The young girl and the apple
October 31, 2009 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
I love the conundrums of titles for dances. Should they mean something or not? "What's in a name" and all that. Good titles are like clues to a choreographer's intent, and great titles are like double entendres -- they give you not just one, but multiple clues to the idea of a dance, and take you places you would not otherwise necessarily be able to get just by watching.
For the concert just completed at the John F. Kennedy Center the best example -- witty, imaginative and insightful -- is Rachel Erdos's "Alma."
Some words -- or some phonetic constructions -- just flow, having that way of working that cuts across many languages, and so play across meaning. Coming from a part of the world where so many languages live side-by-side, and where they have influenced each other for thousands of years of exchange, occupation, and the simple co-mingling of culture, they adopt multiple meanings. "Alma" is a great case-in-point.
In Turkish and Hungarian "alma" means "apple." Should the dance be performed in those countries, then the title is, literally "apple." The fact that the stage is littered with apples, and where they are, as one critic said today "the third cast member of a duet," consumed, placed, tossed, makes the meaning obvious on a superficial level, but belies the many subtleties of their use.The fun lies, for me, in this -- in hebrew "Alma" means "young girl" and therein rests the elegance of "Alma." All the twists and turns of knowledge that come with the symbolic meaning of the apple in liturgical context ties into the idea of the innocence of a young. Lots of possibilities, but you have to know all the variants of the sound that makes up the different words, and the different meanings of the word in the different languages. If you're taking in the dance in Israel, or know hebrew but not Turkic or Hungarian meanings, its about a young girl. If you're taking it in where the meaning is "apple" then its apparently obvious -- except its not. But if you know both, then you get another side. And "Erdos" is Hungarian in origin. So you have an English-Israeli choreographer of Hungarian descent (and the obvious consequences of being descended from European Jews) who knows the word in both Hungarian and Hebrew. The etymology is as much about the choreographer as about the meaning of the word and the dance. Were she not of the lineage she is, the word might not have come to mind for her, and the dance as well might either not have come to being or have taken different meaning.
Its a case where the pictures of the dance might be worth a thousand words, but the word itself is worth an elegant dance.
The images are from "Alma." Its danced by Jason Garcia Ignacio and Giselle Alvarez (and I took them)...
Saturday October 31:
October 31, 2009 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
A subdued Garth Fagan season at the Joyce this year
Creation Dance – Beginners Dance 2009-10-31 19:11:00
October 31, 2009 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
This Blog is moving to a new home.....Check out our new site here for all the latest dance VIDEO blogs, dance routines, tips, hints and tours throughout the UK and Hong Kong from Creation Dance...
Let me know what you think too...
Elle
“Live Animals” Review–Hamlin Park Fieldhouse
October 31, 2009 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
The progressive modern dance company, “Live Animals Performance Collective and Friends,” premiered Go at The Hamlin Park Fieldhouse on October 29 and 30. The company is directed by Kate Corby, also on the dance department faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The performance inspired viewers to consider their own choreographic patterns in any seemingly ordinary day. The pieces in Go were connected “through their explorations of identity, borders and geography,” Corby explained in the program notes. Some of my vivid recollections of these discoveries are as follows.Carrie Hanson, faculty member at the Dance Center of Columbia College and director of the dance company, The Seldoms, choreographed the first of five short pieces, “Right of Way Management.” Kate Corby and Chris Walker, the two captivating performers, used pedestrian movement as an impetus for motion, but frequently froze together as if caught in a still frame. Initially, I found their intense focuses to be looking, but not truly seeing each other, and their movement with straight legs sweeping the floor appeared deliberately awkward. As the piece continued, curiosity grew in their gazes, and awareness of each other’s presence heightened, even if the connection was one of conflict and negotiation of space and direction.
Dancers in “Always in April,” choreographed by Corby, demonstrated juxtaposing emotions by conveying the power of dancing alone but simultaneously the desire to connect with another. As they progressed across the stage in an accumulation of balletic movement, they punctuated their movement with sharp contrasting movement such as slapping their chests or spinning rapidly. The women finally recognized each other’s presence and began awkwardly touching each other’s shoulders, then backing away. That first acknowledgement established a sense of intimacy and tension, and I became aware of their female sexuality, an energy that grew as the piece developed.
“Excerpt in Blue,” choreographed primarily by Emily Miller from the “Get Down/Pick Up Company,” was a beautifully musical piece that seemed to describe the motion of waves and ocean tides. As they came together to dance as partners and were separated from each other in an ebb and flow, it was fitting that they danced to ocean effects and the soaring voice of Joni Mitchell’s “California.”
“Reflections” choreographed by Arnsenio Andrade-Calderon, a celebrated Cuban dancer and has worked with the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NCDC), was an incredibly strong presentation of the power of the human body. The solo dancer, Chris Walker, who has also performed with NCDC, began in a red-tinged spotlight. He began to twitch and flex his muscles like an insect, the light and shadows emphasizing the power in is back, shoulders, and arms. As he continued through a series of athletic floor work and controlled standing legwork, his sweat and struggle was visible. Walker’s performance could be viewed as either a decay of life or an affirmation; it reminded me of how we are truly amazing creatures.
The final piece, entitled “Go,” by Kate Corby and dancers, was the only trio in the show, and it shed light on the dynamic of groups of people as they meet and depart; cliques, anxieties, and opinions all were apparent in the dancers’ faces as they chose with whom to partner. At times, two of the women stood with deliberate, but not affected looks and glances, while the third dancer performed full-bodied, quirky movement upstage. I was intrigued by the power of a simple glace and the array of emotions—inclusion, invitation, uncertainty—it can convey.
The cohesive show inspired me to consider the everyday interactions between people and the power that non-verbal language possesses. The patterns we weave in space leave traces of us, both literally and metaphorically. Each personal interaction can be a frozen frame of a duet or trio, as we choreograph moments in each day.
Live Animals will perform Go for New York audiences in February, and Carrie Hanson’s The Seldoms will perform on March 12-14, 2010, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
Exclusive Chance To Win Tickets To See the English National Ballet’s Nutcracker
October 31, 2009 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Win two tickets for English National Ballet's production of The Nutcracker!And there is lots more interesting Ballet News at Elise' blog.
goose #3 web flyer
A Few RC Photos
October 30, 2009 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
I can't believe we're already done with the initial rehearsal process! Yesterday was our final day in the studio - we start tech in the theater tomorrow! Crazy. Yesterday was amazing because we had our first full nonstop run through of the whole show with the full cast, while the other cast watched as the audience. Amazing.Here are a few pictures...I'm in the "gold" cast, so to show some spirit
We’re Open!!!!!!!
October 30, 2009 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Lizzie Carena; photo by Darla Winn
So...The Steampunk Haunted House opened on Wednesday and the response has been overwhelmingly positive!!!
After talking to many, many tour groups that have come through, the biggest "complaint" was they wished they could've spent much, much more time to explore and look at all of the detail. People have been raving about it.
Great responses from press too!
If you haven't check out the slideshow on MSNBC
We've already sold out some timeslots for tonight...so If you wanna come BUY TICKETS NOW!!
And, Finally...Halloween is in ONE DAY! if you are strapped for ideas/and or need a costume, bounce over to Halloween Adventure/NY Costumes (the nice folks who sponsored the haunted house and helped it be what it is) Amazing selection...and even some steampunky goodness! Check 'em out!
Checklist of Things That Are Scary:
October 30, 2009 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
A creepy, century-old building—Check.
A playhouse that is possibly already haunted—Check.
Boiler rooms—Check.
Steam pipes—Check.
Hundred-year-old pully-operated creaking metal doors—Check.
Dank cellars—Check.
Labyrinthine hallways—Check.
Victorian parlors—Check.
Twitching multi-eyed things—Check.
Gasmasks—Check.
Droves of inhuman beasties —Check.
Antiquated mechanisms—Check.
Lots and lots of darkness—Check.
Things that jump out at you in said darkness—Check.
Creepy thing in corner with teeth—Check.
Wicked-cool, eerie soundscape—Check.
Big, big men who chase you—Check.
Little tiny rooms that we lock you in—Check.
Week 6 Announcements: November 2-8
October 30, 2009 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
