DCDanceBlog

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.

on saturday night we wandered over to 14th street to see the show “chance,” a video projection of dance scenes that is being held around town this month. the dancers were folks i know and like, ginger wagg and jane jerardi and brian buck, and the scene was very cool. the video was being projected on a brick wall above a parking lot, so people were coming and going, trying to maneuver their cars through the waxing and waning throng of folks who’d wandered over from the restaurant, viridian, next door. i loved the fact that “average folks”–ie, non-dancers–were staying to check things out.

the video itself was really captivating. some of the scenes were shot at glen echo, in a beautiful huge hall. others took place near water, with shots of waves dominating the screen. and others were in a green meadow. the dancers were lovely and the camera shots were unusual and really made the film interesting.

i wonder if boris, for example, would ever think of taking the many films on his blog and somehow showing them in a more public way. blogs are one vehicle for communication, and they’re very effective, but they’re experienced in a personal way and therefore are quite distinct from performance, for better or worse.

i was impressed–as i have often been–with how well jane and her compadres were able to create a happening out of the event. i was once at a gallery opening where they were putting on a small show and remember what a big crowd they had gathered, and how hip everyone seemed. this recent show–the idea of doing 4 showings around town, in outdoor venues–is quite brilliant.

the day i saw “chance” on 14th street was the same day i saw maida’s piece at the warehouse. and i loved them both–not just the content and the quality of the art itself, but also the vitality and freshness of both events in their entirety. there is something i’m drawn to in art that i can’t quite explain; it has something to do with how the presentation or motive fits into everyday life, and it gives me a feeling that is the opposite of stale, of cliched, of stereotyped.

if i could have days like this saturday, seeing fresh art, once a month here in dc, then i wouldn’t compare this town to nyc. i would be happy and would agree with a comment on a previous post that the only difference between the two is one of size. for now, however, i’m not sure.

i saw a great performance this weekend and have been itching to write about it. i hope the zing is still with me.

it was called “second story–chapter one,” an improv piece orchestrated by maida withers and performed by her and john glenn and lotta lundgren. music by steve hilmy and peter fraize, and a video projection by jeannine mjoseth. it took place at the warehouse theatre, in an upstairs gallery.

it was terrific! i was enthralled from the start. i got there about 2 minutes late, and it had begun–there they were, already deep into things, intense, together, apart. what made it so compelling, i think, was the strong and clear focus of the dancers, their intent attention towards each other and themselves.

i have to break in with a disclaimer. lotta runs this blog with me and she’s one of my favorite people. and of course we don’t want this to become the mutual appreciation club. but, that said, i was astonished at how beautiful and compelling she was. we’ve danced together a lot, but i felt like i’d never seen that side of her before: focused, emotional at times, distant at times, sometimes struggling, moving clearly and strongly, sometimes big, sometimes small. with her faced flushed, she was just lovely and a complete gem.

john was an ideal partner. never competing for attention, the two struggled, hugged, held each other, imitated, complemented each other. he was solid and clear and quite lovely himself, showing a tenderness i don’t see often in him–or not often enough.

both of them also showed clear and admirable improvisation skills. at times they followed one another; other times they slowed down or even stopped for a while, or picked a movement and stuck to it until it grew into something else or drew others in. watching that was an education for me.

and maida was her own constellation. moving big, always active, sometimes she was with the other two, sometimes alone–and i found that very satisfying. maida is fearless and it is amazingly impressive to take in, esp in a small venue like this one. towards the end, she walked out in a sequined halter top under a zebra print bikini, and began shouting emergency instructions into a plastic shovel that had become her microphone.

and the music rose and swirled and became urgent, then dissipated again. and the projections changed from water, ocean themes, to geometrical designs and then videos of the performers. i rarely like video with dance, but this didn’t overwhelm the piece and so it was like a friend, something to look at now and then as another attraction.

i think what brought it all together, though, was the site. it’s a pretty spare gallery, but the light was great. and it was just small enough that the audience was able to be very close to the performers and watch everything up close–and sometimes to be part of the piece. at one point maida walked around whispering something to each of the people lined along the walls. i watched their faces after she passed. they were fascinated, shocked, surprised, laughing–it was a spectacle in itself.

mmm, a small space…i hadn’t realized it could be so powerful. at least one audience member–this one–was inspired. what more could the performers ask for?