Conversations

Started by: gottadance
Nov 10, 2007 3:01pm
468 views

C'mon tell us what you are thinking... and while you're at it:

What excites you about watching dance to begin with?

Posted by: gottadance
Nov 10, 2007 3:57pm
Dance for me is a vacation from the fast pace of everyday reality. Not an escape where I NEED to be entertained or distracted, but a place where I can go and enjoy experiencing what someone else feels deeply...

Posted by: magickaleva
Nov 11, 2007 1:30pm

Funny you should ask!  I saw a show last night that moved me to my core, brought tears to my eyes, which is kind of rare for dance, actually: Monica Bill Barnes's new piece--Suddenly Summer Somewhere--at Danspace Project.  Gripping, poignant, just brilliant.  I'm not even sure I can say how she does it.

Posted by: gottadance
Nov 19, 2007 6:26am
I missed Monica's show, so I called to apologize.Just wanted to let you know, I invited her to the Dance Enthusiast Office to talk about it after Thanksgiving. I am curious how she felt about her performance, what she learned , and what is important for her to express as a choreographer. As far as what I get to see, ( which is not as much as a Dance Enthusiast would like) I really enjoyed The Horses Mouth performance of the Martha Graham Company this past Sept. I love stories and particularly the stories of my favorite kinds of people ( dancers) . It was wonderful to see Martha Graham more as a human being than a LEGEND which certainly gets BORING after a bit. I used to feel when I went to certain Graham functions that people actually prayed to her ...ugh. This event was respectful and funny and poignant,and gave us some perspective on the woman as an artist and the experience of being part of her world. At the beginning of the show Janet Eilber asked everyone in the audience who was in the company, who ever worked for the company, who ever took a Graham class to get up on stage or stand up. Almost everyone stood. I felt connected to everyone in the room.That was great. I loved Tere O Connor's Rammed Earth... for its exploration of space, points of view, for the creation of a total environment of which the audience was a part....for the images particularly the final one where the dancers receded away from the audience as the space engulfed them. His dancers are wonderful performers! I appreciate his concepts and how he approaches them with such integrity.There was a piece by a Belgium choreographer called Liv Lorent that was part of Christopher Wheeldon's 2nd program that I LOVED...Jennifer Dunning said it was a "trick" duet..I think she said that because there were alot of clever balances performed between the man and woman who danced BUT what she didn't say , and what really got me about the piece was the vulnerability of the ballerina in the work...falling off point, staggering, being lifted by her head by her partner...Usually I go to the ballet and say wow...look at what they can do how great...but never, I wish I could dance this. This short duet really moved me and I would love to see it again. I would like to know more about Liv Lorent. Finally, I would just like to say I have been enjoying watching rehearsals. I go to lots and if anyone who reads this has a chance to go to a rehearsal I would recommend it.I am pleased that after so many years of being a dancer I can still get excited by watching other people work.

Posted by: magickaleva
Mar 1, 2008 6:18am
I find I'm tremendously moved by performers.  I know that, as a dance critic, I'm supposed to be keeping my eyes on the choreography, first and foremost but, this season, I find that I'm naturally zooming in on what makes a great performer great.  It goes beyond technical skill and physical facility. There's a quick intelligence and a substantial presence from within and an ability to stream all kinds of intelligences and energies through the body.

Posted by: gottadance
Mar 19, 2008 5:34am
 Is that really true? As a dance critic you have to keep your eye on the choreography first and foremost?
I didn't know that.

I agree with you about the intelligence and presence needed to be a performer...I have always found it odd that the talent of actors is acknowledged so readily in theater and film etc...while in dance especially modern dance it seems to me , no one talks about the performers that much....... as if the choreographer could do it without them. It seems silly to point this out, but performers are crucial to the creative process.
This is not always acknowledged- even in dance circles.. 

.It is easier to call someone a choreographic genius than to figure out how all the dancers in their company work with them to create and inform their vision.... 

Posted by: alainedances
Apr 8, 2008 1:40pm
I'd like to add to that comment... Its interesting that you pointed that out.
I've been to several performances in the past where the choreography was lacking but the dancers were so mesmerizing that you get suckered into their dancing. I guess it is akin to how models are viewed in the fashion industry. Models are expected to look good wearing just about anything.

My question is this, so how do you work with non-dancers and/or young dancers but have a piece of choreography that is both visually appealing and meaningful? Do we, as choreographers, always have to use trained dancers in our pieces?

I saw a piece that Liz Lerman created at ADF years ago that utilized non-dancers and senior citizens from the community as well as trained dancers. The piece was both visually appealing and meaningful.

I don't disagree that dancers don't get the acknowledgement that other performing artists do. But then again, in the other performing arts, the person(s) "behind the scenes" creating the backbone of the performance doesn't get as much acknowledgement as the performer.

Posted by: gottadance
Apr 9, 2008 11:46am
  Thank you for responding! 

Posted by: gottadance
Apr 10, 2008 5:46am
 Ooops, how could I not mention, whenever you have a question about work...check out your dance history...Other artists grapple(d) with your questions- You are not alone. Dance History...Judson Church-choreographers breaking bounds and traditions of stage and performance and performers... Everyday movement, every day people, non-traditional stages....Make the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center a place to visit. You will learn from your the stories of your  past. Research is informative and inspiring.

Posted by: alainedances
Jun 3, 2008 5:40pm
Its funny that you mentioned the Judson Church choreographers. I studied improvisation from Simone Forti in college and performed "We Shall Run" and "Chair/Pillow" choreographed and staged by Yvonne Rainer at the Getty Museum in LA.
I think the biggest challenge in working with non-dancers is getting them interested in the first place. The second hardest thing is the age group.
On the flipside, sometimes dancers are harder to work with b/c they have to sometimes un-train themselves for the choreography given or the tendency to go back to old die-hard habits.

Posted by: magickaleva
Jun 4, 2008 6:04am
Dancers are awesome.

I guess what I meant by critics "keep an eye on choreography, first and foremost" is that that is usually the bottom line in terms of what most dance critics demand. The choreography must add up. It's the spine of the body of the work, the framework, and everything else contributes to the realization of the work but is considered, to varying degrees, to be peripheral to the critic's demand. That's why an awards panel, for example, might hesitate to give an award to a company where the dancers are excellent in the work but the choreography is considered mediocre. I know from personal experience of trying to get some attention for superb dancers who happened to be involved in projects that were of little or no interest to the tastemakers.

All of this is not to say that dancers and other creative collaborators do not play a significant role in a critic's consideration of a piece. So, if my original words, implied that in any way, I hope I have clarified that.

But to go back to point of my original statement, I am increasingly and enormously interested in performers and what makes them distinctive and how they affect us physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. And I find I am paying closer attention than ever to what they do and how they do it.