22 September 2009

Tonight's rehearsal was absolutely amazing!! I have to say that working with a cast of eleven really scared me at first, but with the eleven dancers I've got, it's like heaven on Earth. My dancers come into rehearsal ready to work, and they give their all from the minute rehearsal starts until the minute rehearsal ends. I could not have a better cast!! I appreciate their hard work more than they could possibly know!! I am CONSTANTLY impressed with their abilities in terms of performance. When i ask them to dance like individuals, they each have a personal style that snaps, crackles and pops. At the same time, when I ask them to dance in unison, the less advanced dancers step it up and the more advanced dancers tone it down, at which point we reach a very happy medium!!

First, we cleaned a phrase I put together last week, and added an improvisation we've been working on for a while, as well as the audition phrase I used this semester for DanceWorks. This is a rough combination, yet at the same time there are many good moments happening that I were purely by chance. I love the focus of my ten dancers, and the abandon with which Billy dances. I have to give Billy a shout out after tonight's rehearsal!! The boy is a sponge when it comes to choreography!! I give him a phrase and a concept and he runs with it!! He worked it out in rehearsal tonight!! It was magnificent to watch!! He grasps whatever I throw out at the cast so well, and he really assists the others and leads by example!! I am lucky to be working with him this semester!! (NOTE: In this video, Billy was improvising while the cast danced around him. We have set up time to rehearse 1-on-1, to solidify his movement during these periods of travel for the rest of the dancers. I am so excited to see what we can come up with in a matter of a couple rehearsals!!)

We switched gears during rehearsal and worked on a floor phrase that I have been playing with in my head for the past couple weeks. I do not yet know where I see this phrase coming into play in the piece, but I do know that I want to explore with more movement on the floor. There were some concepts that were foreign to the dancers, so we took some time working these "tricks" out and breaking them down. I appreciated the drive and determination my dancers showed in their learning this material!! While it was not performed perfectly, they are all WELL on their way to nailing this combo and I was so proud of all of their hard work!!

I am VERY excited to see what develops next rehearsal!! I am looking forward to seeing the phrase we put together in a couple of different ways. I hope my dancers watch the floor phrase they performed tonight, as well, because I think that they will have a better grasp of it after seeing themselves perform.

17 September 2009

Tonight's rehearsal was a testament to having a cast of 11. I have been second-guessing myself for a while, thinking, "God, I hope I can use all of these dancers, and make them feel like they're necessary to this piece!!" I would hate to have any one of them think that they are just a number. I love the unique qualities of movement they all bring to the table!!

Anywho, tonight we played with another phrase moving across the floor. I explored with having them perform as a group (11), in pairs, and in solos. I loved, Loved, LOVED the cannon we played with, and have decided that this phrase, or some form of it, will be in the final piece I choreograph this semester!!

Switching gears from the across the floor phrase, we did some "improvisation." I tried to stress to

my dancers the fact that want them to be invested in the movement that they create movement that they enjoy doing

and feel invested in, because I'd hate for them to do something they hate executing and have me love it, and

have them end up dancing this phrase ove and over in the final piece.

Here are three clips of them dancing the audition phrase, but making the first half of the phrase low to the

ground and the second half of it jumpy, through space, and big!!

15 September 2009

Tonight's rehearsal was very productive, in a number of ways, which was surprising, seeing as I was missing 4 dancers from my cast. I have found that with such a large group, it can be nice to work with a handful of them, in order to play with phrases, explore more in-depth improvisations, and really fine tune a phrase. Maida quoted Yvonne Rainer in Choreography class yesterday, saying the Rainer made dances "about who showed up." I think that when working with a large group, this can be all too true.

We started off rehearsal learning a phrase travelling on the diagonal, to the "End Titles" of the film Little Children. This piece of music is VERY different from the Major Lazer track I have been exploring. The track is in a 6/6 time signature and has a very classical feel, which I have never used in my choreography until now.

I broke my dancers up into a cannon, having Tal start the phrase (moving DSR to USL), then Elyse and Remy (moving USL to DSR), then Lydia (moving DSR to USL), and finally Brooke and Sammy (moving USL to DSR). Then, Billy enters, breaking through the group of dancers, and the dancers each perform a piece of the phrase with Billy (in pairs), and then walk to two straight lines (DSR). Billy performs the phrase until he is offstage.

I really responded to this phrase, after some minor tweaking, in order to make the phrase match the image in my head. I cannot thank my dancers enough for bearing with me in making this phrase match what I had imagined. They must have performed this phrase approximately 8 times until it worked!! I appreciate their patience, work ethic, and cooperation more than I think they will ever know.

I'm excited to expand on this phrase, and the cannon, in my next rehearsal, adding in the rest of the dancers. I am envisioning a very organized chaos feel to this section, with the beautiful strings juxtaposing the athletic movement.

I really enjoyed working with a smaller group of my cast, because it made the rehearsal feel more personal, and I was able to give more specific corrections to my dancers. In the end, I am thrilled to have a cast of 11, because the possibilities are endless!!

10 September 2009

Last night I held my second rehearsal. This rehearsal was good for me to get on the same page as my cast, in terms of meaning behind the piece. With my first rehearsal, I felt the need to throw material at my cast, and really understand each and every one of them and how they move. I believe that the pairings I made with the audition phrase and the Intro Phrase we worked on prove that I understand them as dancers.

With my last piece, I took the fantasy route. From the moment lights came up on my piece, I asked the audience to suspend their reality and believe that two young girls are dreaming about being ambushed by a band of clowns. With this piece, I'm looking walk the fine line between realism and post-realism. I plan on presenting four, 2 minute sections, each with a quote projected on the scrim, to set the mood.

Here are two quotes I am working with, the first being the quote to open the piece and the second being the quote to close the piece.

1st quote: "Encompass'd with a thousand dangers,

Weary, faint, trembling with a thousand terrors....

I, ...in a fleshly tomb, am

Buried above ground."

- William Couper (English poet; 1731-1800)

[On several occassions, Mr. Couper tried to poison, stab, or hang himself.

The above lines were written after one of his suicide attempts.]

2nd quote: "Then I climbed the sharp hill that lead to all the years ahead."

-Novelist Evelyn Waugh, recounting a failed suicide attempt.

The following are two music clips, by composer Thomas Newman. Here is a clip of his from the film "Revolutionary Road."

Here is a track from "Angels in America," the miniseries on HBO, written by Thomas Newman.

8 September 2009

So, tonight I had my first rehearsal with my DanceWorks cast. The rehearsal was very successful, in that we worked on two phrases, put them together in a combination, and set 1:36 mins of choreography.

I found it very helpful to group my dancers together, after seeing them perform an improvised version of the audition phrase. I have grouped them as such: Group 1 (Brooke M, Brooke S, and Lydia), Group 2 (Elyse, Karly, Ricci, Tal), Group 3 (Amanda, Remy, Sammy), and Billy.

Here are their Group Performances, improvising on the audition prhase.

I am very pleased with the work ethic that was established with this first rehearsal. They are a FIERCE group of dancers, and they seem very driven. When I give them a phrase to work on, they are very focused, and keep the talking to a minimum, which I appreciate more than I can possibly express. Here is the video of the whole cast performing an across the floor phrase in groups of 3-4. This is a new concept for my work, because last semester I didn't explore traveling phrases as much as I would have liked.

This first portion that we put together serves as the intro to the piece. I want to establish, from the beginning of the piece, that Billy is the soloist. I want the audience to see the structure being Billy vs. Society.

Here is a clip of the 1:36 we "set" tonight in rehearsal. This is version 1 of 2 that we worked on.

Here is a clip of version 2 of 2.

Meaning of the Piece

I realized, after publishing my last post, that I didn't get into the meaning behind the piece I hope to make this semester. I am very interested in looking at the invidual vs. the society in which he/she resides, in terms of suicide. This subject has been running through my mind all summer, and I have put together a "logical" progression of the subject, in terms of dance, for my piece this semester.

My interested in this piece began this summer, when I worked as a Volunteer Advocate at 2nd Floor. I answered phone calls distressed youths made to a Youth Helpline, and used the skills of Crisis Prevention to aid these young individuals through their problems. During the training for the position, I had a strong response to a couple of video presentations that were given on suicide. I found the quotes, statistics, and personal accounts FASCINATING beyond belief, and as such, decided that creating art as a means to heighten awareness was necessary.

I see this piece in a theatrical architecture, with an introduction, rising action, climax, falling action. I see a "soloist," who will serve as the figure considering suicide, and a corps of dancers serving as the "society" in which this individual resides.

I am toying with the "genre" I see this piece fitting into, in terms of my last semester piece, this semester's piece, and my thesis. Last semester, I asked the audience to suspend their reality to accept the twisted dreams of two young women. This semester, I want to walk the fine line between Realism and Post-Realism. I want to imitate day-to-day life, while looking at it from the perspective of a suicidal young person.

I have been really inspired by the music of Thomas Newman. Thomas Newman creates scores for some of the most amazing pieces of film, such as Little Children, Revolutionary Road, and Angels in America. Upon seeing each of these films, I looked up the music, due to the visceral response I had to it, and was pleasantly surprised to discover it was all created by the same musician. I see the introduction set to accessible music for the audience, so as to pull them in. I am very inspired by a techno soundtrack by Major Lazer, which I received from a friend.

How all of these ideas will fit together, I do not know. What I do know is that this piece is VERY close to my heart, and that I want to create it for a greater purpose than TRDA 184. I want to create this piece to touch the audience, and have them heighten their awareness to suicide as a problem. I want to evoke emotions in my dancers as well, and have them feel a need to perform that is greater than DanceWorks and greater than GWU. I hope to inspire just one person, and if this happens, I will feel good about my work.

Casting is Complete!!

Welcome to my blog for my Fall 2009 Choreographic Project for the DanceWorks Concert @ The George Washington University. I cannot believe that it's time to choreograph yet another piece. I feel like I was just in rehearsals for my last piece, Coulrophobia: The Ballad of the Clune.

Anywho, auditions were last Thursday, September 3. My demonstrators were Billy Andrews and Lydia Mokdessi. After teaching them the phrase, I felt confident that my work would translate well for the other dancers auditioning for the concert. However, when I performed my phrase in class it felt a little long. I slept on it, and shortened the phrase for the audition.

At auditions, I set the phrase to music by Major Lazer, a really FIERCE mix that I got from my friend a week prior. Everyone seemed to pick up the phrase well, and add personality to it!! I was so impressed with the talent pool at auditions.

I wanted a cast that was full of individuals. I want people to watch my piece and see all different heights, weights, body types, genders, etc. I want a pedestrian cast, such that any person in the audience could watch this piece and relate to at least one of my dancers. I feel that I have accomplished this goal. Without further ado, here is my cast:

-Seniors: Brooke Miller and Remy Tumin

-Juniors: Amanda Pettengill and Tal Schapira

-Sophomores: Billy Andrews, Elyse Iguanti, Lydia Mokdessi, Brooke Schwartz

-Freshmen: Karly Mintz, Ricci Poormon, Sammy Wong

I ended up with a cast of 11 dancers. It sounds daunting, but I am very VERY excited to have such a large number of diverse dancers!! First rehearsal is tomorrow, and I am SO excited!! Look for a video posted after rehearsal!!!