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!