Saturday, March 7, 2009
Stuck Inside on a Beautiful Day
Well, I'm stuck inside at work, so might as well update my little log of the creative experience that is life...
I'm in the process of creating two new (and slightly ambitious) works. Wish me luck.
The first piece (which I hope to perform at Open Marley Night on May 30th) is based on Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher and inspired originally by the Usher Waltz by Koshkin (a very cool piece of guitar music, inspired by the same piece of literature mentioned previously). I have realized that I really like working from literature (it's probably my most natural source of inspiration), and I am always excited when I find a piece of music that comes from literature (The Magic Theater---based on Hesse's Steppenwolf---comes to mind...I must choreograph this piece!).
Anyhow, there have been a total of zero rehearsals so far, but I've done some thinking and writing, which always comes first with me anyways. I've also listened to a recording of the music while soaking in the tub...very helpful. I haven't really danced yet, so I'm not sure what the movement will look like, but I already have formed a structure in my mind.
If you are unfamiliar with the story click: http://www.enotes.com/fall-house-text/the-fall-house-usher?start=1.
And the music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHpaKD95XMs
Ideas I have so far: There are three characters (Usher, Narrator, Sister). Usher is the guitarist\music, so the musician must be somehow integrated into the performance. The music is a waltz and the era of the piece makes it sensible to play on the classic idiom of a waltz partner dance. I might have books all over the stage...
Problems I'm working on: I don't want to re-tell the story; what is the point of creating the dance if it doesn't go beyond what already exists. In the story the narrator is an observer; he relates with Usher, but not with the sister, however in my dance Usher is not a dancer and the sister and narrator are, so most of the interactions have to happen between the narrator and the sister.
Structural Ideas: The piece begins and ends with a solo by the narrator. The piece begins with music, but ends in silence. The pas de deaux between the Narrator and the Sister, represent the horror that the narrator feels in the presence of the sister. The music represents the character of Usher and the dancers interface with the musician. The dance follows the structure of the music (which means I have to figure out how the music follows the structure of the narrative...).
That's where I'm at. I hope to start rehearsing (with Sara! Yay!) within the next couple of weeks.
Coming soon...lots of rambling about Pablo Neruda.
I'm in the process of creating two new (and slightly ambitious) works. Wish me luck.
The first piece (which I hope to perform at Open Marley Night on May 30th) is based on Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher and inspired originally by the Usher Waltz by Koshkin (a very cool piece of guitar music, inspired by the same piece of literature mentioned previously). I have realized that I really like working from literature (it's probably my most natural source of inspiration), and I am always excited when I find a piece of music that comes from literature (The Magic Theater---based on Hesse's Steppenwolf---comes to mind...I must choreograph this piece!).
Anyhow, there have been a total of zero rehearsals so far, but I've done some thinking and writing, which always comes first with me anyways. I've also listened to a recording of the music while soaking in the tub...very helpful. I haven't really danced yet, so I'm not sure what the movement will look like, but I already have formed a structure in my mind.
If you are unfamiliar with the story click: http://www.enotes.com/fall-house-text/the-fall-house-usher?start=1.
And the music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHpaKD95XMs
Ideas I have so far: There are three characters (Usher, Narrator, Sister). Usher is the guitarist\music, so the musician must be somehow integrated into the performance. The music is a waltz and the era of the piece makes it sensible to play on the classic idiom of a waltz partner dance. I might have books all over the stage...
Problems I'm working on: I don't want to re-tell the story; what is the point of creating the dance if it doesn't go beyond what already exists. In the story the narrator is an observer; he relates with Usher, but not with the sister, however in my dance Usher is not a dancer and the sister and narrator are, so most of the interactions have to happen between the narrator and the sister.
Structural Ideas: The piece begins and ends with a solo by the narrator. The piece begins with music, but ends in silence. The pas de deaux between the Narrator and the Sister, represent the horror that the narrator feels in the presence of the sister. The music represents the character of Usher and the dancers interface with the musician. The dance follows the structure of the music (which means I have to figure out how the music follows the structure of the narrative...).
That's where I'm at. I hope to start rehearsing (with Sara! Yay!) within the next couple of weeks.
Coming soon...lots of rambling about Pablo Neruda.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Press Release!
For Immediate Release
Contact: Sonia Synkowski, Press Coordinator
217-816-3672 cell
soniaschaefer@hotmail.com
www.myspace.com/bodyelectric09
.Singing the Body Electric. on January 15th and 16th: Local Choreographers pair up
to present new and innovative dance works
.Singing the Body Electric. will feature new work from local choreographers Reggie Cole, Cindi
L.Abbe, Sonia Synkowski and Stacey Tytler. Each choreographer will present their vision of the limitless
potential of the body through dance. .Singing the Body Electric. will be presented at the Creative Alliance at
the Patterson located at 3134 Eastern Ave in Highlandtown. Performances will be on Thursday, January 15th at
7:30pm and Friday, January 16th at 8:00pm.
What do you get when you bring together four distinct choreographic voices for one evening of dance?
As a result, each choreographer is able to showcase their talents through the electrified bodies on stage and
provide an entertaining, innovative evening of professional dance. Representing the wide spectrum of
modern dance, each choreographer is able to express an inspired theme through movement, such as migration,
insomnia, and perspective shifts.
Cindi L’Abbe has danced and choreographed for Flow Dance Company of Brattleboro, Vermont before
moving to Baltimore where she has shared her unique perspective through performances at Johns Hopkins
University and Experimental Movement Concepts in Hampden. Co-Director of The Collective in Baltimore,
Sonia Synkowski is constantly pushing the boundaries of dance, both with The Collective and in her own
work. Reggie Cole has danced and choreographed with CityDance Ensemble, Edgeworks Dance Theater and
Contradiction Dance, as well as choreographing throughout the D.C. area and performing solo work both
regionally and internationally. Stacey Tytler continues to create meaningful expressions of the body as she
choreographs regionally and also performs with Jane Franklin Dance in Arlington, VA.
These four choreographers will come together for a two evening engagement at the Creative Alliance.
The performance will feature professional dancers from the Baltimore and DC area as well as original musical
compositions by Shane Bordeau, Ljiljana Jovanovic, Keith Kramer, and David Ross and with live musical
accompaniment. .Singing the Body Electric. is the perfect performance to electrify the audience and jump
start the 2009 dance scene in Baltimore.
Tickets are $12/adults or $10/students & members on Thursday, January 15th. Tickets are $15/adults
or $12/students & members on Friday, January 16th. Tickets can be reserved by calling 410.276.1651 or
visiting www.creativealliance.org. Performances are at 7:30pm on January 15th and 8:00pm on January 16th. .
Contact: Sonia Synkowski, Press Coordinator
217-816-3672 cell
soniaschaefer@hotmail.com
www.myspace.com/bodyelectric09
.Singing the Body Electric. on January 15th and 16th: Local Choreographers pair up
to present new and innovative dance works
.Singing the Body Electric. will feature new work from local choreographers Reggie Cole, Cindi
L.Abbe, Sonia Synkowski and Stacey Tytler. Each choreographer will present their vision of the limitless
potential of the body through dance. .Singing the Body Electric. will be presented at the Creative Alliance at
the Patterson located at 3134 Eastern Ave in Highlandtown. Performances will be on Thursday, January 15th at
7:30pm and Friday, January 16th at 8:00pm.
What do you get when you bring together four distinct choreographic voices for one evening of dance?
As a result, each choreographer is able to showcase their talents through the electrified bodies on stage and
provide an entertaining, innovative evening of professional dance. Representing the wide spectrum of
modern dance, each choreographer is able to express an inspired theme through movement, such as migration,
insomnia, and perspective shifts.
Cindi L’Abbe has danced and choreographed for Flow Dance Company of Brattleboro, Vermont before
moving to Baltimore where she has shared her unique perspective through performances at Johns Hopkins
University and Experimental Movement Concepts in Hampden. Co-Director of The Collective in Baltimore,
Sonia Synkowski is constantly pushing the boundaries of dance, both with The Collective and in her own
work. Reggie Cole has danced and choreographed with CityDance Ensemble, Edgeworks Dance Theater and
Contradiction Dance, as well as choreographing throughout the D.C. area and performing solo work both
regionally and internationally. Stacey Tytler continues to create meaningful expressions of the body as she
choreographs regionally and also performs with Jane Franklin Dance in Arlington, VA.
These four choreographers will come together for a two evening engagement at the Creative Alliance.
The performance will feature professional dancers from the Baltimore and DC area as well as original musical
compositions by Shane Bordeau, Ljiljana Jovanovic, Keith Kramer, and David Ross and with live musical
accompaniment. .Singing the Body Electric. is the perfect performance to electrify the audience and jump
start the 2009 dance scene in Baltimore.
Tickets are $12/adults or $10/students & members on Thursday, January 15th. Tickets are $15/adults
or $12/students & members on Friday, January 16th. Tickets can be reserved by calling 410.276.1651 or
visiting www.creativealliance.org. Performances are at 7:30pm on January 15th and 8:00pm on January 16th. .
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Wake Me When It's Over...Hopefully that's not what the audience will be thinking...
Finally all of the choreography for this piece is done. Today was the first day that we ran the piece from beginning to end in order (and of course it will need a lot of work). Since the piece is in sections, with each section being very different, I worked sporadically---working on the sections with the most "dancing" first and then filling in the more improvisational partnering sections later.
I'm excited to get together with David and see how the music and dance synch up. This piece was really different for me, because there is sooo much movement in it, but when I examined it more closely, it still works on a theme and variation concept. All of the phrases have similarities between them and there is a definite repetition of motives from section to section. The most obvious of these is a floor phrase, which I call "the restless sleep". This phrase is a lazy body-part initiated flow, which opens the dance and repeats several times throughout---it is also the phrase that ends the dance.
The ending is really interesting to me, because I originally was ending on the idea "I dreamed I was falling", which led me to create this rapid-fire phrase (based on movements from phrases throughout the piece) which is punctuated with "snapshots" of falling images, and finally ends with the dancers rolling (as if down a hill) from upstage to downstage. I was planning on ending there, but David reminded me that I had originally told him that there would be a brief end part called "the dawn breaks". This led me to come up with a concept for the end that came out of that chaos with clarity and minimalism. I want to have the lights dim on the dancers and a spot on David at the end, and the dancers repeat (in unison) the original "restless sleep" with pauses at the highest point of the phrase. The pauses gradually lengthen as the lights come up. It is kind of nice to have a piece that ends on a more peaceful and positive note, as both Rodya and Duet end pretty dramatically and decidedly less positive.
So--as promised for Karen and Andrea---the outline of Wake Me When It's Over:
Intro: The restless sleep pattern in canon (dsl), into canon of the original phrase, to seated. Unison variation on the floor, into BADABA:). First time through on the diagonal with Karen going into pauses (arm, arm and "chunk") and coming back into unison, opening to front. BADABA with lifts, unison, travels back (butt roll, pike roll, knee roll, x).
The Nightmare: Cindi (dsl) goes into jerkier variation of "restless sleep" with "shape up" variation. Karen and Andrea "shape up" off the floor and go into "Scary Girl" phrase moving towards Cindi. Cindi becomes increasingly agitated as they get closer. They finish out phrase to X. Cindi gets thrown around by her hand (cadenza---improvised within a loose structure). Karen goes into hand attack phrase which she choreographed (these overlap). Cindi's takes her to X (dsr), and when Karen finishes hers, she and Andrea go into "Scary Girl" phrase, Andrea Xing out at the suspend roll part and Karen continuing to be pulled down by her hand next to Cindi on the floor. All three "shape up" and melt down. Cindi gasps up to seated abruptly.
Sleeping Together: Karen gently reaches up to Cindi's shoulder to ease her down to "sleep". Restless sleep phrase to begin, goes into short contact improv inspired duet with back to back contact throughout the duet. Melts down.
Somnambulator (sleepwalker): Andrea slowly rises up and begins walking in a spiral (start at cs). When she walks past Cindi, Cindi stands up and begins following her. Cindi manipulates Andrea, and Andrea keeps walking. Eventually Cindi lunges down in front of Andrea, who walks up onto Cindi and Cindi carries her back to CS to "sleep". Cindi lies down near Andrea.
Insomnia: Short solo by Karen with agitated twitchy movements. (there might be a slight overlap with these sections)
I dreamed I was flying\I dreamed I was falling: (these are not two sections, because there is no going back to "sleep" between) Andrea steps up and performs her "flying" phrase (takes her to floor). Karen stands up and presses up into a handstand and performs her "flying" phrase. Cindi performs three floor shapes that represent flying and leave her in the "shape up" position where Karen pulls her up (here there should be 2 or 3 simple little jumpy partnering elements) and then all three go into Andrea's "flying" leading into a big lift of Andrea in "flying" position that travels on a diagonal (usr-dsl) and ends at CS and is held. From here the shape collapses and the dancers roll towards upstage and rise to standing all facing different directions. All perform "falling" phrase with intermittant "snapshots". As they end the phrase for the final time, they roll (us-ds) as if they are falling down a hill and end as far downstage as they can get and then lie still.
Dawn Breaks: Unison "restless sleep" phrase repeated with progressively longer pauses at the high point. As the "sun" comes up, the dancers are still looking upward.
We think it'd be nice to be kind of joky at the end and when the lights come up for the bow to act like we just woke up (yawn, stretch and rub our eyes).
That's it!
I'm excited to get together with David and see how the music and dance synch up. This piece was really different for me, because there is sooo much movement in it, but when I examined it more closely, it still works on a theme and variation concept. All of the phrases have similarities between them and there is a definite repetition of motives from section to section. The most obvious of these is a floor phrase, which I call "the restless sleep". This phrase is a lazy body-part initiated flow, which opens the dance and repeats several times throughout---it is also the phrase that ends the dance.
The ending is really interesting to me, because I originally was ending on the idea "I dreamed I was falling", which led me to create this rapid-fire phrase (based on movements from phrases throughout the piece) which is punctuated with "snapshots" of falling images, and finally ends with the dancers rolling (as if down a hill) from upstage to downstage. I was planning on ending there, but David reminded me that I had originally told him that there would be a brief end part called "the dawn breaks". This led me to come up with a concept for the end that came out of that chaos with clarity and minimalism. I want to have the lights dim on the dancers and a spot on David at the end, and the dancers repeat (in unison) the original "restless sleep" with pauses at the highest point of the phrase. The pauses gradually lengthen as the lights come up. It is kind of nice to have a piece that ends on a more peaceful and positive note, as both Rodya and Duet end pretty dramatically and decidedly less positive.
So--as promised for Karen and Andrea---the outline of Wake Me When It's Over:
Intro: The restless sleep pattern in canon (dsl), into canon of the original phrase, to seated. Unison variation on the floor, into BADABA:). First time through on the diagonal with Karen going into pauses (arm, arm and "chunk") and coming back into unison, opening to front. BADABA with lifts, unison, travels back (butt roll, pike roll, knee roll, x).
The Nightmare: Cindi (dsl) goes into jerkier variation of "restless sleep" with "shape up" variation. Karen and Andrea "shape up" off the floor and go into "Scary Girl" phrase moving towards Cindi. Cindi becomes increasingly agitated as they get closer. They finish out phrase to X. Cindi gets thrown around by her hand (cadenza---improvised within a loose structure). Karen goes into hand attack phrase which she choreographed (these overlap). Cindi's takes her to X (dsr), and when Karen finishes hers, she and Andrea go into "Scary Girl" phrase, Andrea Xing out at the suspend roll part and Karen continuing to be pulled down by her hand next to Cindi on the floor. All three "shape up" and melt down. Cindi gasps up to seated abruptly.
Sleeping Together: Karen gently reaches up to Cindi's shoulder to ease her down to "sleep". Restless sleep phrase to begin, goes into short contact improv inspired duet with back to back contact throughout the duet. Melts down.
Somnambulator (sleepwalker): Andrea slowly rises up and begins walking in a spiral (start at cs). When she walks past Cindi, Cindi stands up and begins following her. Cindi manipulates Andrea, and Andrea keeps walking. Eventually Cindi lunges down in front of Andrea, who walks up onto Cindi and Cindi carries her back to CS to "sleep". Cindi lies down near Andrea.
Insomnia: Short solo by Karen with agitated twitchy movements. (there might be a slight overlap with these sections)
I dreamed I was flying\I dreamed I was falling: (these are not two sections, because there is no going back to "sleep" between) Andrea steps up and performs her "flying" phrase (takes her to floor). Karen stands up and presses up into a handstand and performs her "flying" phrase. Cindi performs three floor shapes that represent flying and leave her in the "shape up" position where Karen pulls her up (here there should be 2 or 3 simple little jumpy partnering elements) and then all three go into Andrea's "flying" leading into a big lift of Andrea in "flying" position that travels on a diagonal (usr-dsl) and ends at CS and is held. From here the shape collapses and the dancers roll towards upstage and rise to standing all facing different directions. All perform "falling" phrase with intermittant "snapshots". As they end the phrase for the final time, they roll (us-ds) as if they are falling down a hill and end as far downstage as they can get and then lie still.
Dawn Breaks: Unison "restless sleep" phrase repeated with progressively longer pauses at the high point. As the "sun" comes up, the dancers are still looking upward.
We think it'd be nice to be kind of joky at the end and when the lights come up for the bow to act like we just woke up (yawn, stretch and rub our eyes).
That's it!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Updates!
I've had several rehearsals since my last posting, and all three pieces that I have been working on for the January show (we have a date, by the way: January 15 and 16 at Creative Alliance at Patterson Park), have moved forward.
Duet: The movement is all choreographed for Duet. A couple of weeks ago, Amanda taught us some contact improv exercises in lieu of technique class at the beginning of rehearsal. I noticed an immediate difference in the way the dancers were able to embody the partnering and tumbling movements in the piece. In addition, it developed a sense of camaraderie between the dancers, which translates into trust within the duet itself. For me, I noticed that this came across weeks later when Sara and I were working on a section in our duet (we're the old couple:)). I was trying to insert a lift into a section that moves in a fluid, circular way, so the lift would rely predominantly on momentum. I really felt that, since Sara and I had partnered together in the exercises Amanda had given us, we were trusting enough of eachother, for her to bounce off the floor and jump on me, and for me to move out of that, taking her momentum. So it really worked and we created some interesting new movement together, which I was really pleased with.
Now that the movement is completed for Duet, I have some new challenges. First, I need to put the piece in front of some outside eyes, so that I can clarify the choreography. I really miss being in school for this, or at least being in NH, where I could just call up Stephanie and say, "hey come look at this", and get some no-nonsense, knowledgable, non-sugarcoated feedback, which is what I need right now. Second, although my dancers are awesome and doing a great job, we all still have a long way to go before the dancing is clear and well-performed. I gave them all the warning last week that this is where I'm going to become a really annoying rehearsal director. "Again! Again!" etc... There's also that internal motivation in this piece. I originally had them all write about what they would say if they were a message in a bottle, and I really want to work with them to determine how they can take my movement, and give it their meaning. I don't know if this is possible or not, but I think it will add another dimension to the piece and its an interesting concept to explore. I mean, the movement I'm using is pretty abstract---its just the context and the props, and some of the energy behind it that gives it meaning, so I think that they can change the meaning through thier performance somehow. This is my puzzle I guess... The final issue I'm working on is the music. The music I want for the middle of the piece is kind of short. I might have to cut some movement, speed up certain parts, and work on how I want to overlap the duets, so there will be lots of trial and error in rehearsal at that point. I'm pretty excited!
Rodya: Rodya was already finished, but I got some great feedback from Stephanie the last time I went back to NH, and I'm going to work on performance of the piece especially. Amanda doesn't know all of the choreography yet, but she has a good start, and Andrea is coming home in a matter of days!!!! Yaya! So we can begin working with those details. This piece is all about movement quality, so I think that I will really need to be a hard ass and work in an extremely detailed way, on every movement. But I'm excited to have that to work on, because the piece is just really fun.
Wake Me When Its Over: Well, section one is complete, and Jackie videoed it for us (http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h309/superhotlilangel/?action=view¤t=100_5698.flv). I am dancing Andrea's part in this video, and it's not full out, because there are some things that I can't do, which Andrea can (because she's tiny and I don't want to break Karen before my first big show). Karen and I worked on section two (The Nightmare) last night, and I've been working on the rest of the piece in my head. Having Andrea back will make this work a little bit better. I shared the video with the composer (David Ross), so he can have an idea what the sections are like and how long etc. This is the newest piece and I think its going to be really fun, and exciting for the audience. And I also think it might break my body, which is unfortunate, but I'll sacrifice it all for art:)
The last really fun thing is that Reggie and I are working on a comic duet for the show! Since all of my choreography is really heavy, this seems like a lot of fun. We have this really fun and fantastic music and we're working with this concept that hi-lites our differences as dancers, and the differences in our appearance as well. We have this great Bill T and Arnie Zane thing going on, size-wise.
So, that's that, we're on a roll!
Duet: The movement is all choreographed for Duet. A couple of weeks ago, Amanda taught us some contact improv exercises in lieu of technique class at the beginning of rehearsal. I noticed an immediate difference in the way the dancers were able to embody the partnering and tumbling movements in the piece. In addition, it developed a sense of camaraderie between the dancers, which translates into trust within the duet itself. For me, I noticed that this came across weeks later when Sara and I were working on a section in our duet (we're the old couple:)). I was trying to insert a lift into a section that moves in a fluid, circular way, so the lift would rely predominantly on momentum. I really felt that, since Sara and I had partnered together in the exercises Amanda had given us, we were trusting enough of eachother, for her to bounce off the floor and jump on me, and for me to move out of that, taking her momentum. So it really worked and we created some interesting new movement together, which I was really pleased with.
Now that the movement is completed for Duet, I have some new challenges. First, I need to put the piece in front of some outside eyes, so that I can clarify the choreography. I really miss being in school for this, or at least being in NH, where I could just call up Stephanie and say, "hey come look at this", and get some no-nonsense, knowledgable, non-sugarcoated feedback, which is what I need right now. Second, although my dancers are awesome and doing a great job, we all still have a long way to go before the dancing is clear and well-performed. I gave them all the warning last week that this is where I'm going to become a really annoying rehearsal director. "Again! Again!" etc... There's also that internal motivation in this piece. I originally had them all write about what they would say if they were a message in a bottle, and I really want to work with them to determine how they can take my movement, and give it their meaning. I don't know if this is possible or not, but I think it will add another dimension to the piece and its an interesting concept to explore. I mean, the movement I'm using is pretty abstract---its just the context and the props, and some of the energy behind it that gives it meaning, so I think that they can change the meaning through thier performance somehow. This is my puzzle I guess... The final issue I'm working on is the music. The music I want for the middle of the piece is kind of short. I might have to cut some movement, speed up certain parts, and work on how I want to overlap the duets, so there will be lots of trial and error in rehearsal at that point. I'm pretty excited!
Rodya: Rodya was already finished, but I got some great feedback from Stephanie the last time I went back to NH, and I'm going to work on performance of the piece especially. Amanda doesn't know all of the choreography yet, but she has a good start, and Andrea is coming home in a matter of days!!!! Yaya! So we can begin working with those details. This piece is all about movement quality, so I think that I will really need to be a hard ass and work in an extremely detailed way, on every movement. But I'm excited to have that to work on, because the piece is just really fun.
Wake Me When Its Over: Well, section one is complete, and Jackie videoed it for us (http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h309/superhotlilangel/?action=view¤t=100_5698.flv). I am dancing Andrea's part in this video, and it's not full out, because there are some things that I can't do, which Andrea can (because she's tiny and I don't want to break Karen before my first big show). Karen and I worked on section two (The Nightmare) last night, and I've been working on the rest of the piece in my head. Having Andrea back will make this work a little bit better. I shared the video with the composer (David Ross), so he can have an idea what the sections are like and how long etc. This is the newest piece and I think its going to be really fun, and exciting for the audience. And I also think it might break my body, which is unfortunate, but I'll sacrifice it all for art:)
The last really fun thing is that Reggie and I are working on a comic duet for the show! Since all of my choreography is really heavy, this seems like a lot of fun. We have this really fun and fantastic music and we're working with this concept that hi-lites our differences as dancers, and the differences in our appearance as well. We have this great Bill T and Arnie Zane thing going on, size-wise.
So, that's that, we're on a roll!
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