DCDanceBlog

those brilliant Brit bits

Lotta Lundgren — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:00:47 +0000

i left for work at 8am on friday morning and didn’t get back home until 4am. i’m not sure how that happened, but i do know that i had a great time, especially during the earlier part of the evening, when me and Kicki joined Silverstein and her house mates for an improvised dinner party.

turns out that ilana’s new roommate, Daniel, is the boyfriend of the established choreographer and art director of “Green Bean Dance” in London, Katie Green.
chatting about UK dance companies made me think of some work by DV8 physical theatre that i haven’t seen in years. this led to a lengthy youtube session watching some of the just ridiculously amazing work they’ve produced.

DV8 is such an amazing company that does mind blowing work, but they also do such different work. just take a look at the first and second clip.

“Strange Fish”
“Enter Achilles” (–GOTTA watch the transition from the beginning which is very theatrical to the end which is very physical. and if you’re gonna cheat, watch from around 3 minutes and on.)

“Enter Achilles” (second part)

lastly, this work, “Dead dreams of monochrome men“, which believe it or not, is from ‘89, is i think one the most interesting work that deals with male gay culture.

man, i love this stuff. and watching these works make me think of an ongoing conversation i’ve been having with Miss Abrams about how choreographic work relates to the dancers as humans or bodies. to generalize, Abrams comes from a place where she naturally relates to dancers as people, whereas i naturally relate to dancers as an instrument for abstract movements.

i find the “people” aspect of these works by DV8 absolutely captivating. they way they are so real and human is very much a starting point for the pieces it seems. it almost makes me think that i’m crazy for ever relating to a dancer’s body as anything else than a person.

anyway, just wanted to post these links. need to think more about this. much more!

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The Dinner Party

Lotta Lundgren — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:03:42 +0000

CLICK HERE!!!

to see an awesome clip that video boy Eric Brewer put together from the Dinner Party! Thanks Brewer!!

poetry at noon

Amanda Abrams — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:15:32 +0000

the LOC’s james madison building, where i was today

today i went to the library of congress for a lunchtime poetry reading. i’d done that once before, soon after moving to dc four years ago, and was mightily impressed then with living in such a cool city that famous poets would come and read their work for free! of course, i hadn’t been back since. but being able to go out at lunchtime, or whenever i want, is one of the major benefits of being on my own schedule, so finally i made it there once again.

this was a reading where folks read not their own poems but ones that they liked. it was quite lovely. i’ve realized that i’m a serious sucker for events focused around specific activities that one can concievably become expert in, like dance, meditation or poetry. i find the shared interest in something greater really brings people together and allows them to open up to each other quite quickly. i think that must be even stronger when the focus is art.

there’s something about poetry that’s often reminded me of modern dance; i think it’s the effort to capture something ineffable, some fleeting feeling or concept, in an art form that’s ephemeral and hard to grasp. ahh, i love art and i love poetry. all those sensitive souls in that room today, all those efforts to describe the difficulties, the sweetnesses and complications, of being alive. i am very much in a place right now where observations on experience are relevant, so the words and people really spoke to me. one of the poems brought me to tears, actually.

the last poem read was written by billy collins, a former US poet laureate, about poetry itself. it reminded me of how practitioners often talk about modern dance. it’s pretty lovely.

introduction to poetry

I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem’s room and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author’s name on the shore.

But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.

dance critics’ conference info

Amanda Abrams — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:46:26 +0000

A press release on this summer’s dance critics association annual conference:

Ballet Across America: The Critics’ Perspective

Dance Critics Association’s 2008 Conference
June 13 – 15, 2008
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC, USA
Cost: $95-$150 ($15 per single session)
To register: www.dancecritics.org/conference.html
Contact: George Jackson at gorgon7@his.com or at (202) 488-8635
Dance critics, dance company directors, dance teachers and dancers from across the United States are among those who will meet for panels, discussions, workshops, lectures and lively exchange during The Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America presentations. This is the first gathering of dance critics and dance writing professionals in Washington, D.C. since 2000.

Panel discussions will feature artistic directors from the Boston Ballet, Washington Ballet and Kansas City Ballet, among other major ballet figures. New York Times Chief Dance Critic Alastair Macaulay will give the keynote address and the weekend will also feature former New York Times Chief Dance Critic John Rockwell speaking on advocacy for arts and dance journalism.

Conference registrants will be invited to a post-performance party on Friday, June 13 and enjoy two full days (June 14 & 15) worth of stimulating roundtables, lectures, workshops featuring prominent and pertinent representatives from the world of dance. A detailed conference schedule, a list of dance performance in the area, the conference registration form and other relevant information are posted on www.dancecritics.org under Conference.

The Dance Critics Association thanks Capezio Balletmakers Foundation for its generous support of DCA programming.

the dinner party on you tube

Amanda Abrams — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:35:55 +0000

snips of the inaugural showing of the dinner party, including interviews with organizer and performer, are on you tube here! many thanks to eric brewer of dissident display for this.

the dinner party will be happening again may 6. we hope to see you there–either as a performer or an audience member! contact me, abramsamanda at hotmail, if you’d like to show work or have questions.

see you soon!

we heart dc

Lotta Lundgren — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 03:51:14 +0000

“here we are” she said, like she does sometimes, in the car, somewhere in columbia heights. we had finished rehearsals at Joe’s (movement emporium) in Mt Ranier and were on our way back to north west DC.
all three of us in the car rehearses regularly in both mt ranier and on H street NE, at the Atlas, and have many times talked about the area — the changes, the history, the interesting new businesses, the gentrification, the hipsters…

now, she was commenting on a Dunkin Donuts that had just opened up in Columbia Heights, an area that also is going through major changes at the moment. she made fun of me for calling the chain “dunkin” and cutting off “donuts”, and how i say things like that since i’m from swedenland. (i personally think that specific choice was on the more yank side of the spectra though. not like “chewing”, which can be hard to get. (in stead of chewing gum)).
i get home. keep thinking of urbanism and de ce. open up my email and see a link sent from someone who knew i’d find it interesting to watch these photos.

the last photo is of the Dunkin that we past. a lot of the others are from H street near the Atlas.

everytime i go to a rehearsal at the Atlas i feel like i get to go to a special place. clearly history has been brutal in this area. but there’s also something so thriving and inspiring there. for sure a new era, but with the history present.

ok, i’m really tired now and start sounding like a voice over in a video about water i watched the other night. and that is not good. (video itself was very good though.)
just watch the pictures will you?

goodnight.

The Dinner Party — first try

Lotta Lundgren — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:59:37 +0000

so! the very first Dinner Party took place at the Warehouse Theater on tuesday. it was great. we had six people showing work and Amanda did an amazing job as the host/moderator.

most of the work shows on tuesday was modern dance work. but we did have a video artist as well, and she ended up collaborating with one of the dancers (moi) on the spot. all in all, the evening was cool, informal, vital and inspiring.

i think it was Warhol that said “it takes seven minutes to make an artwork”. it’s a pretty interesting idea. and to me, that’s what the dinner party is all about — it’s a venue where art that is unpolished and new can take place. a venue where artists can take risks, try things out, and perhaps spend seven minutes making a piece and show it. sure, there will be a few falls face down, but that’s ok! in fact, it’s more than ok. we HAVE to take risks in order to move forward. have to have to HAVE TO.

now when i think of this, the Dinner Party is in one way sort of a performance version of the Field.

the next Dinner Party is happening May 6th. think about what you want to show.

friday night merce

Amanda Abrams — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:34:34 +0000

i saw merce friday night. first of all, that harman hall is really amazing. dc is lucky to have such a gorgeous new performance hall right downtown.

ok, about the performance itself…i had a lot to say, but some has dissipated by now. i enjoyed it a lot, much more than i expected to. i hadn’t even planned on going initially, but got a free ticket at the last minute. the pieces were great–crwdspcr, second hand, and eyespace. the first in particular struck me as classic merce: absolutely unemotional, no clear relationships between the dancers, just clean, clear movements and a constant interweaving of dancers.

that’s what i took away from the entire show: finally, an understanding that merce’s work is only about pure movement, with nothing that can be interpreted as feelings, relationships, narrative, or even a connection to the music. just movement–although, frankly, i find that the movements he uses are not all that interesting to me, not all that inventive. they seem overwhelmingly based on ballet and a handful of clear, simple forms that fail to come close to utilizing the wide range of human movement. but then again, perhaps if one is trying to avoid creating any sense of emotion, it makes sense to steer clear of more evocative movement styles.

i also found that merce frequently seemed to transcend basic conventions about things like timing–for example, the transitions between movements within a piece often happened very quickly, without waiting the typical “beat, beat” as one section ended, before the other began. it seemed like there were a number of times when he failed to do things the “normal” way, and at first it struck me as jarring, as if he’d done something wrong. but i began to wonder then if i tend to find something attractive simply b/c it’s what i’m used to, done in the way that’s considered “good,” but that doesn’t necessarily have any innate aesthetic appeal.

it brought to mind a quote that john cage, merce’s partner in life and art, supposedly once said. to paraphrase, “i asked myself the reason why i found a particular thing beautiful, and when i looked more closely, there was none.” ie, nothing is inherently more beautiful, at it’s core, than anything else. anything can be beautiful. i’m familiar with this feeling–actually, i stopped participating in the field (the lab for watching and discussing choreography) b/c i found that anything could become beautiful to me if i watched it enough, and so i lost the ability to view pieces critically. that leads me to think, then, that if anything can be beautiful, the only element that’s vital in creating good and compelling art is remaining committed to an idea–sticking w/ it so that the parts cohere to the whole. and being honest w/ one’s self when something is filler vs when it genuinely contributes to the thrust of the piece.

one question the performance raised for me was about why we make art. a big reason i’m interested in art is the ability of the artist to move the observer emotionally. but b/c merce’s work isn’t about emotion, it’s appeal is largely aesthetic and intellectual–and i’m not sure most people can appreciate that. maybe that’s why people say merce is ahead of his time.

he was onstage that night, and i was really impressed w/ him. he got a chance to say a few things (despite a moderator who seemed uneasy about giving him the mic) and his insight and breadth of vision–even at 89–really struck me.

what’s interesting is that i’d thought i finally “got” merce and what’s he’s about–simply movement, no interpretation, etc–and then the next morning there was a review in the ny times about thursday’s performance in dc. and what it said was that the 2nd piece, second hand, actualy has a theme–the death of socrates! wow, that was a shock. that’s about as opposite of the “no meaning” idea as one could get.

and i heard later that merce’s longtime principal dancer, carolyn brown, suspected that merce always had a theme/meaning in mind for his dances, but that he never told anyone for fear of influencing how they approached the dance.

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tuesday night: see you there

Amanda Abrams — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:08:23 +0000

The Dinner Party: An evening of experimental dance, music and performance art

Tuesday, April 1, 8pm
The Warehouse Theater, 1021 7th St., NW
$5

In an effort to expand DC’s venues for in-progress, experimental, and new work, the Dinner Party is a new series of monthly open showings that will take place on Tuesday nights in the Warehouse Theatre downtown. The evening will end with a short facilitated audience discussion.

We are seeking performers of all kinds for the April 1 show! This will be a chance for dancers, musicians and other performers to show work to each other, and to present pieces that may not be fully polished or ready for a bigger venue. The Warehouse Theatre stage is small/medium and simple lighting is available. Pieces should be no longer than 15 minutes. To sign up, contact me at abramsamanda@hotmail.com.

We look forward to hearing from you or seeing you there!

trippy thoughts

Amanda Abrams — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:04:17 +0000

1. one of my yoga teachers said to the class the other day, “god is in the hips.”

any sense to this? i think i might buy it.

2. i recently noticed while meditating that it suddenly became much easier to genuinely feel my breath moving through my body. it made me realize that frequently in the past, i’ve only imagined that i’ve felt it. so will this affect the way i move and how connected i am to my body?