BFA, Dance 2008
May 29, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Please allow me to reiterate to any college-age young adults that being independent is extremely stressful. However, I find it rewarding to be able to handle.
A change in the players... but the game stays the same....
Karen has decided that now is not the best time for her to move to NYC. But being reunited with GMU dancers at graduation brought face-to-face with Ashleigh Gurtler, who is simultaneously planning a move to NYC, and looking for a roommate. Therefore, that problem has solved itself.
In other updates, the Dance Place Audition with Jenn Ruhl and Company went well. Unfortunately, we did not get a place in the upcoming showcase. There were over 30 acts auditioning and only 9 spots in the show. It was a good opportunity for us to perform as a group and to see how well we really know the dance. Our next scheduled performance will probably be the annual recital for Chris Collins Dance Studio.
This Saturday at the Reston Community Center, The Young Actor's Theatre is performing "A Cinderella Story." But its actually different than the Cinderella versions you have heard before. With an original script written and directed by Mark Brutsche. This is a combination of stories, including Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Rumplestiltskin. We have a lot of work to do to prepare for the show tomorrow. I won't give up until it is perfect.
A Sledgehammer In the Splits
May 26, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
It's Monday night and I've just come back home from an absolute hoot of an evening attending the Glamour Idol 2008. Drunken orange girls strutting their stuff in front of a bunch of cringing judges is just what a...
Martha Hill Book – How to Get More Than 60% Off
May 26, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
It's true -- deeeeeeep discounts are available for The Contributions of Martha Hill to American Dance and Dance Education, 1900-1995 by Elizabeth McPherson.Here's how to get the book for $39.95 instead of $109.95 (more than 60% off!):
Email the author, Elizabeth McPherson, at emm2072000[at]yahoo[dot]com. (Format the email address in the usual way, of course; just trying to prevent spam.) She can give discount flyers to individuals (not institutions, though).
Great deal!
Martha Hill – Important Woman, Important Book
May 25, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Martha Hill, 1900-1995, was a major figure in dance education and a major supporter of dance notation. Here are just two of her accomplishments, just to give you a sense of her impact: in 1932 she created the first bachelor of arts program in dance (at Bennington), and in 1951 she became the first director Juilliard's dance division. Pretty impressive, huh? Now think about this: she remained director of Juilliard's dance division for 34 years, until 1985.In a word: wow.
Want to know a little bit more about Martha Hill?
Read her obituary from Dance Magazine.
Want to know more than just a little bit more about her? Read this new book:
The Contributions of Martha Hill to American Dance and Dance Education, 1900-1995 by Elizabeth McPherson
Here is the book's table of contents. It's amazing how the life of Martha Hill is essentially the history of dance education in America (NYU, Bennington, Connecticut College, Juilliard, scores of students who taught scores more students):
- An Overview of the History of Dance in Higher Education in the United States
- Hill’s Youth and Early Career: Growing Up in the Bible Belt (1900-30)
- Establishing a Dance Program in the School of Education at New York University (1930-51)
- Establishing a Place for Dance in a Liberal Arts Setting at Bennington College (1932-51)
- Moving Dance into Mainstream American Thought at The Bennington School of the Dance and The Connecticut College School of the Dance/American Dance Festival (1934-52)
- Creating and Nurturing a Conservatory Program in Dance at Juilliard (1951-95)
- Through the Eyes of Hill’s Students
- Hill’s Legacy
Another Staging…
May 25, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
I don't know much about this staging, so I don't have much to say about it, but I like to share news of stagings around the world. So many dances, so many choreographers, so many dancers, so many stagers, so many companies, so many countries! It may still be the case that most people haven't heard of Labanotation, but that doesn't mean Labanotation isn't in active use all over the place!So, today I write to report that Marion Bastien recently staged Lotte Goslar's Clapping on Comité Departmental Meuse Danse in Paris, France.
(A great line from Lotte Goslar's NYTimes obituary: "A short, roly-poly woman with a round, expressive face, Miss Goslar as a performer brought bugs, flowers and mushrooms vividly to life.")
Read about Staging Folksay, Hear about Staging Folksay
May 25, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
The D.C. based CityDance Ensemble is currently staging Sophie Maslow's Folksay, and they have two great blog postings about the staging process.If you'd rather read about it, read the Reflections on Reconstructing a 60 Year Old Dance post.
If you'd rather hear about it, watch the video of Greg Halloran talking about it.
I did both -- and recommend both!
Clare Byrne Mayfair
May 20, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Witch Night, May 9Just in time for Mother’s Day, Clare Byrne lays out a feast of female possibilities. Her Witch Night is a weaving together of five short pieces, each of which explores wild and playful depths of femininity. Characters, costumes, and voices come and go while inviting rich questions about the nature of performance, onstage and off.
We first meet the white witch. She enters the intimate performance space and, talking in a hilariously shrill voice, sacrifices a baguette. She passes around pieces of the bread and we eat together. It is a sacrament and a thanksgiving, an acknowlegement of the community that is created within the audience of every performance.
The white witch invokes feelings of mystery, fear, and support. She implies that, this evening, we will not know what is real and what is pretend. She feeds us like a grandmother, a priest, and a prostitute.
Byrne adds other ingredients, dances and short films, into her witch’s brew. We see an MTV-type dance complete with fierce back-up-booty-dancers. Byrne performs Martha Graham’s Lamentation. She uses leaves on the floor to dance an audience member’s fortune. The white witch returns and, while speaking lyrics from Camelot, sexually squeezes white icing out of tubes and onto cupcakes. We eat again.
One of the films, Morgan, Child Goddess, stars a beautifully awkward and open young girl romping through the woods. Union of the Fishes stars a naked Byrne and Sharon Estacio. Pubic hair not concealed, they make body sounds and move close together.
Like Martha Graham, Byrne explores raw and powerful female energy in her work. It is not limited to this, but it is unusual in this. She looks at the roles that women play and the ones open to us. She also looks beyond the roles. Witch Night feels inspired by the ten-year-old girl in Morgan, Child Goddess. The evening seems to come from that age before cynicism and cool have hit. It is as if we have joined a girl’s unhindered imagination. We are free to be anything.
Will Rawls kneeling, photo by Stefan JacobsKneelings, May 10
Byrne finishes her Mayfair with Kneelings. From 8:10 until 10:00 am, four dancers make their way across Manhattan’s 23rd Street. On the sidewalk, in the middle of each block, one of them kneels. They sit still while New York City walks, and drives, by. It is aesthetic and religious. (Are the two different?) Simple, grateful, gentle, subtle and bold.
New York City, NY…
May 15, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
I am moving at the end of July for sure, but happily sooner if I get one of the many jobs I have applied for. I have applied to dance companies, dance organizations, and tour booking companies. I have received responses from three. One is considering having me come to New York for an interview. And the other two responded to let me know they received my resume and are reviewing it as we speak. Each day, I search for new administrative and management jobs with a dance affiliated organization. As soon is something becomes available, I blast my best, most polished cover letter in that direction altered to fit the exact needs of that company. The truth is, until I committed to moving to New York and beginning a dance administrative career, I never realized how much experience I actually had. I am confident that the right thing will come my way at the right time. But meanwhile, I am loitering the job ads. Something that the world of dance is lacking right now is help with writing dance-related cover letters and resumes. I have noticed resume tips aimed at dancers seeking performance careers, however there isn't much help available in the way of dance administration. I plan to change that in upcoming posts with examples of cover letters I have written.
Housing... is another road bump. I have found on Craigslist several decent two bedroom apartments in the Brooklyn area. Brooklyn is about twenty minutes away from Manhattan and conveinient if you have train access. Surprisingly, the prices for monthly rent are not too far off from what I have been paying in the Northern Virginia area. I realize it would be for a smaller space, but being a young women in the beginning of her professional career is all about sacrifice. I don't know where the money for a sudden move would be coming from either. I just know that when I need it, it will come to me. In the meantime, I am working as much as possible to stay ahead of the current bills that are rolling in. Thankfully my car will be paid off in two months (woohoo!) but then I also start paying back my student loans (boo!).
Karen, Hasan (my boyfriend), and I are traveling to the City in a week for Memorial Day Weekend. We will be arriving Thursday night and coming home Sunday or Monday. Thankfully, the generous, Dr. Madhu Boppanna, has offered his humble abode in Chelsea as a place to stay. We have all day Friday and Saturday to look at apartments. If I am lucky enough to have anyone schedule me for an interview, it could happen on that Friday. But realistically, if they wanted me there in three hours, I would make that happen too.
Having this new New York project is exciting and makes me so hopeful for what is to come in my career. I feel so good about taking a step in this direction. It feels right... and I like that feeling.
In other current events... tomorrow is GRADUATION DAY!!!!!!
I'm so excited and I just can't hide it! I am sending out graduation announcements today also. I am extremely proud to announce this to my family, since I am the first person in my family to graduate from college. (Go Me!). I am looking forward to carrying on the GMU Dancers tradition of walking across the Concert Hall stage barefoot. My callused feet will glide across the marley surface one last time in honor of the days I danced before the college audience. It is the closing of one chapter and beginning of another.
Saturday...
Saturday is judgement day for Jenn Ruhl Kubilis' Dance Company. We have our first audition for an upcoming showcase after about half a year of work to mature the company. Look out DancePlace, here we come!
Until next time, dance like your life depends on it.
50% Off Books from DNB!
May 12, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Dear DNBlog, has it really been a month since my last post? I'm afraid it has. (I do hope that next month will have more posts and pics than last month. Just a wee bit busy these days.)Today I write with news of a sale. And who doesn't like a sale? More specifically, who doesn't like 50% off!
That's right: 50% off all books listed on the DNB's Book Sale page. I am assured that this includes the rare and fine books on the list! The sale is effective immediately and will run through June 30, 2008. Plenty of time to make your selections!
Scanning the list, I see popular titles such as Toni Bentley's Winter Season, sure-to-be-fascinating older titles such as Dancing from 1895, serials from many decades...lots to choose from!
Message from Eva: Body and Soul podcast
May 12, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
If you can see this description text but missed the text for the previous two podcasts--the UF students and Emily Berry interviews--you can find that information on my blog, InfiniteBody. Thanks, once again, for your support!
LINK
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com.
Subscribe through iTunes or at http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
