Until then... some of the promo materials are out:
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Rivers (and more) Merge in the Lehigh Valley
Angela Sigley Grossman and I have been working diligently in the studio. I'm expanding (in)visible veins: Rivers Merge to include a new community and new dancers. We'll meet again in the studio on Friday!
Until then... some of the promo materials are out:
Until then... some of the promo materials are out:
Friday, August 28, 2015
Returning and reflecting and revisiting
The Rivers Merge Dance Festival in Easton celebrates "the rising level of dance in the Lehigh Valley and the 40th anniversary of the LVAIC Dance Consortium". I'm revisiting (in)visible veins with a new cast of dancers from the Lehigh Valley at Easton's Scott Park, September 26th and 27th. This opportunity is very exciting for me because
1. it is allowing me to reflect on all I learned from the staged performances in the Spring.
2. I have the opportunity to integrate the additional research from performance.
3. I had a dream of presenting the work outside, near the water and incorporating members from the immediate community. With this new investigation - (in)visible veins: Rivers Merge I am able to do both.
The screendance organization Lehigh Valley Dancers interviewed me about this process and about my experiences with dance in the Lehigh Valley. Check it out:
More about the Rivers Merge Dance Festival
More on Lehigh Valley Dancers
1. it is allowing me to reflect on all I learned from the staged performances in the Spring.
2. I have the opportunity to integrate the additional research from performance.
3. I had a dream of presenting the work outside, near the water and incorporating members from the immediate community. With this new investigation - (in)visible veins: Rivers Merge I am able to do both.
The screendance organization Lehigh Valley Dancers interviewed me about this process and about my experiences with dance in the Lehigh Valley. Check it out:
More about the Rivers Merge Dance Festival
More on Lehigh Valley Dancers
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
KYL/D's 25th InHale Performance Series
This Friday, KYL/D celebrates the 25th performance of the InHale Performance Series.
(This week, John Stewart of Comedy Central's The Daily Show also celebrates a professional performance milestone. Congratulations, Mr. Stewart, and thank you for your gifts and guidance).
To reflect and celebrate on InHale and our humble journey, and to pay homage to Mr. Stewart, below are 25 of my own "Moments of Zen":
Part 1: Thank you.
1. "Thank you" to KYL/D's directors, Ken Metzner and Kun-Yang Lin for challenging me with the project 7 years ago!
2. "Thank you" to KYL/D's board for continuing to allow the Performance Series to happen in KYL/D's home, the CHI Movement Arts Center!
3.. "Thank you" to the artists who have presented, performed, and shared your work!
4. "Thank you" to the members of the community who have shared non-dancing aspects of artistry through photographing, sketching, promoting or writing about InHale!
5. "Thank you" to InHale's audience members for your constant enthusiasm and your feedback!
6. "Thank you" to the businesses that have supported InHale - by offering snacks to performers/ staff/ participants/ audience members or discounted drinks after the show.
7. "Thank you" to the volunteers who have done so much to stream-line the performance process - you've folded programs, laid marley, and spent hours at CHI MAC working on the technical and administrative necessities of the performance.
Part 2: Dance Builds Community
8. KYL/D's CHI MAC is a super beautiful and unique performance space. Both the indoor set up and the outdoor neighborhood allow/demand an environment of intimacy.
9. As curator, I ask all of the members of every InHale "team" - volunteers, performers, choreographers, documenting artists, members of KYL/D - to participate in a group meeting prior to the performance. This meeting not only includes logistics of the intimacy of the space, but also provides an opportunity for each member of the team to see, introduce, and (if only momentarily) get to know each other. From this group greeting, other professional and personal relationships have been formed. (Dancers get to know choreographers. Choreographers get to meet new dancers. Photographers meet choreographers and dancers...)
10. There is a sense that everyone - even if they met for the first time in the group meeting - is working together to produce a good show. Each individual involved (and there are usually 30+) is interested and invested in working toward a common goal.
11. Intimacy, physical connection through dance and space (stage space and dressing room space), and the sharing of the self through movement creates unspoken, interpersonal and intra-personal connections.
12. I have met so many amazing creators and performers through this process!
13. Not only have dancers connected with choreographers who are presenting work, but dancers and choreographers have also connected with audience members. These audience members have become new audience members for the creators, collaborators, and financial supporters of the artists!
14. Audience members have the opportunity to anonymously provide feedback. Anonymity enhances the opportunity for blatant, honest feedback. (Audience members do have the opportunity to provide additional contact information, but are also permitted to provide anonymous feedback).
15. One audience member told me that she deeply loved the opportunity to provide feedback because she felt responsible for the work for which she was providing feedback. Through feedback, KYL/D empowers audience members to embody part of the creative process and actively participate in the performance. Feedback is not required of audience members, just strongly suggested. (And, I realize that I might be generalizing to include this as an opinions of other audience members, but I would assume it to be true.)
Part 3: Performance is Service
16. KYL/D and a small university allowed me to use InHale as fertile grounds for a "Service-Learning" project. (For those unfamiliar, "service learning" often will refer to university or college classes that students take for credit with a particular intention of serving the community. Students often learn the behind-the-scenes importance of elements such as planning, marketing and development, and relationship building so important to any relationship or professional organization. Service Learning also develops civic-minded individuals.) Student participants learned that the many aspects of live performance contain a myriad of "service" opportunities.
17. Performance serves the choreographer. Each choreographer/ artist has a voice and has something to say with that voice. The rehearsal process allows a choreographer to refine that voice and message. The performance is a platform to share that message.
18. Performance serves the dancer. Like the choreographer, each dancer has a voice and has often chosen to work with a specific choreographer because of similar values or viewpoints. The dancer is artist herself/ himself, and is also using the tool of movement to share that voice. Performance is the opportunity to shout with the voice of the body.
19. Performance serves the administrative and technical teams. We learn so much from every interaction. A performance like KYL/D's InHale Performance Series provides administrative and technical staff the opportunity to work with a variety of personalities. This develops interpersonal and intra-personal tools for the immediate and future collaborative work.
20. Performance serves the audience. The audience is served by the opportunity to experience multiple voices. In critiques of live performance and screen (and on NPR stories) I have heard "I don't see anyone who looks like me." Personally, I've felt this too. BUT InHale has invested in a wide variety of aesthetic choices. KYL/D's InHale provides a safe space for diverse thought, art-creation, and performance. How am I defining "diverse"? Pieces have been: Homo-erotic. Hetero-erotic. Gendered. Genre-specific with the catalog of "dance". Un-genre-specific within the catalog of "performance art". Political. A-political. Historical. Dance-for-dance. Movement-for-movement. Personal. Educational. Social-political. ....... As an audience member, you might be challenged by something with which you disagree, informed by a new idea, and supported in your own aesthetics all in the same evening. How exciting!
21. Admission to KYL/D's InHale Performance Series costs less than that to a movie. (There's no excuse for not coming!)
22. Performance as witness. Witness to dance. Witness to the moving body as a form of expression. Witness to kinesthetic empathy.
23. There are other ways through which performance is service, but I'm still trying to find the right language for these. I feel them. I experience them. But I need to verbally articulate them. Stay tuned....
Part 4: Movement is eternal
24. KYL/D's InHale provides a very real, tangible, and reliable place for live movement performance. More specially, in the Philadelphia area. The persistence of KYL/D's InHale and the persistence of the Dance Community (in Philly and beyond) to continually ask KYL/D for the next InHale application dates is reflective that dance as a form of expression will never die. Large funders might fail. Economic disadvantage of artists might continue. Physical challenges of space and time will emerge. But the communication and connection through movement will prevail.
25. Movement is life. Movement is the flow of blood. Cellular creation. Cognitive development. Relationship building. InHale is the initiation of the movement...
I look forward to the continued process.
Check out the artists participating in KYL/D's 25th InHale Performance Series:
Get your tickets: InHale Tickets
(This week, John Stewart of Comedy Central's The Daily Show also celebrates a professional performance milestone. Congratulations, Mr. Stewart, and thank you for your gifts and guidance).
To reflect and celebrate on InHale and our humble journey, and to pay homage to Mr. Stewart, below are 25 of my own "Moments of Zen":
Part 1: Thank you.
1. "Thank you" to KYL/D's directors, Ken Metzner and Kun-Yang Lin for challenging me with the project 7 years ago!
2. "Thank you" to KYL/D's board for continuing to allow the Performance Series to happen in KYL/D's home, the CHI Movement Arts Center!
3.. "Thank you" to the artists who have presented, performed, and shared your work!
4. "Thank you" to the members of the community who have shared non-dancing aspects of artistry through photographing, sketching, promoting or writing about InHale!
5. "Thank you" to InHale's audience members for your constant enthusiasm and your feedback!
6. "Thank you" to the businesses that have supported InHale - by offering snacks to performers/ staff/ participants/ audience members or discounted drinks after the show.
7. "Thank you" to the volunteers who have done so much to stream-line the performance process - you've folded programs, laid marley, and spent hours at CHI MAC working on the technical and administrative necessities of the performance.
Part 2: Dance Builds Community
8. KYL/D's CHI MAC is a super beautiful and unique performance space. Both the indoor set up and the outdoor neighborhood allow/demand an environment of intimacy.
9. As curator, I ask all of the members of every InHale "team" - volunteers, performers, choreographers, documenting artists, members of KYL/D - to participate in a group meeting prior to the performance. This meeting not only includes logistics of the intimacy of the space, but also provides an opportunity for each member of the team to see, introduce, and (if only momentarily) get to know each other. From this group greeting, other professional and personal relationships have been formed. (Dancers get to know choreographers. Choreographers get to meet new dancers. Photographers meet choreographers and dancers...)
10. There is a sense that everyone - even if they met for the first time in the group meeting - is working together to produce a good show. Each individual involved (and there are usually 30+) is interested and invested in working toward a common goal.
11. Intimacy, physical connection through dance and space (stage space and dressing room space), and the sharing of the self through movement creates unspoken, interpersonal and intra-personal connections.
12. I have met so many amazing creators and performers through this process!
13. Not only have dancers connected with choreographers who are presenting work, but dancers and choreographers have also connected with audience members. These audience members have become new audience members for the creators, collaborators, and financial supporters of the artists!
14. Audience members have the opportunity to anonymously provide feedback. Anonymity enhances the opportunity for blatant, honest feedback. (Audience members do have the opportunity to provide additional contact information, but are also permitted to provide anonymous feedback).
15. One audience member told me that she deeply loved the opportunity to provide feedback because she felt responsible for the work for which she was providing feedback. Through feedback, KYL/D empowers audience members to embody part of the creative process and actively participate in the performance. Feedback is not required of audience members, just strongly suggested. (And, I realize that I might be generalizing to include this as an opinions of other audience members, but I would assume it to be true.)
Part 3: Performance is Service
16. KYL/D and a small university allowed me to use InHale as fertile grounds for a "Service-Learning" project. (For those unfamiliar, "service learning" often will refer to university or college classes that students take for credit with a particular intention of serving the community. Students often learn the behind-the-scenes importance of elements such as planning, marketing and development, and relationship building so important to any relationship or professional organization. Service Learning also develops civic-minded individuals.) Student participants learned that the many aspects of live performance contain a myriad of "service" opportunities.
17. Performance serves the choreographer. Each choreographer/ artist has a voice and has something to say with that voice. The rehearsal process allows a choreographer to refine that voice and message. The performance is a platform to share that message.
18. Performance serves the dancer. Like the choreographer, each dancer has a voice and has often chosen to work with a specific choreographer because of similar values or viewpoints. The dancer is artist herself/ himself, and is also using the tool of movement to share that voice. Performance is the opportunity to shout with the voice of the body.
19. Performance serves the administrative and technical teams. We learn so much from every interaction. A performance like KYL/D's InHale Performance Series provides administrative and technical staff the opportunity to work with a variety of personalities. This develops interpersonal and intra-personal tools for the immediate and future collaborative work.
20. Performance serves the audience. The audience is served by the opportunity to experience multiple voices. In critiques of live performance and screen (and on NPR stories) I have heard "I don't see anyone who looks like me." Personally, I've felt this too. BUT InHale has invested in a wide variety of aesthetic choices. KYL/D's InHale provides a safe space for diverse thought, art-creation, and performance. How am I defining "diverse"? Pieces have been: Homo-erotic. Hetero-erotic. Gendered. Genre-specific with the catalog of "dance". Un-genre-specific within the catalog of "performance art". Political. A-political. Historical. Dance-for-dance. Movement-for-movement. Personal. Educational. Social-political. ....... As an audience member, you might be challenged by something with which you disagree, informed by a new idea, and supported in your own aesthetics all in the same evening. How exciting!
21. Admission to KYL/D's InHale Performance Series costs less than that to a movie. (There's no excuse for not coming!)
22. Performance as witness. Witness to dance. Witness to the moving body as a form of expression. Witness to kinesthetic empathy.
23. There are other ways through which performance is service, but I'm still trying to find the right language for these. I feel them. I experience them. But I need to verbally articulate them. Stay tuned....
Part 4: Movement is eternal
24. KYL/D's InHale provides a very real, tangible, and reliable place for live movement performance. More specially, in the Philadelphia area. The persistence of KYL/D's InHale and the persistence of the Dance Community (in Philly and beyond) to continually ask KYL/D for the next InHale application dates is reflective that dance as a form of expression will never die. Large funders might fail. Economic disadvantage of artists might continue. Physical challenges of space and time will emerge. But the communication and connection through movement will prevail.
25. Movement is life. Movement is the flow of blood. Cellular creation. Cognitive development. Relationship building. InHale is the initiation of the movement...
I look forward to the continued process.
Check out the artists participating in KYL/D's 25th InHale Performance Series:
Get your tickets: InHale Tickets
Sunday, July 26, 2015
National Dance Day 2015
Every day should be National Dance Day. For me, it is!
National Dance Day is July 25th and was officially named by the Dizzy Feet Foundation.
"Dizzy Feet Foundation was founded in 2009 by producer Nigel Lythgoe and director Adam Shankman, among others, to support, improve and increase access to dance education in the United States" ~from the Dizzy Feet Foundation website
Across the country, dance communities celebrate this day with performances, classes, and dance-related excitement.
This post is a day late because I was performing in the 3rd Annual Come Together Dance Festival, presented by the Koresh Dance Company.
This year, I had the honor of performing with Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers. I love Come Together because:
1. Dancers in the Philly area are so busy! We are often rehearsing and performing with our own projects and don't get to see the work of other artists! (Not to mention that we can't always afford tickets).
2. Time to share! Share each others' work! Share ideas and conversation between call and the performance! Share thoughts and feedback during the performance! Share new friends, dancers and choreographers!
3. Community! or ComeUnity! Come Together featured break dancers, modern dancers, ballet dancers, tap dancers, and traditional Indian dancers. There were dances in bear feet, socks, ballet flats, pointe shoes, tap shoes, and sneakers. Dances with unique and beautiful costumes (extravagant and minimal), lighting, and props. Dancers of every shape, size, color, background, and makeup. And the backstage area where everyone is waiting to perform is full of support! The hallway fills with applause as the last performing group enters from off stage and shouts of "Merde!" to the company heading on stage.
4. The Suzanne Roberts Theatre is beautiful! The stage is a nice floor on which to dance, the audience is a great size, the lighting and production capacities are beautiful! And Koresh always has a sweet team of professionals working the technical end and capturing the moments of the performance.
5. I am reminded of how lucky I am to be a professional dancer. This is a challenging vocation, but I am grateful to know that so many others share my drive, dream, and passion. (And challenges and shortcomings). Each of us, in our own way, figures out how to make that dream survive.
6. Dance brings people together. All of the performances had full audiences! Not only did we get to share with other artists, backstage, but with a full house (over 400 people) every night. Dance is powerful and transformative. It creates joy.
Koresh needs some help to make sure that Come Together is complete - even after the final performers take their bows. Their Indiegogo campaign is open for a few more days. Please help keep Dance in Philly alive: Come Together Indiegogo Campaign
Thank you! Thank you, Koresh! Thank you, KYL/D! Thank you Bicking Photography! Thank you dance artists! Thank you to all of the audience members and supporters! It was an honor to share the stage with you and perform for you!
National Dance Day is July 25th and was officially named by the Dizzy Feet Foundation.
"Dizzy Feet Foundation was founded in 2009 by producer Nigel Lythgoe and director Adam Shankman, among others, to support, improve and increase access to dance education in the United States" ~from the Dizzy Feet Foundation website
Across the country, dance communities celebrate this day with performances, classes, and dance-related excitement.
This post is a day late because I was performing in the 3rd Annual Come Together Dance Festival, presented by the Koresh Dance Company.
This year, I had the honor of performing with Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers. I love Come Together because:
1. Dancers in the Philly area are so busy! We are often rehearsing and performing with our own projects and don't get to see the work of other artists! (Not to mention that we can't always afford tickets).
2. Time to share! Share each others' work! Share ideas and conversation between call and the performance! Share thoughts and feedback during the performance! Share new friends, dancers and choreographers!
3. Community! or ComeUnity! Come Together featured break dancers, modern dancers, ballet dancers, tap dancers, and traditional Indian dancers. There were dances in bear feet, socks, ballet flats, pointe shoes, tap shoes, and sneakers. Dances with unique and beautiful costumes (extravagant and minimal), lighting, and props. Dancers of every shape, size, color, background, and makeup. And the backstage area where everyone is waiting to perform is full of support! The hallway fills with applause as the last performing group enters from off stage and shouts of "Merde!" to the company heading on stage.
4. The Suzanne Roberts Theatre is beautiful! The stage is a nice floor on which to dance, the audience is a great size, the lighting and production capacities are beautiful! And Koresh always has a sweet team of professionals working the technical end and capturing the moments of the performance.
5. I am reminded of how lucky I am to be a professional dancer. This is a challenging vocation, but I am grateful to know that so many others share my drive, dream, and passion. (And challenges and shortcomings). Each of us, in our own way, figures out how to make that dream survive.
6. Dance brings people together. All of the performances had full audiences! Not only did we get to share with other artists, backstage, but with a full house (over 400 people) every night. Dance is powerful and transformative. It creates joy.
Koresh needs some help to make sure that Come Together is complete - even after the final performers take their bows. Their Indiegogo campaign is open for a few more days. Please help keep Dance in Philly alive: Come Together Indiegogo Campaign
 |
| KYL/D performing at Koresh's Come Together. Photo by Bicking Photography (I'm in the green socks). |
Thank you! Thank you, Koresh! Thank you, KYL/D! Thank you Bicking Photography! Thank you dance artists! Thank you to all of the audience members and supporters! It was an honor to share the stage with you and perform for you!
Monday, July 20, 2015
The Protected - more questions
For the Dance Journal, Gregory King wrote, "Athletic and nuanced in its presentation, The Protected revealed King in positions of defiance and strength when she stood in an open stance with her chest listed and arms raised above her head and bent at the elbows. She was unapologetic in her demeanor as she overpowered the space with her deliberate musculature. King danced fearlessly..."
Read the whole review here: Artists at Home
A "performance" is like a "publication". What is shown (through the stage or through text) is fully developed, thought out, and researched. But the action of "putting it out there" (read: the work for performance and/or publication) also proves to be influential in the choreographer's/ author's research.
Because the creative process is organic, it's never "really" finished.
~Should the work be left to gestate, it might produce different results.
~Should the audience experience the work at a different time or place, he/she/they might have different interpretations of the work, based upon his/her/their lived experiences and what they bring to the work.
~What would happen if the creator could re-visit the work:
~ with his/her new lived and researched experiences?
~ with feedback from other professionals in the field?
~ with feedback from audiences who are not experienced in the field?
How do lived experiences change with time? How do the memories of lived experiences change with time?
Read the whole review here: Artists at Home
A "performance" is like a "publication". What is shown (through the stage or through text) is fully developed, thought out, and researched. But the action of "putting it out there" (read: the work for performance and/or publication) also proves to be influential in the choreographer's/ author's research.
Because the creative process is organic, it's never "really" finished.
~Should the work be left to gestate, it might produce different results.
~Should the audience experience the work at a different time or place, he/she/they might have different interpretations of the work, based upon his/her/their lived experiences and what they bring to the work.
~What would happen if the creator could re-visit the work:
~ with his/her new lived and researched experiences?
~ with feedback from other professionals in the field?
~ with feedback from audiences who are not experienced in the field?
How do lived experiences change with time? How do the memories of lived experiences change with time?
 |
| A moment from "The Protected" caught by Bill Hebert. |
Friday, July 17, 2015
Dance "Hacks" - Part 2
Thanks so much to everyone who read and responded to my article and question about dance "hacks"!
Here's the article: Dance Advantage - Dance Hacks for Performance and Summer Training
And here are some of my fav responses from people, personally and virtually:
"Ibuprofen!"
"The night before a show, I rub my feet in Icy-Hot - mainly the arches so they're warm."
"I always have a theraband, make up remover wipes (for sweat in addition to make up), deodorant, and a mini first aid kit. And of course water and extra socks!"
"And two tennis balls placed in a sock for my tight calves and upper traps. I even take this on long airplane flights to massage my back while I'm sitting. A granola bar too!"
"Extra warm-ups! A sweater, leg warmers, and/or socks/ slippers."
"A journal and a pen. I have a digital device, but I also really like the ability to write things down. There's a different connection in my brain when I write with a pen as opposed to when I type."
What are some things that you carry with you?
Here's the article: Dance Advantage - Dance Hacks for Performance and Summer Training
And here are some of my fav responses from people, personally and virtually:
"Ibuprofen!"
"The night before a show, I rub my feet in Icy-Hot - mainly the arches so they're warm."
"I always have a theraband, make up remover wipes (for sweat in addition to make up), deodorant, and a mini first aid kit. And of course water and extra socks!"
"And two tennis balls placed in a sock for my tight calves and upper traps. I even take this on long airplane flights to massage my back while I'm sitting. A granola bar too!"
"Extra warm-ups! A sweater, leg warmers, and/or socks/ slippers."
"A journal and a pen. I have a digital device, but I also really like the ability to write things down. There's a different connection in my brain when I write with a pen as opposed to when I type."
What are some things that you carry with you?
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Dance "Hacks" and Necessary Dance Bag Items - Post 1
Warning: This is the first of a series of posts.
I am lucky to perform different projects on a regular basis. I learn so much from performance.
From the performance itself:
What is the work communicating to an audience? What am I communicating to an audience?
What is the work saying to me, in real time?
How do I negotiate real-time, unexpected challenges? (A lighting error, the music goes out, another dancer makes an unexpected choice?)
From the preparation for performance:
What do I need to be ready for the performance, physically, emotionally, and psychologically?
To that end, I have shared these dance "hacks":
Dance Hacks for Performance and Summer Training
Hack: A clever solution to a tricky problem - according to urbandictionary.com.
What are your dance (or life) "hacks"?
I am lucky to perform different projects on a regular basis. I learn so much from performance.
From the performance itself:
What is the work communicating to an audience? What am I communicating to an audience?
What is the work saying to me, in real time?
How do I negotiate real-time, unexpected challenges? (A lighting error, the music goes out, another dancer makes an unexpected choice?)
From the preparation for performance:
What do I need to be ready for the performance, physically, emotionally, and psychologically?
To that end, I have shared these dance "hacks":
Dance Hacks for Performance and Summer Training
Hack: A clever solution to a tricky problem - according to urbandictionary.com.
What are your dance (or life) "hacks"?
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