this song reminds me of my youth, riding in cars, pink sunsets, roy orbison.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fAPEUWowEc
i haven't written a poem in months. the last ones went into my manuscript for my last poetry seminar at Hunter. I should post those poems.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Are We Human or Are We Dancer?
So, this is the song that is running through my head at this moment-- I attribute it to last night when, home alone on a Friday night, I decided to turn off the Head Bangers Ball (a program specifically set for late night Friday's on Q104.3 for all of us metal heads who will be home) and listen to whatever else was on the radio. No, I am not proud of it-- but I figure it appropriate since this blog will mainly be a discourse on aesthetic and anecdotal musings about dance and creativity.
On that note-- are we human or are we dancer? Is there a difference and why such a distinction (and also, why is dancer singular)? Does this statement, sung by the once adorable and now whiney (well, perhaps always whiney) Brandon Flowers imply that dancers are achieving something unhumanly though the mere act is performed within the physical limitations of a bipedal (sometimes) human being?
So, these are the preliminary questions running through my mind. Right now this is simply rhetoric, though it is my hope that somehow a serious (or semi-serious) conversation can be provoked by the statement, Are we human or are we dancer?
I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and my motives. My name is melissa west. I am a choreographer, dancer, and poet living in Brooklyn, New York. It wasn't always like that. I grew up in Staten Island, a farm land compared to this city (and so it begins-- I am well versed in melodramatic hyperbolic statements). The Island, in fact, is not a farmland, although my father tells tales of open fields and farms before the construction of the Verrazano Bridge. I digress... I lived on Staten Island, though I commuted and did the city-life for five years before uprooting to live in Williamsburg, the heart of zombie/hipster/eat you alive with your daddy's money-ville. I now am cozy, though mostly poor, and making dances when not working at your local Staples Print Center.
So, I am a recent graduate of Hunter College. I am also completely new to the blog thing. My inspiration came the other day, when, during the last day of my internship with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, I attended a workshop called the Op-Ed Project. The workshop was attended by (approximately) 20 of the city's well-established artists and arts administrators from different age demographics and backgrounds. I was particularly taken with Eva Yaa Asantewaa-- a beautiful dancer and critic who posts her own blog at http://www.infinitebody.blogspot.com/. After looking over some of her postings, I thought that maybe my next venture should be to create my own blog. Surely, I love to read and write and I have thoughts on the world so this could be my Letter to the World.
Returning to the here and now: I am performing next week for Gerald Otte, a former Nikolais dancer. He was a professor of mine during my time at Hunter and I find myself thinking more and more about his rehearsal process, which is very classical and intense. I began training/dancing "officially" at nineteen as an undergraduate, so I have spent the last few years attempting to catch up to whatever boat I thought/think I'd miss.
This blog will be a platform for me to investigate dance writing/art writing. I have a few ideas mulling around in my brain on articles I'd like to investigate. But first, I will be attending (or hope to attend) the Nikolais film showing celebration at 4.00pm, Walter Reed Theater at Lincoln Center. So, I will write about what I see and dish it out to you, dear reader.
I hope this wasn't a drag. I guess I have written a blog. My first blog :).
Onward!
.mw
=======================================================
On that note-- are we human or are we dancer? Is there a difference and why such a distinction (and also, why is dancer singular)? Does this statement, sung by the once adorable and now whiney (well, perhaps always whiney) Brandon Flowers imply that dancers are achieving something unhumanly though the mere act is performed within the physical limitations of a bipedal (sometimes) human being?
So, these are the preliminary questions running through my mind. Right now this is simply rhetoric, though it is my hope that somehow a serious (or semi-serious) conversation can be provoked by the statement, Are we human or are we dancer?
I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and my motives. My name is melissa west. I am a choreographer, dancer, and poet living in Brooklyn, New York. It wasn't always like that. I grew up in Staten Island, a farm land compared to this city (and so it begins-- I am well versed in melodramatic hyperbolic statements). The Island, in fact, is not a farmland, although my father tells tales of open fields and farms before the construction of the Verrazano Bridge. I digress... I lived on Staten Island, though I commuted and did the city-life for five years before uprooting to live in Williamsburg, the heart of zombie/hipster/eat you alive with your daddy's money-ville. I now am cozy, though mostly poor, and making dances when not working at your local Staples Print Center.
So, I am a recent graduate of Hunter College. I am also completely new to the blog thing. My inspiration came the other day, when, during the last day of my internship with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, I attended a workshop called the Op-Ed Project. The workshop was attended by (approximately) 20 of the city's well-established artists and arts administrators from different age demographics and backgrounds. I was particularly taken with Eva Yaa Asantewaa-- a beautiful dancer and critic who posts her own blog at http://www.infinitebody.blogspot.com/. After looking over some of her postings, I thought that maybe my next venture should be to create my own blog. Surely, I love to read and write and I have thoughts on the world so this could be my Letter to the World.
Returning to the here and now: I am performing next week for Gerald Otte, a former Nikolais dancer. He was a professor of mine during my time at Hunter and I find myself thinking more and more about his rehearsal process, which is very classical and intense. I began training/dancing "officially" at nineteen as an undergraduate, so I have spent the last few years attempting to catch up to whatever boat I thought/think I'd miss.
This blog will be a platform for me to investigate dance writing/art writing. I have a few ideas mulling around in my brain on articles I'd like to investigate. But first, I will be attending (or hope to attend) the Nikolais film showing celebration at 4.00pm, Walter Reed Theater at Lincoln Center. So, I will write about what I see and dish it out to you, dear reader.
I hope this wasn't a drag. I guess I have written a blog. My first blog :).
Onward!
.mw
=======================================================
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