Contracts & agreements in our first rehearsal

This post is part of a longer series documenting the process of creating a lecture demonstration entitled “Movement moves: translating dance” which will be presented at the CORD/SDHS joint conference at The Ohio State University in October, 2017. You can view other posts from this series here.  During our first rehearsal, Charles and I cameContinue

Let’s make a dance real quick

This afternoon, I worked with OSU Dance BFA students Emily Gaffga, Ca’la Henderson, Maddie Mazzola, Charlotte Stickles, and Erin Yen to try out some ideas for a choreographic residency I have next week with The Collective in Baltimore. We worked for 90 minutes and ended up with a five minute dance. I didn’t really haveContinue

“Endings”: The end, for now

I wrapped up rehearsals for my independent study in choreography last week, and I’ve been writing quite a bit about what I learned from the process. It was incredibly useful, with one year down in my MFA program, to have the time in the studio with a wonderful group of collaborators who helped me clarifyContinue

“Endings”: building

Our last rehearsal for the summer was last night, and I decided to create a new section that pulled material out of other things the dancers made during July. We created a 8 minute section that I’m really excited about–it just feels like we get closer to something (something!) with each rehearsal. https://vimeo.com/101755199   Here’sContinue

“Endings”: what is it about watching?

I’ve made many dances in which the dancers stand and watch each other. Usually, there is some section that involves a group or person standing still, watching a group or person do something more physical. In rehearsal this week, I formalized this, having the dancers actually sit at the front of the stage in chairsContinue

“Endings”: a section I really like

Josh, Rachel, Savannah, and Joda developed text and movement solos a few weeks ago that we’ve been using in a quartet. Each time I watch this section, I think: I love this part. And then I think: why? Because it’s weird…is that an answer? I like that the dancers speak to each other, that theContinue

“Endings”: developing text

Part of my desire to do an independent study this summer was to examine and evaluate my methods of writing text. It’s always been a very intuitive process for me, but through this rehearsal period, I’ve discovered some values: I like a mix of poetic and practical language. If the language is headed more towardContinue

“Endings” and a few rambling side notes

https://vimeo.com/101009653 We did a lot on July 9. This actually isn’t even all of it! But, what I’m showing in the video is some more development of the chair material created by Emma and Joda, Joda’s solo in front of chairs scooting backwards (they make a great sound), and Rachel’s solo against a partial mirrorContinue

“Endings”: Emma and Joda

Emma and Joda both developed solo material based on two familiar themes: Emma took “buddy comedy,” and Joda took “star-crossed lovers story.” (You can see their solos as solos here.) Shortly after they created the material, I had Emma find moments to take herself off the vertical and suspend certain material. Joda played with timingContinue

Embrace the cliche

This evening I met with dancers Shannon Drake, Josh Hines, Rachel Merry and Savannah Weatherington to start work on…something. I’ve decided not to call it a dance just yet, but more a period of exploring some ways of generating text. Since I can remember, I’ve always made up stories for myself. As a child fallingContinue