Monday, April 29, 2013

Wow... that's TINY!

I performed as part of Ten Tiny Dances Friday night.
The experience was wonderful and the challenge was met by each of the choreographers.

After a loooonnngggg Friday evening commute in Philly traffic, (after six hours of rehearsal with NGPP) I arrived at the Silk Lounge at the Allentown BrewWorks to discover that the stage was a bit smaller than the dimensions with which I had been rehearsing. Wowsers... this stage was tiny!

(Pause. Here's the moment when I think to myself... I already danced for six hours today. My body was warm, but now I'm cold. And I'm tired. But I need to get warm again. I've been rehearsing all day for a performance in two weeks and I'm performing tonight. Cool. I'm super blessed/persistent/stubborn/really-lucky-to-do-this-for-my-life - minus the whole cost of living and lack of benefits thing. I bow to the powers of the Universe.)

But, that - the whole unexpected super tiny stage thing - is where the true moment of performance comes in. How do I negotiate a stage smaller than I was expecting? (I was expecting small, but this.... wow!).

How do I negotiate a stage that moves with me? Literally... it was sitting on a slippery surface and wasn't very stable. That's okay... I'll still dance! I have beauty that needs to be shown and created in this particular time and space.

How does the integrity of the work I've been rehearsing remain with a whole set of different circumstances? Again, this is my job as a performer to keep the integrity of the work and improvise to negotiate the situation at the same time. And not let anyone know that I'm doing it in the process. (I can disclose this to you, several days later. But in real time, disclosure is not part of the performance process. Show up. Do the work. Tell the story. The space, audience, time, technical issues don't matter.)

It worked - dancing in a tiny space! And I loved seeing the work of other choreographers, who are living in and experiencing a very different region. Congrats!

My favorite comment from a fellow performer: "You totally transformed the space. You couldn't tell that you were dancing on that tiny stage. We totally thought that you were cheating and stepping off of it - but you weren't!"

Performance practice. Energetic practice. Technical practice. I am grateful for these practices.

Super BIG Thank You! to Sarah Carlson/ DANCELINK for putting this performance together!

Here are a few pics from the performance:
How cool... where else do you get to experience live
dance and have a few adult beverages? 

Super tiny stage!

Jeffrey Peterson

Sarah Carlson and Jeffrey Peterson
(Choreography by Sarah Carlson).
love the shadows!

Last dance! Jazz Hands are my fav,
especially when followed by Spirit Fingers

The cast of characters. Thanks so much for sharing this evening!





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