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!!