DCDanceBlog

gretchen dunn wrote a few months ago about performing at kefa cafe in silver spring. i–together with the group dance antonini–had the pleasure of also performing there this past weekend. i’ve been meaning to write about it here for the past few days.

it turned out to be a great experience. i was a bit worried ahead of time about how the performance would go, as it had a lot of improv in it and we weren’t sure of the space. as gretchen outlined in her post, it’s a very small space. we actually used a different room of the shop than she did, but it was still very very small–perhaps 12′ x 14′, or something like that.

turnout was high so the walls were lined with observers. and that wound up being terrific. there’s something thrilling and challenging about being so close to the audience and being able to see everyone quite closely. the adrenaline that came from that really upped my own energy and intensity, with results that felt satisfying to me. dancers are so lucky that nervous energy can easily be channelled into physical intensity–i used to play violin and i can guarantee that my nervousness before recitals never paid off during the performances in that way!

after the show, the audience gathered in a closer circle to talk about what they’d seen. most of the folks were not dancers or dance afficionados, so their perspectives were fresh and somehow unvarnished. and they all really liked the performance, so it turned out to be an easy way for us to get some feedback and feel good about ourselves.

we performers had a good impression of the evening overall, i think. the performance itself was fun and fulfilling, but just as important was that preparing and rehearsing brought us closer as dancers and forced us to clarify our movement and our sense of what we were trying to do. it’s always great practice.