DCDanceBlog

another improv fest note:

The Dance Exchange was interested in being part of the festival, but the company’s currently out of town. So one of the company members, Cassie Meador, made a video using the library as part of the setting. It’s quite lovely! Check it out here, http://www.danceexchange.org/performance/danceexchangeatimprovfest.html.

i saw today that shen wei was awarded one of the macarthur prizes yesterday. i’ve always thought that prize seemed so cool; it’s given to people who’ve done really interesting, creative things that do good for humans. but it’s funny that it’s shen wei b/c i’m not aware that he’s done new work in a while. perhaps i’m wrong. i have a feeling that the nomination committee makes an effort to keep modern dance in the mix of folks given prizes, which is cool, but it’d be sort of a bummer if the prize winds up going to someone who isn’t all that impressive, simply for symbolic reasons.

maybe i’m sounding pessimistic b/c i’m still thinking of marcel marceau, who died this weekend. apparently he was worried that the art of mime would die with him (mentioned in this op-ed from the international herald tribune), and apparently he had good reason to worry. it’s not a popular art form. of course dance is much more popular–in fact, very few people seem to be fans of mime–but somehow it seemed a bit scary nonetheless.

Do artistic directors feel threatened when their dancers work with other choreographers? Once we are accepted into a dance company, should we as dancers be completely loyal to that company by not pursuing any outside projects? Many dancers in DC work with multiple companies. Is that a conflict of interest?

In a city with not many of us to go around, and where there is such a range of rigor, how do you decide, as dancers, who to work with … How many companies to work with or projects to work on? What decisions to make that might boost your resume or give you more recognition or the opportunity to perform in a space you’ve dreamed about, or with other artists that you admire and want to learn from?

And as artistic directors, how do you deal with this reality? That it is a transient city. That sometimes dancers’ interests change. That, unless you run a professional company, how do you work around the dancer’s need to be involved in other things to fund and fuel the passion?

readers!

if you like the blog, or you like writing, or you feel you have something to say that even marginally relates to dance, feel free to submit a blog entry to us. we’ll post it for you under your name. and if you’re really into it, we’ll even give you your own login name and password so that you can submit on your own. it doesn’t even have to be anything of major importance. we just like sharing the space with others who can lend another voice and perspective. think about it.

email me, amanda, if you want to submit something. address is abramsamanda at hotmail.com.

i want to have the technique to dance like this. i want to perform this solo precisely like she does it. i am quite sure i don’t have the technique needed - or the “non” technique, which nevertheless is a technique - but i want to try.

i guess as much as we need technique, there is something to be said about abusing technique. it becomes a problem when it becomes a style rather than a tool.

here’s what i want (for christmas): i want to be able to switch back and forth between moving with an engaged center as well as an disengaged center. i want to be off balance in balance. have the same control over my feet when i relax them, as when i point them. i want to move my arms without necessarily connecting to my back. to not turn out when i develope’. i want to be able to use technique to dance without technique. to be floppy with precision. to lift my legs like my grandfather when he walks the stairs. and pirouette like a ballerina. on pointe.

this is a post about competition and feelings of insecurity.

we all have those feelings, right? especially in dance. either we grew up taking ballet classes that honed us into hardworking perfectionists, or we’re outliers who have an artistic vision that requires our sweat and perseverance and maybe a little arrogance to even begin to achieve it.

and creating art, of course, is all about putting one’s ego on the line and facing a million fears that what we have to say is actually boring and cliched–or else that we just won’t be able to do it.

add to that the fact that there aren’t a lot of opportunities out there, and not enough slots to go around.

and top it off with dance being a performance art, where you can’t hide a thing.

oh, and top that off with the fact that we humans seem to easily gravitate towards feelings of inferiority.

what it all can create is an atmosphere of competition, where everyone’s striving to be or to seem better than they are, while inside fearing that they really aren’t any good at all.

which is ok, in a way. the striving probably is key to actually achieving some success.

but on the other hand, if we’re always concerned with how we appear and what others think of us, we’re not really seeing each other–and aren’t really present inside ourselves. it’s like we’re avoiding reality.

for example, if i’m in a dance class and i mess up a combination, it’s true that the other dancers might notice and begin to think i’m not as good a dancer as they had thought. but the truth is, maybe i’m not actually that good! it’s great to be viewed as a good dancer, but the truth will ultimately come out. why not just let myself be who i am–be the best that i can be, but not try to pretend to be someone i’m not?

what i find interesting is that dancers in class are frequently not that competitive with each other, at least in an obvious way. most dancers are pretty friendly. but we’re so damn competitive with ourselves! that’s the real tragedy. it’s so common to see women who are gorgeous dancers lose their self confidence when they make one small mistake. it’s as if they’re just waiting for a reason to judge themselves harshly.

the one thing that does drive me insane about how fellow dancers treat each other is the post-performance response. we all know how hard it is to give even a decent performance. why the hell do we not congratulate fellow dancers afterwards and say something–anything!–nice about what we saw? i don’t get it. does the silence come from forgetfulness, or is it simply competition and cattiness?

i’ll be honest: if the performance is average or above, it is downright lame if we can’t find something nice to say to the person who’s just performed. why not do it? what does it cost us?

on tuesday night i took helanius wilkins’ class at joy of motion in friendship heights. i’ve taken it many times and it’s a great class, energetic, technical and with combinations that often really flow. helanius does a lot of upside down work, which i like a lot. i felt sick so it wasn’t a great night for me, but it’s always good to move.

that class is, unfortunately, one of the only decent int/adv modern technique classes in town, at least in the evenings, and that’s something that continually bums me out. i used to take ed tyler’s class at ADI, a long time ago, long before ed died. that was a fantastic class, well crafted, focused and with beautiful choreography, that i still miss.

because there aren’t a lot of classes available in dc in the evenings, it means lots of folks pass through helanius’s class at various times. i’ve seen gesel mason there and meisha bosma, as well as dancers with both of those companies.

last night there were a couple of beautiful dancers taking class. one in particular was just gorgeous, with a fluid, graceful style that seemed to come to her effortlessly. she was really strong, her back rippling with muscles almost like a guy’s, and i wondered if that contributed to her lovely quality.

i like that idea, but i doubt it’s that simple. otherwise body builders would have a smoother transition into dance, right?

instead, what i do notice for myself is how absolutely key my center is to controlling and directing my movement. of course, that’s a well known fact, and i see it in others, but it’s still a beautiful surprise when i’m trying to hold a balance or make a movement a little crisper, and suddenly find my center. it’s like finding a friend on whom i can rely. and when i tighten it, somehow my legs and arms are instantly a little lighter and a little clearer and a little bit freer.

both of these look interesting.

MELT
Enter a dynamic world of immersive sound, living hieroglyphs and dripping ice. In MELT, artist Jamie Jewett creates an interactive world dynamically inhabited by dancers wearing tiny wireless video cameras and infrared sensors that control spectacular mixing of live video with original footage of glaciers, ice caves and the cycle of water. In this large-scale installation of hundreds of pounds of ice, LOSTWAX explores the encounter between Tibetan Buddhist iconography and hi-tech performance technology.

September 21st & 22nd
Yockadot Poetics - Theater Festival
The Durant Center
Alexandria, VA

please see website for more information and tickets: www.lostwax.org

*****

Mason/Rhynes Productions presents:

The Expressions Series: Late Night!!!

Date: Saturday September 22, 2007 (1st of a three-part series)
Time: Performances begin at 11:00pm
Location: Joy of Motion Dupont Circle
1643 Connecticut Avenue, NW 20009
Admission: $15 (light refreshments included)

Want a late night alternative to the crowded bar and pretentious clubs? Join us for Expressions Series: Late Night!!!, where artists take risks, let loose and have fun! Join us for on the edge performances by actor Bus Howard performing excerpts from his one man show “To Tell the Truth,” Christal Brown coming from New York with some strategically placed petals to grant us our “Wishes”, Estela Velez of Furia Flamenca performs her deliciously flirtatious duet “Guajiras”, Kelly Mayfield & Boris Willis of Contradiction Dance present “Stride”, featuring spoken word, improvisation and a bound dancer! The show will also include other special guests!

Limited seating available!! To reserve seats call Mason/Rhynes Productions main office: 301-887-1078; or send an email to staff@mason-rhynes.org. Reservations close at 5pm on friday! After that, you can purchase walk-ups the day of show (reserved seats will be released 10 minutes before showtime).

Shows contain adult material (must be 18+ to attend!).

i was just remembering an event ginger and jane did a couple years ago; it was a set of 3 events in various places around town, i think. i went to one, held at a record store in van ness; there were dance performances there, but there was also a writer who banged out stories on demand, and also maybe a musician or two. a few different art forms under that roof. it was definitely cool and different, and they got good press.

i’m thinking now about the improv fest, which is coming up soon and which i’m excited about. i had some sort of vision and i’m happy to be trying to realize it. but it’s been such an incredible odyssey to make it happen, and it’s taken a lot out of me. i think i could certainly learn from ginger and jane. they have clear ideas that seem to have distinct boundaries and delineations, and they are not unmanageable. i’m sure the two women are crazy during the last weeks before their shows, but somehow i also think that it’s more doable, more sustainable, than trying to do a big annual festival. and i also like how they’ve chosen ideas that are unconventional and creative–not necessarily huge, but interesting.

just thinking out loud.