August 10, 2007

Clare Byrne's Video Dance Blog - Exploring Canada and the US

Starting last year, New York City-based choreographer Clare Byrne created daily dances in her living room. These extended improvisations were eventually incorporated into her "Weekly Rites" video blog, which she started this June.

Each post consists of a short video excerpt from her dances along with her written thoughts and reflections. Clare is just back from an 8,000 mile road trip through Canada and the United States with her companion Stefan and her latest videos are performed in New Mexico, Glacier Park and Lake Superior.

From "Chama Canyon, New Mexico":

Wednesday morning Stefan and I saw a fox from our adobe porch, and stalked it down silently, barefooted, to the river. It eluded us, so we sat in the new sunshine just coming up over the canyon walls. I'd already greeted the developing day three times by that point. I have been doing the hours, the daily office, the rounds, with the monks of Monastery of Christ in the Desert for these two days. It is an entirely different way of using time, slow and careful and filled with many parts. I'm dry of ideas, just a funnel for taking in information; I don't know how it will come back out.

When talking with Clare by phone yesterday, we were wondering what it means for individuals to experience dance alone while watching Internet videos. What types of emotional reactions might viewers have and how are these different than watching live performances?

And what types of dance videos engage viewers in new, meaningful ways? I like the tranquil feeling and beautiful setting of Clare's New Mexico video above as well as the sounds she generates as she plants her feet and turns.

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