Thoughts on performance and creating...

This week has been a long, trying, yet inspiring one. I just wrapped up a week in the theatre preparing for the UNCG Fall Dance Concert, in which I was performing in work by two faculty members. I got the experience to perform in these beautiful works, but also to witness their performances as both pieces were performed by multiple casts throughout the weekend. My experiences on stage have sparked a thought on connection to movement for a dancer and what is going through the mind of a performer on stage. There is something about that word - performance - that puts a certain weight to the experience of being on stage.

I found that I had two very different experiences in performance with this concert in the way that I relate to the piece and my understanding of expectations of my performance of the piece. One dance required me to be more of a character - not necessarily a given character by the choreographer, but some way that I fit into what I thought was going on around me. I found this role fairly easy - I could create a story and reason for each of my movements and I had purpose for making contact with other dancers.

In another piece, I found that I was really able to "live" in the movement - the choreographer never asked anything of us performance-wise, but really just wanted us to find ourselves in the movement. I feel that I found that. In class each day, I just danced. I danced for myself, for the choreographer, and for my classmates. I made personal connections to the material (movement and intention) and it felt good to do it. I never felt the need to do a lesser version of the dance - I couldn't make myself do a "run" that wasn't "full out" - it just didn't make sense. Where I found the most difficultly was in the actual performance. The piece felt so intimate that once I felt the presence of an audience, it was so difficult to feel that same intimacy I shared with my class on a regular basis. They understood my experience, most of them felt it too. Now, here in front of an audience, I was ready to share, but not sure how. Things I haven't had to think about for months were now popping back into my head ("Ok, wait 16 counts here," "Make sure you stay with Jackie...") instead of just feeling the dance. I really wish that we had more than one opportunity (with a full audience) to perform this piece. After the matinee show, my cast decided to run the piece so that we felt ready for the evening's performance and I had two friends stay and watch since they wouldn't be able to make it for the evening show. I felt the same shared intimacy in this moment - I was dancing for myself and for them, but because I knew them personally it felt right. How can you be intimate in this way with a full room of total strangers? Performing in this way feels more "real" than some other dances do. I'm not acting, I am just dancing. Luckily, I do get a few more chances to experience this piece in a number of ways. I am hoping to keep investigating how to connect with an audience in a more intimate way and get past the performance roadblocks of over-thinking.

This has made me think a lot about my own work. How do the dancers in my concert connect? This is something I'm really interested in discussing with them and I plan to begin having conversations (most likely on an individual basis) about this topic with them to hear their thoughts.

Preparing for my committee showing

As the semester winds down, the next milestone is my committee showing - a chance to get feedback from my committee on what I have so far and where I plan to go from here. I have had the chance to go to two of my colleagues' committee showings and its been really exciting to see things come together and how different each of us are approaching our concerts. I'm currently trying to prepare so that the showing goes as smoothly as possible. Some pieces are more "finished" than others, which I feel ok with. Two of the pieces are certainly more segmented, partially because they are more content-oriented which takes more time for me to filter out the unnecessary and organize. The more designed pieces are coming along at a much faster rate and are more like drafts, though I am fully prepared to revision and rethink anything that needs to be done between now and March.

This weekend, I have been sewing together my sensors "suit" which is beginning to look like some sort of holster. It was difficult to find something that would be easy to get on quickly and connects from the legs through the hands, so I decided to use various elastics to create something that could be worn over or under something else. I'm excited to get this done and working!

We have one working accelerometer!

High fashion

Video and sound editing have really gotten me frustrated, but I've realized I have a good bit of time over the winter holidays to work on this. I don't have rehearsals for a little over a month, so I will be more refreshed if I work on it then, rather than trying to cram it all in now for the showing. I'm not quite ready to get all of the technology set up for the showing anyways, so it will probably be best to hold off anyway.

As far as props go, I had a chance to dig through storage at my parents' house and was able to find a ton of old phones and electronics, as well as more lamps and shades.

New Show Order:

1. Habit of Change
2. Communication Duet
3. Sextet (followed by intermission)
4. Lights
• Lamps
• Flashlights
• Projections
• Candlelight
• Sensors

Feeling of Relief!

Last night, I officially "finished" a dance! Granted, it was the one piece that was actually previously choreographed, but I have been making some slight (and more severe) changes along the way. It feels great to be able to spend the next couple of weeks cleaning, tweaking, and refining before my committee sees my work on December 6th. Then, I can spend the next three months dealing with the feedback I get (or just maintaining, depending).

I have been thinking heavily about the relationship between music and dance, especially with a piece like "Habit of Change," because the music and the dance are so intertwined. When reflecting on my process of both intially creating the piece and in reconstructing, I have done two things: some times, I relied heavily on the music to inform where I was going, but other times, I allowed myself to find the dance first and then fit it into the music. Something I'm spending more time with now that the dance is "complete" is seeing how those two things affect the energy and flow of the piece. For example, in the original ending of the dance, I had the entire cast in the upstage left corner in unison and then from there, it suddenly disinegrated into different movement and spread out to a diagonal (opposite from the opening formation) and then the dancers turned their heads and looked upstage to the soloist. In watching the piece on video and trying different things with the cast, I realized that the music is still really powerful at that moment, so there was a sudden drop in energy and interest level as the piece drew to a close. So, I decided to come back to a powerful moment that happens before the solo in the middle of the piece to more gradually fall back from a group of eleven in unison to two opposing groups of five and six, to four opposing groups of three, three, three, and two, to finishing at a chaotic individual level, ending in a pose that eventually took them to the opening image, rather than just turning their heads. This seemed to give more contrast and attention to the soloist than before. The energy also mimics the music differently and it seems more exciting.

Forward Thinking

Because pulling together an entire evening of dances is much more involved than the usual one work in a concert that is shared, I've been making myself think forward. Places I am focusing my attention:

1. Costuming - I have two dances with 10+ people, a duet and a sextet... costuming is going to cost some serious money and it's not something I want to wait until the last minute to do. My goal is to have clear ideas before my thesis committee showing on December 6. I am more clear on costumes with some pieces than others. I'm also struggling with how to costume male dancers!
2. Show order - This is something I've been thinking about since the beginning and I believe is an important aspect of a concert. The order and flow of dances can make a huge impact on an audience member's experience. In my head, the "Lights" dance (which is now 1/2 of my concert and includes "Tap/Contemp" and "Sensors") was opening the concert and then would follow by "Communication Duet", "Ism", and "Habits". I'm realizing a flaw in this - Communication is going to require some clean up afterward, but it is not a concert-ending dance. My new idea is this:
1. Habit of Change (Strong, dynamic, entertaining - my favorite dance I've choreographed)
2. Ism (also strong and dynamic, but serious - will juxtapose with Habits)
3. Communication (social - very different from the other two - much more use of technology and concept)
4. INTERMISSION/Clean up
5. Lights (ends with my solo) - wide range of dynamics, technology, lights, numbers of bodies
3. Technology - There are three moments where technology is more present. 
1. Communication duet - I've filmed the beginning section of the piece with my dancers. We went to the Greensboro Bicentennial Gardens last weekend and I think we got some really interesting material. This will juxtapose nicely with other sections of the dance and I'm at the early stages of editing/choreographing that section.
2. Tap/Contemp - I have a video shoot scheduled for Sunday morning. Melissa Pihos will be on set to lend a hand as a videographer so that I can be sure to get enough material and it will be nice to have a second perspective from a colleague. You can see some of my ideas on a previous posting (youtube video).
3. Sensors - Ned is working on programming now! All the sensors (we think) we need are in and we are meeting Saturday to check in and see where we stand.

Successful Fall Break

Over break, I:

• Received the sensors I ordered in the mail and met with Ned to look at what else we might need and create a game plan. We decided we wanted two accelerometers, and another temperature and light sensor each, so those are currently on order while Ned works on programming the sensors we have.
• Ordered a "base" costume for the first half of my concert. I'm using video projection during a part of this "piece" and I needed to make a decision so I can have an official shoot! 
• Got into the theater this weekend and tested out some projection ideas. You can see a video on my last post. I'm playing with some back projection, as well as projection onto other objects... I just need to figure out the logistics of running the projectors (and getting projectors to use). 
• Bought a lot of lamps. I am close to the number of lamps I need for the first half of my concert. Thank goodness for thrift shops! Now I have to figure out what to do about all the cords.
• I have rehearsal tonight with part of my "__ism" cast. Jan from my committee is coming to my rehearsal in two weeks and I'm hoping to have clearer ideas to show her when she comes. My plan for the rest of the day is to plan for this piece!

Media from rehearsals

Without giving too much away, I've been collecting some pictures and video to share here showing some things I've been working on. Enjoy!

Fall Break "To-Do"

To Do List for Fall Break:

• Purchase some "D" batteries - many of the flashlights are running out of juice
• Find some interesting lamps (thrift shops, yard sales, junk yards)
• Work on my own with movement ideas for sensors-related memory section
• revisit past works, ideas, etc.
• Write letters (or find old letters) for use in "communication" dance - send an email out if I decide I want letters from cast members
• Potentially ask people to write letters to me?
• Think further about the roles of the dancers (Jessi & Jeanine) in the "communication" dance... are they themselves? characters? extensions of me?
• Plan for video shooting for "communication" dance - would like to have shoot before Thanksgiving - outdoor location TBD
• Relax!

Lesson of the Week: Simplify

I've been thinking a lot this week about numbers. Number of people in my cast, number of dances, number of people in each dance, number of outside commitments, number of weeks left... It is all overwhelming. Now I'm getting to a point where things are starting to be more clear. I've had a few dancers drop out or make the decision not to be a part of the project, which is really fine with me, but its forced me to think more about the people I'm working with and what I'm expecting from them and I what I want as a whole from my cast. I made a decision to cut my "Habits" cast down from 13 to 11. Many of the dancers weren't being utilized as much as they could be and I could cover all the parts with fewer people than I was using. Same with the "Lights" piece - I have about 7 minutes of the dance set and I've only used about 7-8 people, but I have 15 to choose from. I made some trims from here as well and I feel less stressed out about how to use all the dancers now.

Thinking about the first 3 weeks

I'm officially three weeks in with rehearsals and I haven't been posting much here because it's been a lot of throwing material out there and seeing what comes out. I'm finding the most difficult thing right now is the fact that I am at the "starting line" with multiple dances and it is hard to switch gears so quickly from one rehearsal to the next. I am having thoughts about the entirety of my concert now that I have seen the beginnings of everything and I'm reminding myself everyday that I don't have to make HUGE decisions about my concert TODAY. I have a hard time with uncertainty and any issues that come up, I want to be fixed ASAP. This is completely unnecessary and I have found people to continue reminding me of this!

So, where am I on everything?

1. I have decided for the time being to treat the first half of my concert as one "piece" with various sections, rather than three separate dances. There are three elements I am playing with (lights, rhythm/tap, and musical interaction) but I've realized that these things don't need to be separate. I'm still working with the idea of memory and how a memory or memories exist/work/change/get remembered and I've found a way to connect this with the use of lights... but why can't the other elements be an extension of this? So, now I have one larger piece. Currently, I have completed a draft of what I'm calling section 1, or the introduction to my concert. I've expanded the idea of using flashlights to include lamps and other means of lighting beyond what the theater has to offer. The rough draft of section 1 currently is running about 6 minutes and has a transition leading into section 2, which will begin the work with the flashlights and multiple dancers. The sensors are still being worked out and I have met with my composer friend, Ned Emerson, to talk about this section a few times. We hope to have decided upon an interface by October 1st. There is a possibility that Ned will actually compose or at least compile the music for the entirety of the first half of the concert. With the tap/contemporary fused section, rehearsals are underway, but still building material. I have ideas for how it will fit in, but for now, I am just working on the movement content.
2. My "communication" duet is going fine - I had to replace a dancer, but I found someone already in the cast who was a good fit. I have two small movement sections that I am currently working on - they will be the first and last sections of the piece, so I am working from the bookends and coming inward. I have plans for the first section of this piece to be filmed outside as a dance for the camera to be projected, and then segue into the live dancing portion of the piece. I'm having a difficult time figuring out how I want this piece to appear, but again... this isn't a decision I have to make right now! I'm currently gathering old cell phones and other devices for use in this piece. There will definitely be a large number of props in use.
3. The re-working of "___ism" is proving difficult but I have decided to take the piece from a big-picture-survey of how humans organize themselves to change into a view into my own experiences as a human in this society. I'm not connecting to the larger-picture because I haven't lived it... but I certainly have plenty of my own experiences to choose from. I'm still teaching a lot of movement, but we have had the opportunity to start structuring some in rehearsals. I'm finding a few elements from the original piece surviving, but its in different context, which is exciting to me. I'm really enjoying seeing the male bodies move and the two women are holding their own - its 5 men & 2 women - definitely is speaking to me about the ways in which there are still inequalities for women.. even in dance! Men are rare enough in dance that it always seems like one step forward and two steps back for the girls... not that men don't have their own difficulties but they are often given more opportunities simply because of numbers (odds, ratios, etc.)
4. "Habits" is going well. We're still just learning and re-setting, but we've been adding in new gestures along the way. There isn't a lot to say here, except that I'm finding myself loving this dance more and more every day.

Thats all for now.

New thoughts - Personal thoughts

Something I've been struggling with in re-working my "____ism" piece is deciding what exactly I am trying to say. I told the dancers last week that I'm not particularly trying to voice a political stance saying "capitalism is good, communism is bad" or anything like that, but I'm genuinely interested in studying how groups of people organize themselves and how they function. This is proving to be a large and broad task for one 8-15 minute piece!

Something I've realized is that it is OK to let my personal feelings, experiences, and views in. After all, it IS my concert. The dancers have authority to tell me if they disagree with something I ask of them or if we don't share the same views or values. I'm going to try and reshape the reworked "____ism" piece (which may be renamed eventually) to allow my personal experiences and feelings to be reflected, instead of trying to cover all the angles of possibility. Tomorrow, in rehearsal, we will be diving into one feeling/experience I have repeatedly had, rather than trying to come up with all possible ways of organizing ourselves.

Thoughts on memory

Last night, I had my first rehearsal with my largest cast - the "piece" or "pieces" that I'm currently referring to as the Lights piece. Something that has been intriguing to me is the idea of how we remember. Why do we remember certain things more than others? Is it because we have a picture from a moment in time? How do we remember - are colors, relationships, situations, people driving those memories? How does one memory or thought lead us into another and where does it go from there? Often times more memorable memories can lead us into memories that we thought had been forgotten.

In rehearsal, I started by talking about my vision for the concert (fairly vaguely) and where this group of people fits in. I talked about the ways in which I like to work (providing movement, some writing prompts and movement invention from prompts, dancers' input in modification of movement, chance, etc.) and also some ways of working in which I haven't had much of a chance (or the guts, interest, or whathaveyou) to try. I gave the cast a choice to choose from my to-do list and everyone was excited to move together, so I taught a phrase that I came up with that was interesting to me and represents some elements from my memory of dances I have made in the past. It was really beautiful to see all of these bodies moving together - we also played around with flashlights just to see what the movement would look like if we were holding flashlights. It's MUCH more interesting with 15 people than it is with 2.

In the second part of rehearsal, I wanted to talk about memory and how we remember and do a writing exercise and movement study. This is an interesting group of dancers - I've worked with almost all of them in some intimate capacity with the exception of maybe 2 and those two are mature and were open to my process, making the whole experience much richer. I asked the dancers to take a moment to think about the first memory they can remember (either their oldest memory or the first one that comes up) and to begin writing about it and follow their train of thought on paper as best as they can. We took about 7 minutes to do this free-write memory train and then I asked those willing to share what they found. Many people found that each memory had a trigger point that led them to another memory - some spanning events ranging in 15 years, and some spanning just a few short days or weeks time. Some jumped all over the place and some moved linearly through time. One main idea that continued to come up is the question of whether the memory was "real" or whether it was a memory of a photograph or video and that was what was being remembered.

At this point, I asked the dancers to do a movement exploration in which they could physically move through the events that they recalled on paper in any way that felt right to them. They were given the freedom to do this literally or abstractly and also were able to allow their thoughts to divert from the original memories. My hopes for an end result weren't to come up with a phrase but to simply see what kinds of experiences would come out of this exercise. I only asked that the dancers do what they felt comfortable with and that they try not to overthink their movement or thoughts. Many of the dancers found that through movement, they were suppressing some hidden memories or deep emotions. Some dancers tried to move through the memories as exactly as they could in reliving and some found abstracted movement through emotional places that the memories took them. It was really fascinating to hear, see, and experience how the dancers were living through these memories. I'm really excited to try some of these things again and in different ways. I think this process can be really rich and I'm interested to see where it goes and if it will transfer into my choreography.

For my -ism dancers

Here is the document we used today for making gestures. If you didn't finish, please try and have your 7 snapshots with legs ready for next time:

-ISM:

— suffix forming nouns

1.            indicating an action, process, or result: criticism ; terrorism

2.            indicating a state or condition: paganism

3.            indicating a doctrine, system, or body of principles and practices: Leninism ; spiritualism

4.            indicating behaviour or a characteristic quality: heroism

5.            indicating a characteristic usage, esp of a language: colloquialism ; Scotticism

6.            indicating prejudice on the basis specified: sexism ; ageism

Etymology

Ultimately from either Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismos), a suffix that forms abstract nouns of action, state, condition, doctrine;from stem of verbs in -ιζειν (-izein) (whence English -ize), or from the related suffix was Ancient Greek -ισμα (-isma), which more specifically expressed a finished act or thing done.

Many English nouns in -ism are loans of Greek nouns in -ισμός (mostly via Latin and French), such as baptism from βαπτισμός (loaned from Old French ca. 1300), or Judaism from Ἰουδαισμός (a learned English formation based on Latin, coined ca. 1500). In Late Latin, the -ismus suffix became the ordinary ending for names of religions and ecclesiastical or philosophical systems or schools of thought, thus chrīstiānismus (whence 16th c. Christianism) in Tertullian, a trend continued in Medieval Latin, with e.g. pāgānismus attested by the 8th century. From the 16th century, such formations became very common in English, until the early 18th century mostly restricted to either root words of Greek or Latin origin (heroism, patriotism) or proper names (Calvinism, Lutheranism). Productivity from root words with evidently non-Latin and non-Greek origin dates to the late 18th century (e.g. blackguardism). Reflecting this productivity, use of ism as a standalone noun is attested by Edward Pettit (1680) and becomes common from the mid 18th century. The narrowed sense of forming terms for ideologies based on the belief of superiority is a "draft addition" submitted to OED in 2004, based on coinages such as racism (1932) or sexism (1936) and productive since the 1970s.

forming nouns on action or process or result based on the accompanying verb in -ize

baptism (1300)

aphorism (1528)

criticism (1607)

magnetism (1616)

forming the name of a system, school of thought or theory based on the name of its subject or object or alternatively on the name of its founder ((when de-capitalized, these overlap with the generic "terms for doctrines" sense below, e.g. Liberalism vs. liberalism):).

Lutheranism (1560)

Calvinism (1570)

Protestantism (1606)

Congregationalism (1716)

Mohammedanism (1815)

Palamism (1949)

the action, conduct or condition of a class of persons, "behaving like a ---" ((with overtones of the "terms for doctrines" sense below):)

atheism (1587)

blackguardism (1875)

despotism (1728)

heroism (1717)

old-maidism (1776)

patriotism (1716)

ruffianism (1589)

class-names or descriptive terms for doctrines or principles in general

giantism (1639)

fanaticism (1652)

theism (1678)

religionism (1706)

nationism (1798)

romanticism (1803)

conservatism (1832)

sexualism (1842)

externalism (1856)

opportunism (1870)

jingoism (1878)

feminism (1895)

dwarfism (1895)

racism (1932)

sexism (1936)

a peculiarity or characteristic of language

Atticism (1612)

Gallicism (1656)

archaism (1709)

Americanism (1781)

colloquialism (1834)

newspaperism (1838)

Shakespearianism (1886)

an ideology expressing belief in the superiority of a certain class within the concept expressed by the root word ((based on a late 20th-century narrowing of the "terms for a doctrine" sense):)

speciesism (1975)

heterosexism (1979)

ableism (1981)

Lots of thoughts, ideas, logistics to throw out there...

ONE
I met with Ned Emerson today, a graduate composition student I know through the electro-acoustic music composition course I took in the music department last semester. We talked about some logistics and ideas for the sensors solo piece I'm creating for the concert, and though I am feeling a little overwhelmed about things as I get started, its always helpful to get some things out there even if I'm unsure about where I'm going. We talked about a time line and some practical elements of the project as well as a few aesthetic and directional elements. Things to do:

1. Decide on hardware/interfaces we are going to use and find out how it will communicate to Max/MSP.
2. Decide on our "concept" or "guiding idea" for the piece - what am I trying to do? 
3. Answer: What do we want to accomplish/convey? What is the sound?

We are getting together again in two weeks (Sept. 11) to hopefully answer some of these questions.

TWO
Rehearsals for the rest of my pieces begin this week. I have had auditions to fill in holes in my cast and I found some male dancers to join the ___ism cast, as well as a few new dancers for my lights/habits pieces.

Thoughts about my work:

1. "___ism": I am mostly reworking this piece from the ground up. There are certain aesthetic qualities I want to bring back, but when watching the original piece, it seems to be very design oriented and I'm lacking direction in much of the piece. Certain actions and interactions are relevant to what I'm hoping to express, but the dance as a whole isn't saying much. (Here's the original: _____ism)
2. "Habit of Change": This piece is going to stay the same at it's core. The base of this piece and its aesthetic qualities are still appealing to me and I'm excited for a chance to re-look at the dance and improve/clean it up. There are definitely sections to think about further. I'm interested in the gender roles involved and how I can represent my thoughts more clearly. (Here's the original: Habit of Change)
3. Lights: I'm really excited to start this piece. I've been experimenting with the logistical aspects of this dance (you can read/watch in prior posts) and I'm starting to formulate clearer ideas about what I'm wanting to say or work with beyond just lights. I'm toying with bringing back ideas of "memory," which is something I have worked with in other dances I've worked on, but I want to help make this concept clear by using lights to highlight the process of remembering. My working title is "As I recall..." Some things I will be thinking about and asking the dancers to think about are dealing with how we remember things and what makes us remember. How does a sequence of events reappear and what is left out, changed, expanded upon, etc. over time. How to memories become stories? What makes a good storyteller?
4. Tap/Contemporary exploration: I'm a little stuck with this piece. Megen and I have had a few rehearsals and we've been researching how tap steps, phrases, and concepts can find threads that lead to contemporary steps, phrases and concepts, but we're still at a very basic level. Right now we're at the movement exploration level, but I'm not sure how this is going to become something further.
5. Sensors: See ONE above.
6. Communication/Paper: See previous post.

That's where I am!

C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N

In thinking about the piece I was writing about in my previous post - I have decided that the best way to keep with my thinking is to actually WRITE (with my hand on paper) about it, rather than type. So, as long as I can keep from being lazy about it, I will upload scans or photographs of my thoughts for that particular piece.

I will continue to express ideas in a variety of forms for this piece, but I will be contributing thoughts like these via handwritten forms.

I met with the dancers for the first time on Friday for this piece, and though we didn't actually dance this week, we did talk a good bit and I shared my thoughts, inspirations, and ideas about this piece with them for discussion.

Some sounds ideas I have are thinking about sound and music as more of a collage of representative sounds and songs, rather than there being something cohesive for this piece. Some things I'm currently finding interesting:
The Beatles - "When I'm Sixty-Four"
Spandau Ballet - "Communication"
G. Love & Special Sauce - "Communication"
Samples of popular technology sounds ("You've got mail!", ring tones, etc.)
Samples of other sounds pertinent to communication (scratching of writing on paper, crumpling paper, printing press)
....and I'm still looking. These are just some preliminary interesting things I am starting with.

I'm also thinking about images of communication - seeing people seemingly talking to themselves, though they are actually wearing a bluetooth.... receiving a handwritten letter.... tweeting.... etc.

What happened to all the writers?

Something I have been thinking about lately is the passing of the written (and spoken) word. Why do we write things down or video/record them?

The Now:
-Newspapers/News Programs - What's happening in the world now?
-Blogs - often what is in the now (current events, what's new in fashion, documentation of current thoughts and processes)
-Diaries and journals - what am I thinking right now? what happened today?
-Youtube videos - Something funny caught on camera, new movement phrasework captured from rehearsals, latest work
-Letters, emails, text messages, postcards - varying degrees of contact between two specified people, immediacy of the text message vs. anticipation of written word through snail mail, brevity and specificity of postcard, informality of email

For the Future:
-Newspapers - documentation of the past, patterns of events
-Blogs, diaries, journals - What was I thinking last year? What ideas did I have that I forgot about, strayed away from, carried out? How have I grown?
-Youtube - Here are all the things I have done that I selectively want people to see.
-Archived inbox, stack of letters - archived emails and text messages for ease of returning to old thoughts, clarification of dates, etc.... saving handwritten letters and nostalgia of personal communication

I'm interested in how the current state of the economy has impacted the way we communicate with each other, both in the selective one-on-one form, and in mass media as well. In thinking of my specific family history, the way it is documented through written word and song for years though now my family tree exists in a facebook group of common ancestors for people to quickly learn bits of information. What has happened to personal relationships? We used to write hand written letters, make personal visits, and sometimes long phone calls for long distance friends or family. Now the email and text message is the way to go. Personal messages sent through impersonal channels. Its quick and easy, just press a button and its on the way. Instant gratification.

So these are the ideas I am thinking about for a new duet I am creating with Kristen and Jessi. I think a duet will be interesting because it will clearly force me and the audience to see the personal and impersonal means of communication between two people without deciphering extra human relationships. I am excited to delve into our world of communication - how its being done now and what it is doing to our humanity.

More Lighting Experimentation

Back in the studio - with MORE flashlights.... I wanted to try different set ups with a better camera to see how effective different angles, quantities, qualities of movement, levels (etc. etc.) worked in the theater.

One particular set up that I find particularly interesting and aesthetically pleasing is creating a sort of "garden" with the flashlights. Having the lights sit up with the beams towards the ceiling and randomly placed and grouped around the stage is interesting, but limits visibility to close proximity from the knees up. I experimented with placing some lights on their sides to give more visibility to lower extremities with pretty good success. Below is a video of some of the things we tried...

1) "Garden" - with single lights and grouped lights, random movement and unison movement
2) Close Cluster - very specific and concentrated visibility
3) Row of lights from Stage Left - laying on side
4) Circle of lights, beams up - dancing from inside and outside

Integrating Tap and Contemporary Dance

Another of the pieces I proposed to make this year is a dance integrating choreographic choices in tap and contemporary dance. As of now, it is a duet that I am creating with another dancer, she being the contemporary dancer and myself the tapper. This particular dance has given me the most worry as what I outlined just now is all I really know about this dance so far. I don't have a greater idea or anything like that, just that I want to integrate tapping in some way. Megen and I got together today and I tried two things to get us started. First, we just improvised in a fashion familiar to tappers, but not completely unfamiliar to other styles of dance. We "traded 8s" back and forth, both focusing on direction and quality of movement, as well as rhythm. I took some of these passes and edited them beside each other so I could see correlations and patterns emerge, possibly helpful in later choreography. I also created a rhythm in which we each danced in some fashion and then put those phrases side by side. The video below are some of the results!

Lights up!

I found flashlights!!!!

At least, preliminary flashlights to use for the dancers, maybe not the audience. I think I will try and borrow some for the performance outside of the ones used in the "dances". I found sets of 2 flashlights that are regular sized at Walmart for $3, so I bought them out (12 flashlights total) and sets of 2 LED flashlights at Target for $4.44 (6 total). So for now, I have 18 flashlights to work with and that will leave one for each dancer, with a couple to spare. Megen came in to work with me so I could see the lights and helped me decide that the "regular" (non-LED) lights looked best as they complimented skin tones with their warmth, whereas the LED lights were too gray.

I got into the theater today and started playing around (mainly wanting to make sure the flashlights were bright enough and maneuverable) and taped some things with my Flip-cam. I tried a few different perspectives:

1. Row of up-facing lights and two sidelights
2. Bundle of lights pointing in one direction on the ground
3. Dancing with flashlight in hand
4. Lights lined up up-stage and shining towards the audience (back light effect)

Here is a video from the first perspective (using LED lights):

The other perspectives were too dim to see on video, but I think more bodies and added height to the light will make a difference. I am also not opposed to using theater lights to fill out anything that is left lacking.

I think all of these vantages have potential, though some are more camera-capturable than others. It also made me realize costuming is going to be more of a factor than I originally planned. My initial thought was simple black formfitting clothing, but now I'm thinking it may be trickier. Because light is minimal, black is more difficult to see. White will be too bright because it will be visible even without the direct light, so something in between is more desirable. Skin tone looks really nice with the flashlights, so I think minimal clothing will work best (per the comfort of the dancers) but I'm going to have to experiment with color and looseness of clothing. Flowing clothing might be interesting as it will give a separate dimension to the movement.

In Need

I've been searching a way to purchase flashlights in bulk and its not going so well. Does anyone have any suggestions? Ideally, I would like to have at least 100 flashlights and I need ones that are fairly powerful and could stand upright if set down on the handle end. I thought about asking around or sending out some emails about borrowing or having people donate them, but who is really going to lend someone their flashlight for 9 months? What if the power goes out?

Getting in the Studio - Thinking about Tap Dancing

I decided it was time to get started working on things, beyond just thinking about them. I went into the studio for a bit today to start flushing out some tap ideas and I found that it was really difficult to find motivation to create anything. Beyond knowing that I want to create a piece that includes contemporary and tap dance, I don't have any helpful images or inspiration to get me going with this.

Something I have been thinking about with this piece is knowing that I cannot tap on the marley in the theater and I have to figure out a way to deal with that issue. I'm contemplating a landscape that builds up throughout the piece (ramps.. stairs.. platforms..???) that will create boundaries for the tap dancer, as well as a playground of sorts for the contemporary dancer. I think having props to actually work with will lend to the ability to create movement that calls for the props, but as for now its difficult to imagine. I am sending an email soon to the technical director for the department to start brainstorming ways to make all this happen... and sooner than later.

As far as research goes, I have checked out a few books from the library to get me thinking about tap from more perspectives.

Beverly Fletcher, "Tap Works: A Tap Dictionary and Reference Manual" (1997)
This book is a practical dictionary that will be helpful in expanding my knowledge of steps and other tap related information as I go. I'm hoping to find or re-find things in this book that can help me jump out of my usual patterns of tap choreography.

Mark Knowles, "Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing" (2002)
I'm not sure how useful this book will be in the choreographic aspects of my dance making, but it couldn't hurt to re-familiarize myself with the influences and early history of tap.

Jerry Ames and Jim Siegelman, "The Book of Tap: Recovering America's Long Lost Dance" (1977)
This book covers tap more throughout its journey through American history, as well as provides some instructional information from the authors for multiple levels of dancers.

Anita Feldman, "Inside Tap: Technique and Improvisation for Today's Tap Dancer"(1996)
A more practical manual for self study in tap dance, this book includes information about improvisation and choreography with chapters such as "Syncopation," "Polyrhythms," "Dynamics," and chapters on tap traditions as well as where the author sees tap moving in the future. This seems to be the most useful book of the ones I've found so far.

MFA Thesis Concert Proposal

Below is my thesis proposal, as updated today, May 3, 2011. Today marks the official start to my work on my concert as my third year of graduate studies has finally been wrapped up! I'm excited to see how things change as I go along. 

I am proposing to present an evening length dance concert in the UNCG Dance Theater in the spring of 2012 to culminate my MFA degree in choreography. The concert will be comprised of six dances and an intermission. My vision for this concert is to integrate my multiple interests and talents into one concert. I also am hoping to challenge myself by taking on multiple "new" works and by working with people and approaches that are diverse. I hope to provide a cohesive variety in the concert so that the audience remains interested throughout the concert but will also see connective material that will enhance the "experience" of concert-going. My approach will be through multi-media, but I expect the choreography to be the main focus of the concert.

The experience of going to a performance is one that always sticks with me and I want to somehow create a memorable experience for my audience members. I am choosing to produce a concert that is made up of separate dances, but each made with the intention of a sort of experience for the audience. The pieces I am proposing have some overlapping themes and qualities, but will vary in a number of ways to make a diverse concert experience. I am not only utilizing live contemporary dance choreography, but also introducing ideas about where and how dance can be visible through site-specific work, using digital video projection (possibly through a live feed), challenging the creation of music relative to the dance through digital and acoustic means, and also exploring gender relations of movement and bodies.

Currently, I am unsure as to whether the concert will operate as a number of separate dances or if they will feed into one another. I can imagine both scenarios so I am prepared to face that decision once the pieces are more developed and themes are more recognizable.

Technical Requirements:

-        One week of tech in the UNCG Dance Theater (Lighting rehearsals on Monday & Tuesday, Technical run through on Wednesday, Dress Rehearsal on Thursday)

-        1 technical director, 1 stage manager, 2 assistant stage managers, 1 lighting operator, 1 sound operator, 1-2 projector operators

-        Theater lighting - I will light some of the concert as a part of a lighting practicum, but will need a lighting designer for the remainder of the concert

-        2 portable video projectors (for use in installation and sensor piece); cyclorama projector

-        1 video camera for performance documentation; 1-2 video cameras for live streaming in performance (possibility for tap piece); software and cables for live streaming

-        Sensor interfaces and cables to connect to Max MSP software (sensors dance) – Borrowed from Dr. Mark Engebretson and the Music Department

Collaborators & Research Subjects:

-        Music & Programming (“Sensors”): Students from Electronic Music Composition Class (Spring 2011)

-        Music (“Paper”): Frank Vulpi

-        Interview Subjects (“Paper”): Sam LaGrone (Washington, DC), Daniel Goldberg (Greensboro, NC), others TBA

Entrance Movement Installation:

In order to introduce the "experience" of my concert, I hope to give the audience a chance to begin the concert by walking through the theater (including the area behind the seats) and viewing the dance that will be ongoing until the time of the safety announcement. Guests will be handed a flashlight or will have the option of using their own device (cell phone) and a tour guide (usher) or exploring the "dance" on their own. I imagine this to be similar to a museum or art gallery in which the guest chooses their experience in seeing the art. There will be dancers placed throughout the space, as well as video projections and musicians. One idea for set up is creating the space to be similar to a gallery with different "stations" - some exhibits might be roped off whereas others might be more interactive.

Dance #1: Lights

The first dance will begin out of the movement installation, but will be conducive to the continuation of audience exploration. I have thought about roping off an area in which the dance "happens" like you might see for an exhibit that you shouldn't touch. This dance will play with focus and choice - I am planning to continue the integration of lights, specifically hand-held devices that the dancers will use to guide focus. Perhaps the dancers will acquire lights from audience members when they have completed their experience through the "gallery." The audience might have a chance to create their own exhibit by placing their flashlights in a certain manner on stage, directed by the ushers, and the piece will begin based on the light configuration. I am imagining percussive music and minimal costuming for this section as focus and lights will be guiding factors in this piece.

Dance #2: Sensors

For the second piece, I will choreograph and co-compose the dance using electronic interfaces attached to the dancers to create the soundscape of the piece in collaboration with a graduate student in music composition. At the moment, I think that this will be a solo piece that I perform, as the set up gets more and more complicated with the more interfaces that are involved. I think that the hands on experience of working with the interfaces and choreographing will be necessary in the creation process, but I am planning to asking a dancer to work with me as an assistant to also learn the piece so that I will be able to step out and look at the work objectively, as well as providing myself with an understudy. My goal in this solo is to explore the relationship between movement and music in a way that is visually and audibly interesting and juxtaposes natural movement with electronic “intelligent” sound. I plan to begin working on this piece, both in the programming stages and choreographically this summer in order to ensure that the piece is possible for this concert. Costuming will be created to highlight the visibility of the sensors and will be vital to the wearing of each piece. I plan to make the costume myself with the help of a family member who is handy with a sewing machine.

Dance #3: “____ism”

This will be a reworking of a piece I created in the Fall of 2008 during DCE 651 with Larry Lavender. The original casting of this piece was five female dancers and I am adjusting this cast to be danced by two females (Kimberly Wilson) and three males (TBA). In this piece, I am interested in researching the athletic qualities of my movement and the line between femininity and masculinity. I have little experience working with men and male experiences so I want to take this chance to explore relationships and dynamics between male performers as well as the female performers, providing a contrast from my piece that will end the concert, "Habit of Change," which looks specifically at female experiences with habitual patterns in public and private settings. I have a few male dancers interested, but if I haven’t found a full cast by the beginning of the semester, I will hold auditions for this piece at the end of August, opening the audition to male dancers from neighboring schools, as well as UNCG. Sections of the original piece will exist in the reworking, but I am looking to change some of the music and develop this piece beyond design, giving the audience some way of grasping the content of the piece, in which the themes are largely political.

Dance #4: Paper Trio or Duet

In this piece I will be looking back to prior works I have done that reference texts ("Without Words" 2009 & "Movement Studies" 2010) to further research the ways in which texts might interacts with dance. I see the landscape I created from paper in my dance for the camera reappearing and I am interested in using projection of images and words on the paper throughout the dance. I am envisioning a few set pieces built and covered in the crumpled paper along with other paper scattered or piled on the floor. I would like to project video on the larger set pieces from the corner (downstage wings) using words and possibly movement footage representing the stories in the dance. I became interested in the newspaper industry and its recent decline through a Media Studies and History cross-listed course from the fall of 2010 titled Doing Visual History. In this class, my final project was collecting the oral histories of several newspaper industry employees who have been affected by changes in the industry. I would like to continue with the interviews I have conducted and explore the relationships between the reporters and their subjects, as well as the readers of newspapers. I am imagining this piece as a duet, with one dancer representing the newspaper employee (reporter, editor, photographer, etc.) and the second representing the subjects of the stories. Beyond these ideas, I am unsure about more concrete narratives and ideas and I hope that my further research will inform me through the creation process.

To accompany this piece musically, I do not have any particular music I am planning to use, but I would like to utilize the sounds of the paper and of a typewriter, which I am thinking about including as a prop in this dance, as well as some sort of desk station. In my dance for the camera piece I used a piece by Mono called “A Thousand Paper Cranes” and I would like to use something similar in mood and tone, though less dramatic. I often like to create dances musically, but for this piece I am thinking that I would like to build in a more narrative conscious sense, allowing the dance to speak and then possibly having music composed for the dance. I am planning to talk to Frank Vulpi as well as a few students in the music composition course I am currently taking about composing for this piece. I imagine that the music will be more minimalistic, like a solo piano piece or electronic. Costuming is undetermined at this point.

Dance #5: Tap/Contemporary

For this piece, I am interested in the process of choreography of tap dance from a contemporary perspective. This piece may be a solo or it may be a small group piece, but I am currently unsure of my intentions. I am planning to do some research over the summer by attending various classes in New York City and do some in studio research both by myself and with some other dancers who will be in town over the summer. I have a couple of avenues to try in the creation of this piece. One way is to attempt a fusion between tap and contemporary dance by having both forms represented and coexisting on the stage. In this instance, I would most likely have designated tappers and other contemporary dancers working together. Another thought I have is creating a tap solo on myself and using videography to interact with myself in the performance. This projected video would be edited in a way that it would manipulate sound and movement to create a orchestra of dancers, though they would all be me. A third thought is the mixing of these two ideas. I do not want this piece to be purely a video to dancer interaction in the sense that the dance becomes a humorous interaction, but I am interested in the textures of sound and movement that can occur through the choreography. I see this piece relating to the music sensors piece as a contrast. I imagine that no outside music will be necessary for this piece as the sounds of the taps and any percussive sounds the body might make and can be manipulated through Final Cut will be sufficient.

Dance #6: "Habit of Change"

Finally, I plan to reconstruct and rework Habit of Change (2010), a large group piece using jazz music and referencing gender roles and personal habits in social settings. This piece is for a cast of thirteen female dancers and is set to the music of Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus. I am doing a good bit of recasting for this piece, partially because of dancer availability but also to ensure that the quality of movement and performance is cohesive and well-rounded overall. When I originally cast the piece, I did not know what the outcome would be, but now that I have a clear idea of the piece’s style and intentions, I am casting dancers that will clearly embody my visions for this dance. I believe that this piece highlights my strengths in musicality and design while also engaging the audience. Originally, this piece used black dresses and hints of green accessories choreographed into appearances throughout the dance and I am currently planning to continue with this line of thought, unless other suggestions are apparent.

(Bows)

Budget (estimated)

Costumes                                               $300
DV Tapes                                                  50

Flashlights (in bulk – 200 ct)                   250

Sensors & Materials                                100
Typewriter (if not borrowed)                  100
Publicity (Posters and postcards)            200

                                                ________________________

                        TOTAL                       $1000

Timeline

May, July & August
First stages of programming for sensors piece – meetings and studio work on developing sensors for composition and choreography; Tap research, in studio research and development


August – December
Rehearsals (Most works will rehearse 1x per week for 1.75 hours, smaller new works may meet 2x per week for 1.25 hours)


December
Committee Showing – Date TBA
I expect the concert to be 75% completed at this point


January – March
Continuation of rehearsals, concert to be completed by mid-February
Publicity design (poster design, press release, etc.)


March/April
Dates TBA – Full cast run through the week before tech load in. 1 full week of tech rehearsals & lighting. Shows Friday & Saturday evenings.
Publicity goes out – Hang posters, contact newspapers, etc.