DCDanceBlog

I moved to a new place a few months ago and I thought it would be the trees outside the window that I’d miss the most about my old apartment. Turns out it’s not. What I miss the most is observing the site specific piece taking place every day on the basketball court across the street.

He is there every day. With his basketball and his notebook. Wearing the same clothes, carrying the same plastic bag. The routine is simple but precise. He places his feet carefully by the line, holds the ball still for a brief moment while he taps the right side of his chest, then shoots the ball towards the hoop. He then walks up to his notebook and writes in his notebook.

Then he starts over. Places the feet by the penalty line, holds the ball, taps his chest, shoots the ball and walks up to the notebook.

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.

Brenda Daniels, North Carolina School of the Arts

i just have to post quickly about a new blog i found. it’s by boris willis, a former dc dancer who seems to be back (from ohio grad school, i believe) for the summer.

actually, it seems that he has two blogs. one is boris willis moves, and the other is dance-a-day. i’m not quite sure what the difference is; both host videos of dance in various non-traditional places, although the first seems to include more text.

here’s the mission statement from boris willis moves. it’s perfect.

Performance happens now, it does not have to secure funding, book a theater or advertise in newspapers. It does not need rehearsal space. It does not need a concept. It does not need to last for more than a second. It does not need to be ephemeral. It does not need flowy pants, tight tops or bare feet. It does not need previews, reviews or even to be seen at all.

let’s hear it for that sentiment. it is too easy to get caught up in the “dance must occur in formal performance spaces” mentality, and yet some fundamental freedom is lost in that process. if dance-a-day’s goal is to dance somewhere, anywhere, every day, i’m all for it. i’d like to make that happen for myself, in fact.

last, on the subject of blogs, more kudos to doug fox for his great dance weblog. it’s still impressive. read all about taking a first-time contact class here.

i never would’ve guessed i’d find blogs so great! but they are a terrific outlet for creativity and a chance to get something out to the world, whether it’s watching or not.

check out this you tube of silesian dance theatre. they’re from poland. i really like their movement quality; it strikes me as something quirky and personal, to a degree that isn’t often seen in an entire company. it’s not even that the dancers are so great–in fact, my first reaction was that their technique was a little lacking. but i forgot that pretty quickly in my admiration of their energy and freedom and amazing creative variety. i initially thought this piece was a long structured improv, but it’s clear that there is an artistic director who calls himself the “choreographer,” so perhaps it’s all choreographed.

i wonder if that style of movement–free and expressive in a purely physical (rather than emotional) way–is more common in europe. it strikes me that although one sees that type of movement here (on daniel burkholder, for example), a lot of modern dancers are still stuck in ballet/cunningham technique, rather than pushing through and taking a risk of not conforming. i’m probably just generalizing and perhaps being ridiculous, though, because there are a million beautiful and interesting dancers in this country, especially in nyc.

but there is one thing i have been wondering for a while; it’s a bit controversial but i’ll ask it anyway. are dancers in europe smarter than those here? i often feel like american dancers are non-readers and non-intellectual, and thus aren’t able to take advantage of ideas being questioned by artists from other mediums or being debated in the culture or arising perpetually in history. lotta is the blog’s resident european: i wonder what she thinks.

and thanks to mr. john lanou for turning me onto silesian dance theatre. i hope i didn’t steal his thunder by posting it–but he has enough to write about, following his recent trip to nyc.

 Don’t know who this is.  Taken from the Flynn Center’s website.
http://www.flynncenter.org/about/suppartists.shtml

i’ve been thinking recently that biggish dancers often are often more beautiful movers than skinny ones. i know all the ballet brainwashing bs, but it seems to me that more body can often mean more strength, as well as more subtlety and potential for lusciousness. i wonder if anyone else thinks this.

here’s a new york times article about bigger dancers. it’s no longer available for free on their website, but this “dance news” blog has posted it.

today i went to the swedish embassy and watched dancer and choreographer cristina caprioli perform and talk. doug fox was also there and i’m interested in hearing his take on things. afterwards, he went on to see contradiction dance at JOM friendship heights, which i’d also been planning on doing, but at the last minute i decided i needed rest more than another dance performance, though i’d been looking forward to it.

cristina caprioli was definitely interesting. she’s small and dark and impish, but at first seemed very serious and almost dour in her dancing. when she talked later, though, it turned out that she was actually quite lively and even a bit on the self-indulgent side–an artist, that is.

apparently she’s been working for a long, long time in sweden, and it provided a major contrast to this country’s dance climate, where most choreographers leave the field as they get older because they can’t support themselves. in sweden, she said, she gets grants from the state.

her movement was very creative and, dare i say, innovative. she later spoke about her creative process and it was quite involved. i couldn’t follow most of it, but it sounded like she goes through a number of different stages to create and distill movement, and to let it develop so that it eventually becomes not just something pretty to look at but also interesting to her. and it was definitely interesting–very small and clean, based on weight shifts and twists (she later told us that those movements are at the heart of her style) and also, i felt, on very clear initiations–the movements of her hip, shoulder, fingers leading into something else. small and neat, that’s what i’d say, with fairly even pacing, never going to the ground or really dropping her head.

i began thinking about the various flavors different dancers give their movement, and the different emphases each might have. this woman, for example, seemed to be most interested in finding new and innovative movement, working from perhaps a cerebral place. in contrast, today i watched my friend jen stone dance, and was so impressed with how very physical she is, how much she luxuriated in moving all of her body in all directions, in a very luscious way. it was lovely! and when i watch her or dancers like her, i think that’s the only way to be. but then i see someone like ms. caprioli, and get caught up in another element. personally, though, what i love the most is an expressive dancer, one whose movements speak to me on another, more emotional level, and whose spirit shines clearly through.

it’s always good to be reminded that there are many ways to dance and to be a beautiful dancer.

wow, there are lots of dance performances this weekend.

gesel mason at the kennedy center’s millennium stage saturday at 6pm

steven clapp and laura schandlemeier at dance place saturday at 8pm and sunday at 7pm.

kelly mayfield’s contradiction dance at joy of motion friendship heights saturday at 8pm and sunday at 7pm.

swedish choreographer cristina caprioli at the swedish embassy sunday at 5pm.

i wonder if will cover any of it. we shall see.