I must admit this is one of the most enjoyable trips to see work I can remember. The weather is mostly perfect with a thunderstorm here and there. Our four-star guesthouse is totally charming and comfortable with many lovely little touches like the soothing sound of fountains, one by the front door and one spilling into the pool near the dining room. Interesting birds come and go. The food is good everywhere we go and so is the wine! Our schedule is relaxed and reasonable allowing time to keep up on email, consider the work we are seeing, write this blog, and get a sense of where we are.

This morning I finally take a two-hour walk all around our neighborhood of Melville with my camera. It feels great to stretch my legs as I have done way too much sitting these last few days. In Joburg everyone drives everywhere as there is no good public transport and it’s a big city. Melville is a charming neighborhood. Mature trees and plantings make such a difference in how a place feels. There are flowering shrubs everywhere and beautiful trees, palms and cactus. Huge lavender shrubs decorate many yards – I wish they would grow like this in Maine!  Homes are hidden behind high walls with some sort of sharply edged deterrent atop.  Security signs abound.  Several times I am startled by charging, barking dogs. Fortunately they are behind metal gates that enclose every driveway.

Melville is on a hill that looks across a low area to the city proper.  One can see the skyline with the Top of Africa spindle that one can go up. There is little traffic but I must keep remembering which way to look when crossing as they drive on the left here. I pass several churches, two schools, and come upon a marvelous antique shop that is set up mostly out of doors. The yard is a delightful series of displays arranged with an artist’s sensibility. Humor and folly abound. This little stop makes my day and I go on my way in a state of delight.

Tonight is the big gala held at the University of Johannesburg Theatre. First National Bank the Festival’s biggest sponsor really puts on the dog. There is a huge tent set up in the parking lot decorated to the nines with a full bar and several food stations. Leather couches (very popular here), tables and chairs have been brought in and arranged to encourage schmoozing.  Champagne is flowing freely before and after the show. Sadly most of the seating is soaking wet as there was another terrific thunderstorm this afternoon—following my walk fortunately.

The concert features highlights from past festivals and is clearly programmed to be accessible and entertaining and to please the sponsors. It opens with a well-crafted early group work by Gregory Maqoma entitled, “Black Men, White Balls” — a provocative title for a piece in which four men (and one girl) innocently dance with white soccer balls.

Also on the program is Vincent Mantsoe’s solo from 1993, “Gula Matari,” an enchanting piece in which Vincent becomes a bird, song and all. There is truly no one else like him – he is a force of nature! This piece won several awards and launched Vincent’s career as an international sensation.

The concert ends with a spicy group work, “Unraveling Carmen,” choreographed and featuring by Dada Masilo set, of course, to Bizet’s “Carmen.”  Dada is a sensation, when she is on stage no one else matters. At 24 she seems destined for a great career. I am excited to find a strong woman artist amongst all these men and have invited her to Bates as a residency artist for 2011. Hopefully she won’t get too busy to come.

Uncharacteristically, I hang around for the party afterward and finally get to talk with Gregory. We commiserate about the stresses of running a festival and trying to keep everyone happy. We also reminisce about his recent U.S. tour of “Beautiful Me” which opened at Bates where it was first developed.  Greg gives me the lowdown on some of the politics and players in the Joburg arts scene. He also fills me in on his latest projects and introduces me to his Belgium colleagues for whom he curates the biannual AfroVibes Festival taking place next year in three English cities.

To my great surprise my colleague, Jodee Nimerichter from ADF has arrived and we visit over a glass of wine. No one told either of us that the other was attending but we are delighted to have a chance to talk shop. Jodee is also staying at our guesthouse so she joins our little gang.

Joburg, March 5 is a post from: Bates Dance Festival Artist Blog

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Today’s talk is with Musa Hlatshwayo and Acty Tang. There are 20 or more artists present for a lively discussion.  Musa talks about the importance of process over product. To develop the work he asked his dancers to do individual research.  The focus of their examination has been on the dominant patriarchal system that restricts and oppresses women.  Interestingly some version of this theme seems to run through many of the works we are seeing.  Musa described the process as “a clearly confused journey.” Having seen the work I would agree. The ideas discussed were not clearly evident to me in the performance. But th opening olo as I said earlier was quite powerful. With a little prodding Musa’s student dancers speak up.  Most interesting are their experiences of the creative process and the discovery of how dance could convey complex intellectual constructs. This way of working is opening them to new worlds. Even if they go on to become technologists and doctors they have a fire in their bellies now for dance.

Next we went to lunch with Nelisiwe  Xaba to learn more about her current work and investigate the possibility of bringing her to the U.S. Both Marge and I had seen Neli’s duet with Kettly Noel in Tunis two years ago and were completely intrigued. There are proportionately so few women making work in Africa. This is something I want to dig into more. Across Africa it seems that family and social mores strongly dictate professional pursuits and for both men and women dance is not encouraged as a career path. Time and time again I have heard dancers talk about their struggle with parents who did not want them to pursue dance. Not so different from the states in this respect! But clearly the pressure is stronger on women to be mothers and home keepers. Artistic ambition is misunderstood and is frowned upon.

For lunch we went for the first time across Fitzgerald Square, a large open plaza bordered by Museum Africa.  Finally with camera in hand I began to document — old women with buckets on heads and young women with babies strapped on back, boys and men of all ages in soccer T-shirts. Interesting murals and graffiti.

The World Cup is coming in 94 days. Everyone is counting down and is incredibly proud that South Africa was chosen to be the site for this major sports event.  The stadiums have been completed but there is road construction everywhere and folks don’t seem too optimistic that all will be ready in time for the anticipated crowds.  Crime has apparently been reduced dramatically in the last few months with added police and diligence in preparation for games.  Signs everyway declare Joburg a world-class city. Hopes are high that the World Cup will really put Joburg on the global map and attract tourism and
investment. I get the sense that everyone is being cautious so that nothing bad happens before June. People encourage us to be escorted arond and not to walk downtown alone.

This afternoon a visit with Gregory Maqoma was planned but as the Festival Curator he is madly busy trying to keep all the artists happy, oversee production rehearsals and stay on top of all the performances. Boy do I know what he is dealing with! No matter, Greg is taking us on a personal tour of Soweto on Monday (our one day off) and we will have lots of car time to catch up.

The performance this evening is a triple bill featuring works by PJ Sabbagha, Moving Into Dance Mophatong, and Acty Tang held in the Barney Simon Theatre, small black box space in the Market Theatre. I had already had a chance to meet and visit with PJ who happens to be friendly with my Bates pal, Michael Foley. The dance world is really so small! Of the three works, PJ’s “Deep Night” stands out. A compelling 20-minute excerpt of a longer work, “Deep Night” deals with man’s desperate desire to belong and be loved. It draws its impulse from the ‘witching hour’ of night when desires become all consuming.  A video of dark city streets is projected throughout the work on the back wall and creates ambience without pulling one’s eye and competing with the dancing.  The two women, Dada Masilo and Lulu Mlangeni are absolutely fabulous –gutsy, fierce, sexy, provocative dancing. PJ makes clever use of a leaf blower to reveal the legs and panties beneath the flimsy slips worn by the women. Further along newspapers are blown onto the nearly naked body of Dada and later still shredded newsprint is blown in a large quantity to transform the stage space. “Deep Night” left Marge and I wanting to see more and eager to consider a U.S. tour depending on how the full work plays out.

Also on the program is “Dark City,” a powerful work by an entirely new group of dancers from Moving Into Dance, one of the most established companies in Joburg.  Choreographed by Themba Mbuli the piece was inspired by Constitution Hill (formerly Old Fort Prison) and created to honor ex-political prisoners who devoted their lives to freedom.  The piece conveys the horrors of imprisonment under apartheid. Props included hand and ankle chains that were manipulated into hang ropes. Set to a rhythmic score the choreography uses unison movement to create powerful images of struggle and unity.

Acty Tang, originally from Hong Kong, created a fanciful solo entitled, “Child” that completed the program.

At each program I am missing reading the  artist’s bios in the programs. There are none.  This is fine if I already know the artist, but when I don’t, I feel less informed that I would like to be. I realize it is a big project to collect and edit all these bios but I feel it is somewhat disrespectful of the artist and leaves the audience without very helpful and intersting information. Something to work on for the future.

Joburg, March 4 is a post from: Bates Dance Festival Artist Blog

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So … there are about 20 African artists in the room of all ages from Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and South Africa – all are attending workshops or performing as part of Dance Umbrella. The conversation covers a lot of ground but keeps coming back inevitably to politics as I said. The attention to race is an omnipresent factor mostly on the part of European audience members. And yet we keep hearing this issue brought up by artists who are also grappling, in a totally different way, with the issue of what it means to be Africa in the newly established democratic South Africa.  Regarding Vincent’s work, that features a mixed race cast, the persistent question is why is Vincent using white dancers? How/why does that change the viewers understanding of the work and how they respond?

Vincent expresses his utter frustration and annoyance with this preoccupation with race. His goal is to achieve a “sharing” among the collaborators/dancers that transcends race and is about connecting to the common spiritual ground that motivates his work.  As an artist who grew up I Soweto among a family of sangomas, now lives now in France and works around the globe, Vincent speaks of South Africa as his true and spiritual home and where he finds inspiration. His work, “San” began when he found a book about the San people in an airport and become mesmerized by their culture, their journey and finally how their nomadic tradition was destroyed. He describes this work as the first where he consciously took on a political theme.

Neli rages a bit, and rightly so, about how the Europeans have all the money and thus control over who gets supported and how. She describes the difficulty of finding support to make work at home in Africa and of finding paying audiences to appreciate it. Neli talks about there being no way to “play” at home as there is little access to studio space or support for development. She, like others, are dependent on support from Europe to continue their work. She expresses frustration that this cycle keeps being perpetuated. Some South Africa artists acknowledge that Dance Umbrella is the only annual showcase for contemporary dance in the country especially for younger artists. For those emerging artists who have not yet gained international attention, DU is likely the only opportunity to perform their work all year.

This is serious! Because First National Bank –the primary sponsor of Dance Umbrella for most of its 22 years, has announced that it will terminate support after this season. The future of the festival is in doubt. DU is working hard to find other funders to allow them to continue their vital role in fostering the still nascent dance scene here, but clearly everyone is worried. Now that DU has gained the interest of a widely diverse and committed the support is more critical and deserved than ever.  It is only a slight consolation to note the existence of Dance Factory, the new Goethe on Main center, Moving Into Dance and other organizations who are also fulfilling a vital role supporting the local dance community.

Meanwhile, we American stand by with earnest concern and deep interest yet feeling completely unable to offer the kind of support that is so desperately needed and so often comes from Europe.  For the U.S., the most powerful and wealthiest nation in the world (but for how much longer?), to care so little for the arts at home and abroad is an embarrassment to say the least. We who have made dance our life, recognize and respect the remarkable contemporary work being created in Africa and elsewhere but have little means to significantly contribute.  This was the main impetus behind the creation of The African Contemporary Arts Consortium (of which BDF is a founding member. For more info see: http://www.batesdancefestival.org/african.php) – to bring together passionate, experienced U.S producers to deepen our knowledge and find equitable means to engage with and support artists working across the continent. Our hope is to make a convincing argument on behalf of this work and leverage some small amount of support.

I digress—back to our conversation with the artists. While Vincent sees his work as very deeply rooted in his personal/cultural traditions, Neli considers her work to be more globally focused. After all she note, race is still a universal issue around the world. Vincent says that through his work and teaching he attempts to break down barriers and connect people to spirituality. Yet, he often finds that westerners do not understand this as the basis of his work.

An interesting side note—both Neli and Vincent began dancing as teenagers by mimicking Michael Jackson videos. This story can be heard around the world and is a testament to the power of the global media and to Jackson’s enormous influence on dance. Across Africa young people very often do not have access to training or professional performances/artists/techers. Watching youtube is often their only source of information about dance.

Moving on to our evening activities—we went first to Goethe on Main, a brand new arts complex developed by the Goethe Institute. This is a remarkably hip and gorgeously renovated facility located downtown.  Multimedia artist, William Kentridge has his studio here. The complex includes a flexible performances space, snazzy café and restaurant, a bookstore, and studios for other contemporary artists/designers.  After a quick tour we attended a performance by Musa Hlatshwayo.

Musa is a theater artist, choreographer and teacher trained at the University in Durban. His piece, “Moses” deals with social fragmentation that he articulates through the idea of a dream state. “Moses” features the debut of four of his terrific students from Durban, all of whom are majoring in other subjects like technology and biomedical science. Musa begins the piece with a powerful spoken word and movement solo. His flavor, intensity and intelligence reminded me of Bamuthi and I want to introduce them.  The piece continued with a duet by the young men followed by solos with the women and a long group section of intense dancing in and around an increasingly complex landscape of barriers created with cautions tape that Musa continually strings across and through the space. By the end the space is entirely carved up with the dancers deftly slipping in and out of many confined areas. The hour-long work featured a loud, cacophonous sound score, beautiful projections of individual dancers, army boots worn, hung in the space and worn around the neck finally, flashlights, shiny, leathery costumes and a repetitive series of slightly violent, angst ridden movement phrases. At the talk the next day we learned that the company had no advance information about the small performance space and had to make significant adaptations to their setup which compromised the integration of the projections.

As we attempt to leave for the Market Theatre we find our brand new little car has a dead battery. Not a minute passes before our driver has recruited someone to push us and jump start the engine. They are resourceful as hell! We arrive in time for Nelisiwe Xaba’s remarkable piece, “Black! …White?” An elaborate production featuring three performers, multiple movable set pieces including a toy lamb, projected animation of running bugs, beautiful fabric panels with wearable built-in costumes pieces, many costume changes and brilliant, idiosyncratic characterizations and mime. This is an exceptionally imaginative creation that amuses and delights. One cannot help but laugh out loud at the opening section — a quirky, neurotic female character fastidiously arranging and rearranging every detail of the set only to be undone by two devilish destroyers. The most inventive and amazing scene occur midway when Neli and her male counterpoint, both dressed in black and white lycra bodysuits, act out a pantomime while laying on the floor. The third performer, masked in black, defines their environment via masking tape. The whole scene is projected onto the hanging panels to exquisite effect. This scene is somewhat akin to Japanese Bunraku puppetry with the eye draws to the projections not to the live action on the floor.
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Joburg, March 3 is a post from: Bates Dance Festival Artist Blog

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After a good night of sleep I got a look at where I was. Our guesthouse features eight quaint rooms, a lovely garden and pool, wifi (thank god) and a delicious breakfast. After a winter in New England just to sit outside and enjoy the balmy air is a blessing.

Another blessing is how well the Dance Umbrella staff is taking care of us. They have arranged for our accommodations and for drivers to shuttle us back and forth to events. This removes a layer of stress –not having to negotiate all the logistics of a big foreign city.  Now we can focus on the work! And of course we are hatching plans for some sightseeing around Joburg.

Today we attended the first in a series of daily  artist talks with Nigel Channock led by South African dance critic, Adrienne Sichel. Nigel, the founder of DV8, is here teaching an intensive week-long workshop.  Having reached a ripe old middle age in the dance world he is now mostly interested in creating improvisational performances. A passionate, irreverent and intensely expressive individual — Nigel talked about his current art making practice. While he creates multi-disciplinary work, when asked about using video he said he did not and proceeded to discuss ‘live’ and ‘dead’ work—dead being anything that is being re-presented and is thus static (painting, photography, film, sculpture, etc).  What matters most to him at this point is for the performers to be passionately engaged and enjoying the working process. The audience has become a secondary concern if one at all. A handful of his workshop participants listened with rapt attention as he held forth.

The talk took place at the famed Market Theatre a hotbed of arts activity. It is a wonderful building set in a sort of arts district that includes the National Arts Council, French Institute, Museum Africa, an art school, and a fabulously decorated restaurant  that serves wild game. All around the theater are vendors selling jewelry, carvings, instruments, clothes and food.

After the talk we had a chance to chat with Adrienne Sichel. She is one of the founder of Dance Umbrella and has been at the heart of the dance scene since the 70’s. She began to fill us in on recent developments in the arts in South Africa. It seems Zuma’s conservative/traditional approach to governing does not bode well for the arts. Already there are signs of a crackdown on experimental or political work. There are threats of funding bing withdrawn.  Apparently the Minister of Culture perceives arts in a most traditional vein.  Many of those in government posts who oversee arts funding have little interest or knowledge of the field.  What has been a rich and vibrant arts scene for many years may be entering a dark and desperate period.  We will certainly hear more about this from the artists in the days to come.

After a hearty lunch of lamb shank stew and a rest it is off to Vincent Mantsoe’s performance of his newest work, “San.”  The performance takes place at Dance Factory, a leading center for dance in Johannesburg. A converted garage, the space includes a fabulous large, flexible black box theatre with a lobby bar and outdoor gathering spaces. It sits within another complex of arts related spaces that includes Moving Into Dance Mophatong, one of the most established contemporary companies in Joburg.

The performance was delayed due to technically difficulties so I got a good chance to survey the audience.  It was a wonderful mix of ages, colors and backgrounds. Certainly the white, well-educated arts going crowd was there in force. But so are many young black artists/students and theatergoers.  This is an audience that Dance Umbrella has worked hard to build. In Africa as in many other places in the world contemporary dance has a small audience — too small to support the work of those artists choosing to make Joburg their principal residence.

The piece “San” is performed by five dancers including Vincent, three French and two South African dancers. The set is comprised of strings stretched across the space every which way in geometric patterns including straight across the front at eye level. This construction or division of the space represents the artificial geographic barriers created by the Europeans when they came and divided up the South African region.  These divisions inhibited the nomadic San people from moving about freely and radically changed their lifestyle .  This and more I learn the next day at the artists talk with Vincent and Nelisiwe Xaba. The music score for the work is inspired by the great Persian poet, Rumi and performed (on tape) by the renowned Persian singer and master of the Persian classical repertoire. The program notes say, “one does not need to understand the words in order to appreciate the transformation of a language that speaks to the pure emotions.”

“San” takes one on a spiritual journey at once mysterious, desperate and divine.  It evolves slowly as each dancer explores and expresses their experience of the stage environment and one another. The piece conveys struggle, connection, dependence, determination and a sense of loss. Speaking with Vincent afterward I learn that they had such technical difficulties that the lighting was seriously compromised for this opening performance.

Still navigating jet lag we departed immediately after the show with no hobnobbing. Socializing would have to wait as sleep beckoned.  A deep sleep was disturbed when the gods began to roar deep in the night. A terrific thunderstorm raged for over an hour with torrential rains followed by two more hours of rumbling and grumbling.  With the return of silence came sleep again until late in the morning.

Joburg, March 2 is a post from: Bates Dance Festival Artist Blog

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This is my first entry of several from my trip to South Africa. I have come to attend FNB Dance Umbrella, the annual showcase of South African contemporary dance. This year the festival has been curated by choreographer, Gregory Maqoma, with whom the Bates Dance Festival has worked since 2005 and whose work, “Beautiful Me” developed, in part, at BDF, we presented in October 2009.  Over the course of the next eleven days I will be attending artist talks and performances by many choreographers and companies as well as hopefully fitting in some tourist time. My trip is supported by the African Contemporary Arts Consortium, of which BDF is a founding member, and the New England Foundation for the Arts Travel Fund.

I am thrilled to finally be setting foot on South African soil having hosted South African dancers since 1994.  I will be seeing new works and having visits with old friends as well as meeting new artists including Vincent Mantsoe, Moektsi Koena, Lucky Kele, Sello Pesa, Neli Xaba and Gregory Maqoma.

I am nestled into the charming Tama Rumah Guest House in the Melville district of Joburg after a 22 hours trip yesterday across the wide Atlantic. Fifteen hours straight from Atlanta to Joburg on a completely full plane that included thirty excited teenagers on their way for a mission trip. Bongani, my very polite driver, brought me from the airport via a scenic tour of some lovely north Joburg neighborhoods (partly to avoid rush hour traffic on the highway).  Lush plantings and mature shade trees abound.  Upon arrival, my African Consortium colleague, Marjorie Neset was at the door waiting to greet me. We promptly headed around the corner to a groovy little strip of cafes and shops for a soup and white wine.

For a different slant on this trip visit my colleague, Marjorie Neset’s blog at: http://mneset.wordpress.com/

Arriving in Joburg, March 1, 2010 is a post from: Bates Dance Festival Artist Blog

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Travels in Johannesburg is a post from: Bates Dance Festival Artist Blog

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Task

In Bebe’s Making Dances class on Monday, she reminded us to look to the movement and allow the body to tell its story. I applied this notion to rehearsal. I asked the three dancers to do the movement with no “performance” intention other than accomplishing the physical task of each action. As a result, I was able to see what was really there rather than impose my idea of what should be there. For example, instead of telling the dancers to act as if they were “trying but failing,” I asked them to do a nearly impossible task. The high stakes of having to do a simple yet challenging task in public created a real experience of trying, wanting to succeed, and possibly failing. This directive gave the dancers the freedom to discover their version of the experience.

Brainstorms for Breakfast:

I usually brainstorm during rehearsals and often feel that there is not enough time to deepen the brainstorm or put the ideas into action in a thoughtful way. This week, I learned a new process that works great for me.

On Tuesday morning, Diana and I had a 2-3 hour brainstorming session and allowed our imaginations to spin out. Within the last hour we had completely reshaped the work and decided on a specific agenda for the rehearsal. Brainstorming with Diana was useful for many reasons. I’ve worked with her for over a decade, so she knows when I am going to cut an idea before I get too invested in it. What a time saver! We also have a similar sensibility. Her suggestions often lead me to places where I should go but can’t get to alone. The next time I create a work, I will plan on having company brainstorming sessions prior to going into the studio. If I had the luxury of another residency, I would brainstorm for breakfast, marinate for lunch and go to the studio for rehearsal just before dinner. This may seem like an obvious choice to some, but for me it was a fantastic revelation. It is less isolating and allows the dancers to be an inherent part of the process. I truly appreciated the insight, investment, and laughter along the way.

Music:

I am very excited by popular culture, particularly music. I like to work with irony and satire in relation to pop music, usually as a form of social commentary or to frame a particular slant on the movement. The lyrics are as equally important as the music.

At this point in this process, with one day until our showing, I felt like a racehorse at the starting gate. I knew I was about to spew the work into place. Instinctively, I sat for many, many hours and played with the piece’s songs in varying orders until I felt them click into place. A puzzle. I listened obsessively to every detail until I lost the ability to concentrate.

After doing so, I knew I had found it. Questions were answered and new ideas emerged. It felt right.

“What is this one in reaction to?”

I was having such a hard time simply stating what this new work is about. I think if you can’t say it simply then the idea, and therefore the work, is not clear. When I told my mom I was making one of the oddest – hopefully funny – and possibly most devastating works yet, she said, “Oh Love, what’s this one in reaction to?” It is a simple question. But when answered truthfully, it became the heart of the work. There were a jumble of emotions stirring in my belly, and when I directed them into the choreography in answer to her question, the dance finally introduced itself to me.

In Summary:

The supportive environment at the Bates Dance Festival encourages experimentation. “Theater in the Head” (new title) is quite odd, it turns out. I did whatever I wanted during these 3-weeks and shoved those nagging voices under the pink shag. During our Friday showing, I ran the sound from upstage and was “forced” to watch the faces in the audience. Not easy. I was surprised. What I thought was devastating made people laugh. (After the showing a few people shared that they had tears in their eyes as they laughed.) Uncanny. I guess you never know how people will react. It would be a lie if I said I did not care. I do, and I care hard. Nevertheless, it is the nature of our business to put our hearts in the hands of friends and strangers. And that is what is at the heart of “Theater in the Head.”

The End (for now) ~Adele

Adele Myers/Week 3: “Theater in the Head” is a post from: Bates Dance Festival Artist Blog

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~Agnes De Mille

Monday, July 27th

Eureka of the day: There is no such thing as wasted time.

I felt like I was rolling a huge boulder up a soggy, slippery incline today in rehearsal. I had an idea to apply the same twister approach from the duet to the trio. It felt wrong as we began, but I could not tell why so pressed on until the boulder fell over the precipice. I eventually realized that it was too much of the same. There needed to be a new idea to move forward. At the end of rehearsal, I had an image of unified precision. The idea of an impeccable, seemingly inhuman perfection for the trio made more sense within our newly discovered conceptual framework of a “spectacle.” I may try the “Peter Sellers sings George Gerswhin” song as the sound score for this section. I am a little concerned about over-saturating with too many songs, but I’ll give it a shot anyway and see where it leads.

Like Judy Garland, Peter Sellers’s life was reportedly filled with substance abuse and emotional strife. I am really intrigued by the polarizing forces of humor and devastation in the lives of entertainers. A bright pink cloud with a dark cloud beneath the silver lining. I wonder how to convey the essence of this polarity without being too obvious.

Tuesday, July 28th

Eureka of the day: Form and space…and more Bebe

This week in Bebe’s Making Dances II, we shifted our exploration from context to form. We thought about how to allow the form itself to convey an idea. How to be careful not to tell you (the audience) what the form says.

I stayed with the idea of unison and precision for the trio. I had images of the Rockettes performing their mechanized spectacle in a small space on the edge of a cliff. Being more specific about where the dancers were looking helped me think about what they were seeing and how they felt about what they saw. When perched on the edge of the carpet, the dancers appeared to recognize the precariousness of stepping off the shag and into …

Some questions about space and form:

Through subtleties of form, intention, and actively seeing what is around us, can we transform the floor into an endless void? Can we change how we and the audience sees/experiences the space on, above, around and below? Can we make a 4×6 shag seem enormous? How does spatial attention inform and clarify what is happening?

Wednesday, July 29th

Eureka of the day: Slow down no matter how much it costs.

I learned a valuable lesson today. When I rehearse in NYC it costs so much money that I feel pressured to work fast, complete the picture, and then go back and refine. When working with narrative, to avoid a simplistic and predictable story, the narrative must unfold itself and emerge out of the form.

At this point in the process, we are getting a sense of who the dancers are in the context of the spectacle. I am on the verge of discovering their chemistry with one another. Yet, instead of going forward, my realization today is that there are still too many questions about who, what, where, why and when that need to be answered before we can move toward the next impasse. In short, we have met three people, and we need to know more about each of them before they begin interrelating.

Why do I always want to work so fast? There is a satisfaction in clarity and detail. Tomorrow — nothing new (unless new just happens). My plan is to go back to the beginning and start again, again.

Thursday, July 30th

Eureka of the Day: Begin again, again

It is about performing from our hearts, the ‘performance of extremes,’ as performers. That is what we found out today. We each have our individual stories of peaks and plunges as performing artists. Now our hearts and imaginations are sparked. Let’s begin again, again. We’ll caulk the spaces between movement ideas with our memories.

None of what I just wrote makes sense to me. Bummer. That usually means I am losing clarity in my vision of the work. So be it for today.

Friday, July 31st

Eureka of the day: Time limits can be helpful guidelines. They prevent ambling.

Before Rehearsal:

I found out this morning that we have an audition slot for Fresh Tracks at DTW on November 7th. This situation instantly clarified some questions for me. For DTW I need to move away from the intimate viewing of the work. This is tricky considering that what I like about seeing the work so close is how the dancers’ toes press into the shag; this and other such details get lost at a distance. There is also a 15-minute time limit. Given these new perameters, what is this dance about now? We already have 13-minutes, and I do not feel any nearer to a cohesive chunk. That must mean the dance is ambling and not saying anything. I need to edit with care and be as succinct and clear as possible. Oof!

After Rehearsal:

I’m still stuck! We had a great group of people come to the open rehearsal today. Good insights from most, but what stood out was that there were way more questions than comments. In working on details of movement, timing and intention, we seem to be going in a different direction than we realized. Yep. I’m still at an impasse. This is the point where I have to return to what we have been playing with in Making Dances—Let it tell you. Don’t tell it. I liken this part of the process to a roller-coaster clunking up the ubersteep incline. Not quite arriving but knowing a free-fall is inevitable. The question remains, will I grip the safety bar or throw up my hands and wail during the thrill-spill?

Saturday, August 1st

Eureka of the Day: Make each moment necessary

I was in awe then felt paralyzed after seeing Bebe’s latest work “Necessary Beauty” last night. The experience unfolded as it should. How did she do that? Bebe’s ability to dwell curiously in an unknown state is admirable. She seems to trust her process enough at this point to know it will unravel accordingly, whatever it may be.

I could not sleep last night. I kept seeing Tara, Diana and Kellie perched on the edge of the pink shag waiting for what comes next. That’s where we ended yesterday. Nothing was coming to mind except ‘retina burns’ or ‘after flashes’ from “Necessary Beauty.” The dancers in Bebe’s work were individuals in the exact right colors making their way through what was happening as if discovering knowingly. What made the work so appealing is that we had just enough information to formulate something but not too much that we were being spoon-fed a concept. Wisps of images and interactions that barely connected but did. How did they do that? These were my thoughts….all night long until daybreak. How do I make each moment necessary?

Laura (Faure) came into rehearsal today and offered some truly informative insights. After viewing the work, she asked me to tell her my intentions. As I struggled for words I realized that I was still unclear, and therefore so was the work. I know it is all there, but I do not know what it is. I feel it in my gut. This part of the process is fascinating to me. I doubt I’ll create new material. It is now a puzzle that I have to figure out. The question is: What is going on?

Here’s what I realized after rehearsal: I was getting lost in the details and forgot about the significance of the pink shag. If I return to the shag, I think I’ll get clues there. I think this dance is just barely a narrative. Instead, it might be a string of instances that happen on a pink shag. There is something about the very end that ties it all together. I’m just not sure what that is yet.

Laura had another brilliant, albeit simple, question yesterday, “Is this about some sort of pathos, and if so, what is it?”

Sunday, August 2nd

Eureka of the Day: To get unstuck…go to the “Theater in the Head”

There is an exercise I do when I’m stuck. I suppose it is my form of meditation. It’s called “Theater in the Head.” I made it up several years ago in graduate school. I close my eyes and let the images from the dance (thus far) circulate in my mind however they want. I do not choreograph it. I watch the dance unravel however it wants to in that moment. I try to pay close attention to the details. After I feel a sense of some type of arrival, I write down the images as they came to me.

This is where I am today after last night’s slew of imagery. Seriously, it is like a slot machine in my mind. I arrived at something a bit looser than a logical narrative. It was more so a series of tasks and instances on and/or about the pink shag. I am going to try them out on Monday to see where they take us.

As a teaser, what I saw was: matter-of fact meets absurd meets creepy; a series of instances on or about the pink shag carpet; three (maybe four) individuals brought together by a singular moment on the shag. It’s an ode to the pink shag!

Summary of the week:

We began the week discovering a context of spectacle, and within that frame, individual figures emerged. The impasse in this scenario is how to show the essence of these individuals within Diana, Tara, and Kelly. I don’t want them to act. I want to draw these states of being from who they already are. The week ended with a possible revamp. I hope we find that the layers of discoveries and edits begin to give the work dimension. We also seriously need to spunk it up. The pacing of the work in terms of its dymanic structure is lagging. I’m looking forward to this week’s adventures!

Adele Myers/Week 2: Eureka’s Everywhere! is a post from: Bates Dance Festival Artist Blog

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and an interview with Cage from Fresh Air

–Debra

Listen to John Cage is a post from: Bates Dance Festival Artist Blog

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There is no front, no back, no side to our universe: we are all points in space, he famously taught. I honored that challenge in a modest way. In addition to having the students in my class write about and discuss Tania Isaac’s “Stuporwoman” I made time for an ad hoc showing of selected Youtube clips of Merce’s “Channels and Inlets.” There’s a lot of Merce on the web: he was deeply documented, in part because of his long association with gifted filmmakers and due to his own abiding curiosity about how film and video could be another perceptual experiment. On Youtube you can see a bit of Carolyn Brown, serene and poised, or Karole Armitage linear as a yardstick. There are images of Merce dancing under Google Images, some famous for their photographic virtues and others of historical interest such as the photos that show Merce and John Cage together, young and vibrant and always avant-garde, comrades in arms as well as life companions.

Before Bebe Miller’s video showing last night, a small group gathered to think about Merce. Bebe shared how Merce’s example, and things he said, gave her permission to consider how going with your dance impulses might not be the best route – why not try taking that impulse and putting it somewhere else, surprising yourself (and of course, others?) Bebe’s own work, with its gracious embrace of technology, owes something to Merce’s pioneering. One student described how, by chance (ah!) she bought a ticket to what turned out to be Merce’s recent 90^th birthday celebration in New York, an occasion that evidenced another premiere. She sat in the balcony and saw the guest of honor in his wheelchair, taking it in, and everybody in theatre standing, and applauding, as if they never wanted it to stop.

Most of the students at Bates today have never seen the Cunningham company, and almost none are old enough to have seen Merce dance. Nonetheless, we are all his children, and grandchildren, and great-grands. The company, his private, beautiful laboratory, will fold after its valedictory lap. The legacy of his works will exist in authorized stagings and an archive that will unquestionably represent one of the most important in any American artist’s life.

Few of us get to reach the pinnacle of such an artists’ experience. But below that mountain, we walk in Merce Cunningham’s shadow, and that will remain a blessing.

Debra Cash

When Giants Walked is a post from: Bates Dance Festival Artist Blog

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