remembering merce

The sun shined brightly as I arrived at Battery City Park around 7.00pm for the River to River presentation of the dancer's celebration of Merce Cunningham's life. It is one year since he has passed and the dance community honored him by presenting dances from Susan Marshall, Lucinda Childs, Bill T. Jones and others. Though I arrived late, I was able to catch a few dance.

I arrived in the middle of Lucinda Childs' piece, Dance, which I have seen excerpted before. It was beautifully tedious, the dancers in white pants and shoes and grey t-shirts. They were absolutely committed to the petite allegro-like movements, the fast paced constant motion despite the intensity of the mid-summer heat and sun. I was glad I got there when I did. Lucinda is a quiet choreographer, to me. She is not like Paul Taylor or Twyla, who rely on their companies and names, signatures of their notoriety. However, her work is transfixing, it is like an endorphin rush. I love the pure movement commitment of the choreography. This is a piece I would perform in, in a heartbeat!!

The other two pieces I saw contrasted very much. One piece, in which an artist (I do not know her name), performed like a  slapstick banshee. Dressed in black, the curvy dancer frenzied through faces, screams, and popular dance moves in mockery and hysteria. I did not appreciate her aesthetic, it was plain, executed in mediocre fashion and lost my interest nearly immediately. I hate to be so harsh, but I wonder how this work made it to the River-to-River Festival.

The last performance was Bill T. Jones. Oh, Bill T. Any choreographer that has Jennifer Nugent working for him, is alright in my books. She was absolutely stunning in this very simple and slow gestural meditation. Recently, the New York Times got down on him about lacking content and choreographic ingenuity but this piece was so beautiful. It was like a poem to an old friend. Bill T. did a solo at the end which was simple and mesmerizing all at once.  That may be because of his history, his age, the fact that the concert was a tribute to Merce, but this dance was the one that stood out as a subtle tribute. I felt Merce during this dance.

How wonderful to have a dance like a prayer, a ritual. A beautiful homage to a man whose spirit was in his feet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8Z3yRkvzyM

This is the link to a youtube vid of Lucinda's Dance

tonight at center for performance research

an inde news break!!

A friend of mine emailed me a link telling me about performances of Galvanic Folklore from the Accelerating Universe, an evening of dance work by Cori Kresge, whom I have never heard of but after looking at her website, I think I would like to see her work. It seems aesthetically pleasing-- spatially expansive and virtuosic with a minimalist score by Jeremy Tressler.

Performances take place this weekend. The last performance is tonight at 8.00pm at CPR, Center for Performance Research, located in Williamsburg on Manhattan Ave. Take the L train to Lorimer, walk to Manhattan and walk north until you reach CPR ( 361 Manhattan Avenue, Unit 1 Brooklyn, NY 11211

info(at)cprnyc.org (718) 349-1210)

I may not be able to go because I am all about free dance in NYC and may not have a few extra bucks (it's $15.00 Gen Admission, $10 for students and seniors), I also may not be in Brooklyn this evening. However, if I am-- I would love to check this out and write a bit on what it's about.

Here's the link to Core's website: http://corikresge.org

Center for Perfomance Research: http://www.cprnyc.org

Hope you get to see it! That's all for now (Don't forget: Merce celebration at Battery Park, FREE-- Mon. at 6.00pm, Susan Marshall, Jon Kinzel and others!)

cheers,

m

free dance in nyc
summer 2010
Check out these upcoming FREE events in NYC!:

As part of the River to River Festival: Paul-Andre Fortier will be presenting a solo, 30x30 from July 16-Aug 14th, 12.00pm-12.30pm. It is located at 1 New York Plaza. Fortier is a Canadian choreographer presenting this minimalist, site-specific piece. I am very excited to see the first showing tomorrow at noon!

 The Solar Powered Dance Festival, part of Solar One. I have wanted to see this festival for years and it has never worked out. This year I will visit, finally.... Program A is presented July 22-24, at 6.00pm and Program B is July 29-31, also at 6. Visit the website: http://solar1.org/events/dance/

Solar One- 23rd St. and the East River. It is an outdoor, kid friendly series.

July 26th:at 6.00pm, Battery City Park. There will be a beautiful celebration of Merce Cunningham's life (he passed one year ago). Works presented by Lucinda Childs, John Kinzel, and more!

Here's the skinny: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/merce-cunningham-dance-company/

We Give Ourselves Away at Every Moment: An EVENT for Merce, on the Esplanade Plaza at Battery Park City on July 26 at 6 p.m.

August 5th: 80th Birthday Celebration, Paul Taylor Dance Company and PT2, Thursday, August 5 at 7:30, Damrosch Park Bandshell, FREE

Celebrate the 80th birthday of a true giant of modern dance with both of his esteemed dance companies sharing a program for the first time. The extraordinary PTDC company performs Airs, Syzygy, and Company B, moving from sublime lyricism to full-throttle physicality to the poignant dualities of love and war. Taylor 2 performs Taylor’s signature masterpiece Esplanade, as well as a unprecedented live collaboration with Asphalt Orchestra, which performs an original arrangement of the score to the pioneering 3 Epitaphs.

So excited for this!!! This will be the last thing dance show I see before leaving nyc for the summer. Awesomeeeee :)!

That's all for now! :)

I am now on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/indemovershaker

And Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/mwestARTS

Enjoy- m

the spectacle and the score
Yoshiko Chuma and the School of Hard Knocks at Lent Space


I had the privilege of working for Yoshiko Chuma during the creation of her latest piece, A-C-E One, a site-specific performance commissioned by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's SITELINES Festival and the River to River Festival. The piece was presented this week at Lent Space, a public park that is located in Hudson Square (at the intersection of Canal, Grand and 6th Avenue). Having worked very closely as the production assistant, rehearsal assistant and a performer (during the rehearsal process but not during the show), my thoughts on the actual piece are certainly a bit introspective. Inevitably, over the course of the process, I developed an interpretation of the dance that I would like to share here at the independent movershaker. 
 
A-C-E One  was a forty minute performance installation that used the space a malleable theater. The action started and developed around a black limousine which inches along the space, both marking time and serving as a moving-backstage space for the dancers and their props. The dance-action is strongly rooted in task-based movement. Five dancers pull string attached to the fence slowly across the length of the space. The string to me was a powerful symbol, seeming as a time line and a spatial divider. The colors of the strings (yellow and blue) made the horticultural installation, America's Possession and Dispossesion, an art piece that from an aerial view says, A M E R I C A, through the placement of plants, stand out vibrantly.

The piece develops by dancers and props exiting and returning to the limo. As the score develops, tarp is taken out, shredded paper is manipulated, and wine is thrown from wine glasses held by each dancer. The shred, which is contained in plastic bags and eventually torn, thrown and danced with by dancers, Ursula Eagly and Aaron Mattocks, metaphorically emulates the trash that is abound in New York City, the waste of corporate America (which surrounds the oasis-like Lent Space), and confetti-- which embodies the spectacle of parades, success, celebration, was tossed around in a heavy, burdensome manner. 


The live music, composed by John King, featuring French horns and percussion, builds the movement along so that the piece does not lose one's attention. From the audience, I was completely entranced as the music grew and Yoshiko inched across the space in a striking duet with the limo. She, a petite woman in pink, beckoned and directed the limo. The limo was an encroaching force-- this massive creature that at any moment could crush her but did not. Actually, the limo can symbolize many things. It can be seen as a threatening force, inhibiting a natural space, it can symbolize the current atmosphere of New York City-- the very wealthy and the very poor (outside of Lent Space, in an area covered with tall, impersonal buildings-- there is an awful lingering stench of garbage and I passed many homeless or impoverished people during the rehearsal and performance process) co-existing in an artificial oasis. 


In a rather thin review in The New York Times, Gia Kourlas wrote that the problem with the limo as a centerpiece is that it resonates as a symbol of Prom in 2010. I would say that Chuma incorporated many props and elements that can be simple and complex simultaneously. Sure, you can see prom from a black stretch limo, but I saw death (the black limo often functions for funerals), a threatning creature that can be potentially deadly, a comedic clown car (as the dancers often came out with strange but deliberate objects- a clock, metronome, buckets of water, dusty jackets). 


The performance piece was viewed by many people over the course of four performances, all non-ticketed and free to the public. Many people watched from the sidewalks, the streets, the bench's of Lent Space. Afterwards a woman noted that, while she may not respond to the aesthetic of Chuma's work, she felt the space was transformed by the piece. The space was wider, the plants were greener, and it became increasingly clear that we are constantly in transition-- the outdoor space (or any space) is always changing.

-m

Here is the NY Times Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/arts/dance/09chuma.html?ref=dance

body haiku

this was found scribbled on an old receipt in my bag (note: this is not a formed haiku, but rather a short poetic thought i had)

being ready helps me

apply the philosophical 

to the practical.

the figurative head

to the literal knee.

i think this was a discovery i made during the spring time. the head-body connection was increasingly solidified for me. i had previously thought them to be separate forces working toward the same means. i now think of them as connected forces that make me whole. i just don't want to separate the body from the mind because my existence relies on both.

_______

Last Sunday, I performed They Taste Good to Her at Triskelion Arts Center. I would like to extend thanks to those who supported me by being in the audience, wishing me a good performance, and those who helped me by donating time, rehearsal space, advice and good vibes.

One of the really great things about the WAXworks series is the audience feedback. Each person sitting in the audience is provided with blank note cards and can offer each performance piece constructive and critical feedback. Naturally, not all of it ends up being constructive but I received a lot of good notes which I will share here.

Here are some anonymous notes I received about my piece:

I really liked the beginning when you were setting up the apples. Maybe it went on for a bit too long? But the part with the music was great.

Movement beautiful. A bit repetitive. Loved the whole look of scene, costumes, yellow apples, etc.

Not sure why, but found this piece totally engaging. Excellent costume. However, I must say you should consider acting. You would be great.

You are a compelling and sneakily seductive yet childlike performer--- very special. Keep the inquiry about movement and imagination in the moving body--- don't be afraid to leave questions unanswered or to leave the piece unstructured. I was distracted from your movement by the theatrical elements-- props/music, felt superfluous at this stage. But was so compelled by movement.

Makes me think of how we make our own problems.

* * * = 3 out of 5 stars

I love your use of the spine-- it was sloped on top and tucked under. Beautiful. I would like to see the moments on the floor held longer :)

Beautiful and accomplished mover.

W T * ?

Your dance was darling.

If it's about OCD then it's okay... Um... nope, didn't really enjoy it. I desperately tried to. Didn't seem like a dance performance.

Emotive.
Moving.

Excellent use of props (apples).

These comments reflect I wide range of audience response, and it is very interesting to see how many different versions of my dance were seen just within the span of one performance.

Happy IndePendence Day weekend from all of us here at the independent movershaker (meaning me).

-m

indē update

This month, I have been hard at work with Yoshiko Chuma and the School of Hard Knocks. As her production assistant, I have been purchasing props, taking notes during rehearsals, scheduling, and sending many emails and correspondences to those involved in the preparation of this project. In addition, I have also been involved in the rehearsal process and will be featured in the performance. It is a task-based, site-specific piece. Here's the info:

Yoshiko Chuma & the School of Hard Knocks: A-C-E ONE

Location

LentSpace

Dates & Times

Wednesday, July 7, 2010, 5:30–6:30PM

Wednesday, July 7, 2010, 7:30–8:30PM

Thursday, July 8, 2010, 5:30–6:30PM

Thursday, July 8, 2010, 7:30–8:30PM

In this world-premiere commission renowned choreographer Yoshiko Chuma fuses live music, dance and performance to create a unique new work.
A-C-E ONE is a multidisciplinary site-specific spectacle that takes full advantage of the unique architectural features of LentSpace. Dancers and musicians are positioned strategically throughout the space, a limousine moves at a glacial pace through a horticultural installation as performers move in and around a sea of shredded paper. Expect to be surprised.
LentSpace is located in a downtown New York City block between Canal, Varick, Grand, and Sixth Avenue.
Conception, direction, choreography: Yoshiko Chuma
Composition: John King
Costumes: Gabriel Berry
Space consultant: Nick Vaughan
Producer: Bonnie Sue Stein/GOH Productions NYC
Dancers: Yoshiko Chuma, Ursula Eagly, Aaron Mattocks, Yuko Mitsuishi, Ryuji Yamaguchi,
Musicians: Genghis Barbie (4 French horn players from Mars), Rachel Drehmann, Danielle Kuhlmann, Jacquelyn Adams, Ann Ellsworth
Percussion: Eric John Eigner
Onstage backstage performers: Melissa West, Kaya Nakamura, Mary Ellen Carafice
Production consultation: Jenneth Webster
Producer: Bonnie Sue Stein/GOH Productions

Hope to see you all there!