DCDanceBlog

By Gretchen Dunn 

Kefa Cafe turns into Salon 7:10 a few Fridays a month under the  guidance/sponsorship of Kyi May Kaung with Amy Kinkaid.  A couple of  months ago I was asked to do a solo I had developed in the Fall ‘06 for Fieldwork.  Friday, April 27 was the performance.  I don’t want to  talk about the piece, but about the experience and the space at Kefa. 

The floor is ceramic tile; there is a door-shaped mirror in the  corner.  The  space I used was shaped like an isosceles triangle: 6′  at the wide end, the right-angled leg was about 14′.  Seating  capacity was about 18, with some folks on the floor, and perhaps  others were standing.  There is a large uncurtained window facing the  street directly across from the main dance area.  Performing in this  small space forced greater specificity in the work. 

I arrived around 4:30 and began to set up, finding an outlet for the  boombox.  Abeba and Lene, the Ethiopian proprietors, arranged the  chairs, took out three of the tables (I used the two that were left  to hide my clothes, purse, etc. under).  Abeba swept and mopped the  floor.

I changed my clothes in the bathroom, the door of which is part of  the 14′ right-angled leg.  Amy had brought a curtain to hang in the  doorway to the main part of the coffee shop which provided visual  privacy .  After a run-through in the space, I sat myself down in a  far corner of the main coffee shop and waited.  From that vantage I  could see people coming in, but most of them did not see me.  Kyi  greeted them and ushered them into the space.  When it was time, she  briefly introduced me and afterwards led an informal discussion with  Amy about the work. 

From this performer’s perspective it was a very supportive container for showing work. 

Kefa Cafe has excellent coffee, light food and excellent pastry and  ice cream.  It is the only coffee shop where I will eat the pastry!

On the theme of dancers as actors - sometimes successfully sometimes forced, I want to put this out there.  Laura Schandelmeier shared this with me….

Emotional Score:

In an improvisation ask,

1. Who am I?

2. Where am I?

3. How do I feel in the beginning? middle? end?

So we’re dancing tonight. Dance Place at 20:00 (and 20:00 tomorrow night and 19:00 on Sunday). It’s gonna be a sweet performance I think. You should come see it.

I picked this Friday’s YouTube based on the style of the work we’re performing tonight. There’s this section in the piece where the interesting part happens in the back. Behind. Just like in this choreography.

Happy Friday people!

The DC 13th Annual Improvisation Festival is seeking volunteers to help plan and implement this year’s festival, which will highlight improvisational dance and other art forms in downtown DC during the weekend of September 29. The festival is changing and growing and volunteers can do as much or as little as they’d like. Festival organizers are seeking folks to help envision what the festival will look like this year, work with performers, help with grantwriting, assist with publicity… as well as help with little tasks like handing out fliers. It’s a great way to get to know fun and interesting people, most of whom are part of the DC arts/dance community, to learn more about the city, and to be a part of an effort to highlight the arts in Washington.

Interested? Questions? Write me, Amanda, at abramsamanda@hotmail.com. We’d love to have you! There will be a meeting for all volunteers in mid-May, but time and date aren’t yet set.

Festival website is www.improvfestival.com, but please be patient–it’s being updated.

we had a final rehearsal for daniel burkholder’s piece, “my ocean is never blue,” on sunday. it was surprisingly great! i’ve been enjoying the ‘big group’ rehearsals, which incorporate some 20 dancers, quite a bit, but haven’t felt fully engaged in the piece somehow. but sunday’s rehearsal really brought things together for me. maybe it’s always like that when the choreographer is developing the piece at the same time as the dancers are learning it, that it only comes together at the end…anyway, it was a very satisfying rehearsal. the movement is all improvised–within a structure, of course–but the overall architecture of the piece is also improvised, so that the order of specific sections is random and will be different during different showings. what i found was that incorporating improv into the piece on a larger scale meant that i had to stay active and alert during all of the piece, not just during the times i was dancing. even when i was standing at the side, watching, i had to remain engaged so that i could enter at any time. the result was that i felt like part of the piece, even from the side. it kept me performing–and present, more importantly–throughout the piece, which i liked a lot.

daniel also allows for a fair amount of un-structured improv during the transitions between various sections, which i absolutely loved. it’s scary–we’re going to be onstage, not fully knowing what’s going on or who’s supposed to be where–but also quite quite exhilarating. i’m excited for the performance.

The info:

The PlayGround @ Dance Place
See “My ocean is never blue” and other repertory
Exploring our personal, environmental and political relationships to water, Daniel Burkholder/The PlayGround  presents the theatrical premiere of “My ocean is never blue” April 27-29, 2007 @ Dance Place. Featuring over 18 performers, live music and video projection, “My ocean is never blue” focuses on one of the most important issues facing the world today. Also on the program Director Daniel Burkholder will perform 3 duets: “unmapped” with musician Jonathan Matis, “together/apart (we go each our way)” with Stefanie Quinones Bass, and “Duet for 3″ with his wife, Andrea Burkholder.

For more about “My ocean is never blue” access our ongoing blog about the creation and performance process at
http://improvarts.alkem.org

Daniel Burkholder/The PlayGround @ Dance Place
April 27*-29, 2007
Friday & Saturday @ 8pm, Sunday @ 7pm
Tickets: $7-$20*

To order tickets go to www.danceplace.org
or call 202-269-1600

*Speical Fundraiser for Water for People
Friday, April 27 @ 8pm
Tickets: $20-$25
Water for People helps the most impoverished people worldwide improve their quality of life by supporting sustainable drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene projects.

that’s all i have to say…all hail springy spring, finally here!

 Need I say more?

the east coast jam, by the way, was great! such cool people, great dancing, amazing scenery and very relaxing overall.

what was also amazing was how certain newcomers who came with me got totally into it too, and how accessible the form of contact, as well as the people and the whole vibe, was. i think it’s hard not to enjoy the jam, to appreciate the sense of “realness”–the authenticity, so to speak–of the people and an activity that forces you to be physically present and honest. physically honest, what a cool concept. and contact as a lifesaver! also a cool idea.

last thing, john and i were looking at you tube last night at some improv performances at a contact festival in italy; here’s one, and there are many more as links on the right side of that you tube page. they are great, duets and trios by serious and beautiful improvisers with unique movement styles. each one is interesting in its own way, but taken as a group they’re pretty lovely. one thing that surprised me was how john really saw these performances as being separate from “normal” dance, while to me they were just part of the continuum that is modern dance. i guess i can see where he was coming from…the performers are certainly experienced dancers, but not necessarily technically trained. and yet they’re so comfortable moving in their bodies that it doesn’t seem to matter. i wonder what other folks think about that. i do love how they move, the way that their movement is totally original, not copying any set style, very authentic actually. to me it’s a combination of experience with being in their bodies, and their freedom from other set styles. now i’m thinking that it’s a goal to me, to be able to move that uniquely and beautifully.

i had an interesting choreography session the other day. of course it was one of those days when it took me forever to get started–oh, right, they’re all like that. well, anyway, i was rolling along, not really thrilled w/ what i was doing, but making headway nonetheless. it’s funny how revelatory it is that making art is work. i think it’s b/c i used to only create when i felt downright inspired, which is when it really doesn’t feel like work. putting time in when i’m not inspired isn’t necessarily a struggle, but it takes more confidence, more faith that something will come with time.

so i was working away, trying to find something interesting to say. and i guess some part of me was still aiming for that feeling of electricity, of inspiration, b/c i kept trying to get the same kind of big, fluid movement going that’s what i do when i’m really juiced up and excited. but it wasn’t coming–and what i did come up with felt forced. finally, somewhere in there, i remembered a quote by merce cunningham (him again!), something about how he values every single movement, how nothing, not even the plie that precedes a jump, is a throwaway or seen as unimportant. there’s something very meditative and zen-like about that that really appeals to me, and it came back to me in the studio.

and so somehow i shifted my mindset, and started to slow down. stopped trying so hard, and started just being right there, looking at what i was doing then, not rushing to be somewhere else more exciting. and i liked it! the stuff i came up with wasn’t necessarily so interesting to anyone else, but it interested me, and it was definitely different from what i normally do. hell, i’m sick of what i normally do.

it’s always so so great, to discover another layer beneath the one that you thought was the bottom.

About 50 people squeezed into Dissident Display Gallery on H St. NE last Friday. Holly Bass performed an excerpt of Uppity Negroes on Parade called In Sect/Communication. The piece is a celebration/investigation of the booty. The booty that she always wanted but never had. The booty that is in our face in every hip-hop video. There’s more – I feel like it’s hard to do it justice!

Through inventive costuming, the piece is able to explore these concepts. She turns everything around and presents the booty as a way of communicating through shakes and bounces. It is not just a body part, it has a purpose! It was so fulfilling to watch it (10 minute piece) and then dialogue about it for 30-40 minutes. It generated so many topics: the recent Imus incident, what is beautiful?, creating an alternative hip hop video, what is racism, when do you choose to take offense. She had so many great lines like (I am paraphrasing) “Yes, we have freedom of speech, you can say whatever you want, but if you are getting paid to say what ever you want, you have to be prepared to face the consequences.” Another favorite line came out when Holly was talking about marketing her costume (2 playground balls that make a bouncy beauty like the “hippidy” hop toy) and said, “maybe it could be a toy in Japan!” It is so inspiring to watch artists taking risks, walking on the line of offending and enlightening.

The conversation continued as a group of friends and I walked out the door and drove a few blocks through the quickly changing neighborhood. A friend said, “as soon as you see 25 year old white people walking around, bye bye black people.” And that’s what we saw. And what do I do with that comment? That is pretty much talking about me, the white girl that ventures to a gallery on H NE to see her friend perform.