information, and they have to do it regularly. Think about the websites you visit often: how many haven't posted any new information in a while?
They also have to do it with a sense of earnestness and authenticity that reflects the company and its place in the community. The last thing anyone wants to read is some sanitized, cookie-cutter template that tries to be everything to everyone. You are an integral part of your community. What is your unique identity in your community?
I couldn't have said it better.
- Carl's Dance Blog: "A critical blog on vernacular jazz dance, lindy hop and tap.": Carl Nelson covers the world of swing dancing with lots of videos. Here's fun clip from the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown 2007:
- Boredom: Chase Granoff covers the intersection of art forms. In "Turn on, tune in, ....." Granoff writes about Performa07, the second biennial of new visual art performances taking place through November 20th.
Although PERFORMA features dance performances and dance related happenings, including a number of events surrounding/exploring the influence of Judson Dance Theater, the New York dance scene was largely disregarded by the curatorial team. This is a disappointing move especially considering that PERFORMA director, RoseLee Goldberg, states that PERFORMA is trying "to open the doors and windows between the dance and art world, to find the conceptual underpinnings where there could be a crossover."
- Stay: Nancy Garcia writes about and links to her You've Got Moves Website, a choreographic, movement project that seeks audience participation via the contribution of video "moves" - this is part of an academic assignment that is in alpha testing stage.
The second piece, Schoenberg Serenade, had gotten most of the kinks out in the afternoon. For the most part, we were able to bravely tackle our highly technical requirements with artistry and animation. My solo went pretty well. I was happy with it, though it wasn't perfect. It rarely is, with its extremely technical quirkiness en pointe. I use the shoes in all possible ways, from cocking my feet and turning with bent knees, to balancing doubled-over in a parallel sous-sous and rising to upright, hands flexed above my head.
After intermission came Opera Moves, our final offering. Many sections long, we each get a chance to shine. The opening section, a new, inherited part for me, went the best it's ever gone. J and I finally figured out how to negotiate our arms prior to a tricky turn. We nailed it. I also promenaded in arabesque steadily; this is generally hit-or-miss. I heard the audience breathe a collective sigh as the lights lowered after that section. Satisfying.
Since 2005, Doug Fox's blog has covered the intersection of dance and the Internet. A primary focus is to help dancers and dance companies use the Internet and their dance videos for marketing, educational, creative and revenue-generation purposes.
Email Doug Fox with inquiries, questions and feedback about Great Dance.
Thanks for the link. I've been reading Great Dance on and off for a while now and really appreciate the work you do.