It’s already Week 2!  While every week has phenomenal music, this one may be the best simply due to the extracurriculars we’ve got goin’ on.  Here’s what’s happening…..

If you missed the wonderful works in progress showing last night, be sure not to miss the David Dorfman Lecture Demonstration tonight!  It’s 7:30pm in the Schaeffer Theatre.  Last night’s three pieces featured tracks ranging from heavy synthesizer to powerful live voice to nostalgic favorites.  I’m sure tonight will feature a few numbers we all love as well.

This Tuesday is The Musician’s Concert at the Franco-American Heritage Center.  Hop on the bus at 6:50 and 7:10 to hear the something we’ve all been waiting for…..all the musicians in a single space!

Friday brings not only Class Switch Day but the first of the David Dorfman performances.  Finally get to jam with the accompanists that you don’t see every day.

Round out your weekend with UN/STABLE LANDSCAPE: The Equus Project & Black Label Movement. Site specific always results in an exciting and unpredictable soundscape.

Happy listening!

-Sophie

I mentioned to one of my roommates that I feel like all we do here is eat.

EAT…dance..dance….EAT….dance..dance…EAT.  Not that it’s a bad thing.

But, it has many of us thinking (maybe more than usual) about digestion.

We all want to get to breakfast early enough to have enough time for the coffee to mentally register.  We rush to lunch so we have a good 40 minutes between that final bite and our next floor swing.

Most afternoons in Carl Flink’s class, he alludes in some way to the lunch that we have just eaten.  Acknowledging the weight of lunch, letting go of the weight of lunch, etc etc.  When I interviewed Flink (post soon to come!) we also discussed the importance of fueling your body with the right things to get through the day.

Besides the regimented “digestion science,” we seem to practice, meal time here sticks out because of its communality.  On my second day here, a former professor poked fun at my tendency to eat each meal with the same people.  After realizing the trend, I now try to make a point of finding a friendly group or new face to meet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Some of the most pertinent discussions about class corrections and post-performance critique also tend to happen over that second hot chocolate.

Besides the needed physical respite during meal time, I appreciate a time for collective free dialogue, casually.

So, let’s eat!

-Sophie

Here are some notes I took after the Zoe|Juniper lecture demonstration and then after the performance.  I thought it would be interesting to post them here side by side:

Last Monday evening I attended the Zoe|Juniper Lecture Demonstration (Lec Dem) in the Schaeffer Theatre.  The discussion was a mellow way to end the first day of intense classes, while simultaneously energizing the audience for the exciting performances that will conclude the week.

Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey discussed their upcoming performance, A Crack in Everything, while showing photos and video of various components of the piece.  The striking images conjure a dream world without obvious mention of place.  When seen without explanation, I’m sure that audience interpretation varies widely.  With the lecture component from Scofield and Shuey, I feel a bit more prepared to see the piece.

While we will be missing the entire culmination of dance, video, and still art (a visual installation precedes the movement for later showings), I’m interested to see where the piece will be this weekend.  Scofield and Shuey mentioned that each run tends to shift depending on various constraints and responses from previous performances.  Fresh from Jacob’s Pillow, there must be initial impulses to change that Scofield and Shuey are hoping to work in for the Bates premiere.

And after the Friday evening performance……

In the middle of the performance, I found myself surprisingly angry and frustrated.  Not that I was upset with the beautiful dancers or innovative choreography, but that the culminating visual experience brought up resentfulness and hurtful memories that I have not thought of in a while, nor do they have anything to do with Zoe and Juniper’s piece, necessarily.

After thinking back to the lecture demonstration where Zoe mentioned the curiosity with some of her life defining moments, I can’t help but think that I subconsciously went to a few of my own while watching the piece.

Aside from my own personal response, I agreed with many of my peers that the dancers’ performance quality matched the exceptionality of the detailed multi-media aspects.  The intro lighting and moment of Scofield maniacally moving a sharp pointed object quickly through her fingers especially resonated.

-Sophie

Hello, Bates!

My name is Sophie and I am one of the bloggers for the 2011 summer festival.

I’m very thrilled to be here and to be writing to you all.  Not only am I a first time Bates student, I get to flex my writing muscle a bit and address my two career paths: dance and food!  While I currently work in both fields separately, I’m excited to finally cross these themes here at Bates.

As many of you know, the theme of the youth program this year is nutrition.  Besides covering many festival events and interviewing the people who make it all happen, I’ll be focusing on this theme in the context of the Bates Dance Festival.

You will probably see me interviewing faculty, staff and students in Commons.  If you are interested in learning more about the blog, or participating in an interview, please just ask!  As much as I would love to speak with everyone, three weeks is much too short to hear all of the stories that the festival holds.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to share a few with you.

Happy reading!

Sophie