Squint, and Remake the World

My colleague and friend Jessica Kondrath and I are pooling our efforts for a show to happen this weekend at ARC in Pasadena.  It all started when I commissioned Jessica to set a piece on my students at Moorpark College.  The piece, called Squint, and Remake the World was a great challenge for the young dancers who valiantly rose to the occasion and learned a lot in the process. 

But, there was something about the piece that made me want to dance it. And, not many pieces will do that for me.  So, I asked Jessica to reset it on my company. . . and, well, collaborating on the one piece turned into the production of an entire evening of concert dance. 

Once this idea was planted in my mind I started to work on a choreographic response to Squint.  I titled it Underneath Scattered Eyelashes.  A version of the dance was performed on Megill & Company's Gala performance late May.  I have never created a choreographic response to another dance, so this was a fun and interesting choreographic challenge.  I enjoyed drawing from some of the motifs of Jessica's work and using them as a spring board into a new direction.  Here is a little more about the nature of the piece and my thought process behind it. 


Underneath Scattered Eyelashes

 The title of the work comes from a little game I played when I was younger.  When an eyelash fell on someone's cheek we would get hold of it have the person make a wish while blowing the eyelash (and the wish) into the air.  Where are all those eyelashes? And, perhaps more importantly where are all of the wishes they represented?  Additional imagery for the piece is drawn from the beauty and timelessness of celestial movement as the home of our dreams. The use of arm circles in the piece represents the rotation of the planets.  The large sweeping circular pathways reflect the orbits of the planets around a star.  These grand images of the galaxy are contrasted with a gritty reality that is our life on earth shown in the position of one hand on the head and the other on the hip.  The piece ultimately asks an existential question about who we are in this world and in this lifetime.  Some of the movements are based in CFR lessons (Cortico-Field Reeducation) that I have learned as part of a Feldenkrais-based physical therapy that reintegrates the nervous system for greater ease and efficiency.  The paradoxical nature of the piece can be seen on a micro and a macro level in the design of the body in relationship to gravity and itself and the designs of the bodies in space in relationship to each other.  The heaviness of the piece comes from the existential crisis we all face as some point in our lives.  But, this is effectively balanced in the awe and beauty seen all around us.  The meditative quality of the piece invites the audience to come inward, to settle their energy into this moment and to bask in the complex paradox that is this lifetime. 


In addition to Eyelashes, I will be performing a structured improvisation I created last year called Inside the Vault.  This solo involves five audience volunteers who help me demonstrate the way our brains are able to make connections as we learn.  The piece came to me in a flash. I heard the Tom Waits song; I thought of the text, and I saw the volunteers and use of the yarn all in one moment of artistic connection.

Inside the Vault
This piece is about memory and memory loss.  Our brains have millions of nerves that connect and reconnect as we learn things and forget things.  As we age this process of connection can become difficult for many reasons.  The song Young at Heart performed by tom Waits includes the lyrics "Fairy tales will come true, it can happen to you, when your young at heart."  This reminds us to notice how old or young we feel.  What dreams have we forgotten and what dream to we still hold onto.  How do we interact with the world as emotional beings with our life experience affecting each decision at every turn? These type of questions are addressed in the spoken text from a book My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor in which she describes how our brain is structured and how the neurons connect to each other to create emotions that are the same at 10 as they are at 30 or even 77.  We are both old and young at each stage in our lives.  Our nervous system has no age, and yet we think of ourselves as aging, forgetting, and losing all that we are with the accumulation of years. 

If you come to the show, I would love to hear your thoughts on the work.  I decided to write this blog in response to a friend's request to know more about the pieces in the performance.  She finds the background knowledge provides a key to unlocking and appreciating the pieces on a deeper level.  This got me to thinking about the dance world and audiences and the common misperception of "not getting modern dance." I offer this blog to those who are interested in knowing more, as a sort of alternative to a DVD commentary you might have on a favorite film.  When we invest our attention into something, we are able to enjoy it on many levels from many perspectives.  I hope this blog gives the audience members for this weekend's show a foothold into deeper appreciation. 

-Beth

See the show? Share your thoughts as a comment below! Feedback is a precious gift!

Awakenings & Beginnings 2014: Review

Tonight I enjoyed an easy drive into Los Angeles to the Diavolo performance space to see the evening performance in the Awakenings & Beginning Dance Festival 2014, produced by Rubans Rouges Dance Company.  The audience was willingly packed in the small space to see some of the top contemporary dance groups perform their work. 

The show opened with a visually elegant work entitled Phoenix, by Michael Nickerson Rossi of Nickerson Rossi Dance.  This ensemble piece included sweeping port de bras, as the dancers adeptly moved through the space with turns, extensions, floor work and more. The imagery of flying surfaced at times throughout the dance which included well crafted and technically demanding modern dance phrases performed by beautiful movers.  The performance possessed a hypnotic quality as the dancers organized and reorganized in various pairings and designs in the space sometimes feeling like one bird sometimes feeling like many.  

The second piece in the show, Winterreise, was a classically based pas de deux choreographed by Judith FLEX Helle of Luminario Ballet.  It was so refreshing to see the simplicity of the classical ballet line included in this show.  Both performers were excellently trained with solid technique and a convincing ballet demeanor.  I was pleased with the German title (Winterreise means Winter Trip), because it allowed me additional insight into the narrative of the danseur who slowly goes insane over a lost love.  The shining moment of this work existed in the first few moments in which the ballerina was lifted and turned as she gestured with her leg in perfect timing to the musical phrasing.  Such manifestations of the music are gems for the audience member. 

The first act of the show closed with a piece choreographed by Deborah Brockus of Brockus Project Dance: RED.  Excerpted from an evening length work, Quest, this selection was titled Famine Solos and was beautifully performed by three dynamically different females who were deeply connected and passionately invested in the narrative of moving on from the pain of loss, grief and war.  The variety in the selection of performers had a profound effect on the nature of the work, one was young and played her part with both sensuality and ferocity.  The second soloist embodied a maturity in her opening moments of emotional collapse before she powerfully moved through the space.  The last soloist had a quieter essence, that resided in her stable presence. 

Act two opened with Noelle Andressen's company, Rubans Rouges Dance Company.  This was also a short series of dances excerpted from a larger work about her battle with cancer, Let This Be My Last Battleground. I had seen the original solo, STORM, last year and was interested to see the next stages of the story being told.  With a brand new set of company members, the work is representative of the continual growth seen in Andressen's work.  The intermittent video projections included photos of other cancers survivors as well as cancer victims and added a reality to this social issue that has or will effect each and every one of us in some way. 

Ken Morris presented a sweet duet, Conflict/Resolved, in which these young lovers experience their first fight, but manage to resolved their differences as they find each other rhythm and mutual balance.  The rhythm driven music was a refreshing shift from the more minimalist scores of the former pieces. In addition, the West African, Samba and playful club-dance vocabulary changed the tone of the evening at just the right point. The audience was able to laugh at the couple's follies and smile at their reunion.

The final work of the evening was Waiting at Home for the Witches, by Invertigo Dance's Laura Karlin (in collaboration with dancers). These powerhouse male performers stole the show!  Zsolt Banki, Chris Smith and Cody Wilbourn, jumped, rolled, floated, lifted and inverted their way into the hearts of the audience with this dance theater work inspired by the opening scene of Macbeth that answers the question: What toil and trouble is going on at home with the husbands of Machbeth's Weird Sisters?  The humor of the work was balanced with the sheer brilliance of the dancers' technical and dramatic performance.  The audience participation and beer bottled were just added bonuses to the satisfaction found in the piece due to Karlin's intelligent craftsmanship of this dance.

I overheard an audience member say (and I paraphrase) "There is a ton of great dance going on in LA this weekend." And, she was absolutely right. A sold out performance such as this should inspire you to get out an see what is available in the upcoming weeks.  Discover the work that moves you and then do all you can to support it!  Our LA dance community has everything to make a concert dance scene a real part of LA culture.  Now, we just need to make it happen, together, as a community. 

Did you see the show?  Share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Review: Pennington Dance Group presents BLOW

Last evening I attended a lovely modern dance performance at A Room to Create (ARC) in Pasadena.  This studio/performance space is owned and run by John Pennington and home to Pennington Dance Group.  The show was sold out, with patrons eagerly waiting to see if additional seating would become available.  Pennington means a lot to the LA dance community, not only because of his beautiful dance space, but because of his openhearted and supportive energy for many modern dance companies in the area.  The warmth of the audience emphasized just how beloved Pennington is.

The show opened with a reworked quintet from 2005, entitled OUT OF, choreographed by Pennington.  The five dancers dressed in all white and moved through the space in sweeping patterns that balanced an ethereal quality of beauty with a grounded earth energy. Pennington tied these dynamics together in stunning designs through space that covered the entirety of the performance space with grace and ease.  The piece also incorporated five floor length banners by artist Susan Rankaitis.  These seemingly Japanese inspired panels, set the stage for some of the more Asian stylings in Pennington's choreography.

The show continued with three pieces performed and choreographed by PDG company members.  Tomas Tsai performed his B-boy-meets-dance-theater solo, MEAN.  Li Rothermich performed with Travis Richardson in her impressive and almost acrobatic duet, ECLIPSE.  And, Michael Szanyi captured the audience with his larger than life solo, DESCENT.  This last piece was particularly interesting for its use of theatrical design.

Szanyi stood perched on a box, dressed in a deep red taffeta skirt that cascaded from his corsetted waist down to the floor where it spilled out in all directions.  Set to a piano score by Rachmaninov, Szanyi performed facing upstage the entire time, staying perched in the air as he gestured with his torso and arms in slow, sustained time, never breaking the spell of the piece.  The play of the light on his back and the fleeting glimpses of his profile added to the mystery and magic of the piece.  The moment in which he reached out with a pointed finger reminded me of Michaelanglo's  Sistine Chapel in which Adam is created by the touch of God.  This imagery added a huge layer of meaning in the work, as it immediately opened the door for questioning the nature of man, and more specifically of a gay man, as he stands larger than life, perched on a pedestal in his blood red skirt reaching for the finger of God.

After intermission, Pennington premiered his newest work, BLOW.  This piece opened with the company of eight dancers exhaling and blowing out in all manners possible: sighing, lip buzzing, shushing, whistling, coughing.  The ridiculousness of this situation added a quirky levity to the show that had not yet been incorporated and was refreshing for the audience who now had a chance to laugh.  The opening scene moved into a series of duets, in which the dancers manipulated each other with their breath, inhaling to suck them in and exhaling to send them away. Each couple was unique and playful, moving through the space in unpredictable bursts.  These duets ended with the dancers moving to the walls of the space which were covered in sound-proofing material (black egg crate foam), and against which the duets could interact by pressing and climbing the wall with the help of their partner.  This offered a rich visual experience for the audience who could look between the duets and the four different areas on the wall to choose which moment was interesting and which drew their attention.  However, it was at this point in the work that the connection to the idea of BLOW became muddy.  Nevertheless, the duets were a visual feast as the dancers related to each other with a variety of emotions including suspicion, aggression, play, and curiosity. 

As most of the dancers exited the space, two men were left to perform a duet that was sensitive, patient, and powerful.  The dancers moved through the space with speed and agility that was never forced or awkward. These dancers floated through the huge performance space, covering ground in a way that was extremely satisfying for the viewer.  The immediacy of the duet was palpable for the audience, and yet, the design and precision of the movement was never lost.  Pennington clearly has a way for creating movement that is exuberant, free and visually stimulating. 

The piece then took an unexpected turn, when out of the sensitive moment, in walked Li Chang Rothermich in high platform heels, a pencil skirt, blouse, sunglasses and red designer bag.  It was immediately evident that this woman owned the stage.  Her presence just standing on the stage and looking outward was riveting.  Her put-together affectations contrasted the somewhat disheveled young man in the suit with awkwardly short pants and sneakers who occupied the other side of the stage.  The energetic and qualitative differences between this well-kept women and gangly young man made for a strange and laughable comparison.

But, nothing compared to the next choreographic moment in which two young men dueled with leaf blowers.  Yes! My life in now complete! This outright, obvious interpretation of BLOW was nothing short of hysterical and spectacular. This quirky moment (like the opening) is where the heart of the piece really lies.  Smart and funny.

The piece closed with all eight dancers in black recreating the sensation of being blown across the stage in waves of arm gestures and running patterns that transformed the space into a kinetic playground.  The strongest moment came near the end during which the dancers lined up across the length of the performance space and moved upstage and downstage in gusts of action that reminded me of the unpredictable and immense power of the Santa Ana winds we know so well here in Los Angeles. 

Overall the evening of dance was a notable success. The audience was extremely receptive and gracious. The dancers' chemistry as a whole made clear that they enjoy performing together as a company.  Another special aspect of the performance was original music scores for the majority of the works.  Edgar Rothermich and Tom Peters each provided scores for this performance.  In addition, as a dancer watching this performance there was something extremely satisfying.  Pennington's movement looks like it feels good to dance.  The traveling through space, the smart designs in the use of gesture, and the luxurious and graciousness of the movement quality all add to the kinesthetic appeal of the performance. I know Pennington offers weekly class, and after seeing the show tonight, I am tempted to make the drive to Pasadena!

SoleVita Dance Company: MoveMeant (A Review)

Joelle Martinec presented a stellar evening of dance at the Madrid Theater in Canoga Park, entitled MoveMeant.  Martinec's company, SoleVita, consists of excellently trained dancers who perform with both conviction and accuracy.  The style of the evening can loosely be described as Contemporary Jazz, but distinct flavors existed in each piece creating diversity and entertainment for the duration of the show.  If you love high energy, accessible dance performed by a cast of beautiful bodies, SoleVita's MoveMeant is for you.  The program was a little tricky to follow in terms of how the dances were grouped and titled into themed sections (for MoveMeant) and stand alone pieces.  This left me a little confused on how to connect the pieces under the larger MoveMeant umbrella title,  But, I will do my best to describe a few highlights from this premier event:

Develop featured a potent strobe light representing a camera flash in this study of human shape, line and stopped motion.  The strobe effect is something David Parsons perfected in his solo work Caught from the 1980's. Martinec's take on the strobe played with combinations of bodies in space, sometimes unified, sometimes divergent.  The second portion of Develop, entitled Fixer to Frame, investigated the idea of an ever emerging composition of dancers in space. The bodies wrapped and slid among and through each other before pulsing through the space in rhythmic flow. The red lighting referenced a dark room as the picture emerged through the course of the dance.

Martinec took some time to comment on the various forms of romantic love in her piece All Included.  The three part piece started with a classic tale of boy meets girl.  It begins with a series of comic mishaps, head bonks, accidental slaps in the face, and untimely attempts to connect, before they manage to settle in, find each others rhythm, and fall in love.  The second part, Near Light, performed by Andrew Boyd Bechtold and Jeremy Thompson was a moving duet telling the intimate story of gay love.  This duet was well danced and emotionally honest in a way that separated itas unique from the rest of the largely playful program. The romance was so convincing that it was hard for me to later see these men as heterosexuals in later pieces in which they assumed the more traditional role of heterosexual male. Part three was a fanciful and well costumed piece performed by six females dressed in half of a men's suit and half of a white gown (very Victor/Victoria).  This playful commentary on gender and sexuality was particularly exciting from a visual standpoint as the dancers switched sides (and roles) throughout the puzzle of a dance. 

The Walk West was another multi-section portion of MoveMeant, but this time set with a very theatrical feel of 1800's American pioneers.  The first part refreshed the audience with the absence of a soundtrack or music.  The slow traveling of the cast members across the stage was a well crafted visual for the context of the piece.  The second part, called  Homestead, was the section that worked least for me in that the more conservative and gestural style of the first section gave way to some incongruent jazz styling that didn't fit for me in this early American pioneer context. However, part three, Revealed, brought me back into the historical time and place with circle barn dances that were just plain fun.  Part four, BrotherHood, was the real crown pleaser. Performed by four men, this piece was powerful, aggressive, and visually exciting. I began with a conflict between two men, and I didn't catch the resolve of conflict between two of the characters, but the piece as a whole, including horse galloping, rope throwing, and all manner of jumps and turns was a joy to watch and the audience showed its approval in rousing applause.

The show closed with Finalize This which took MoveMeant back to the home of jazz dance with its mix of cabaret, burlesque, comedy and commercial dance.  In the piece entitled Is it?, I appreciated that these beautiful women were willing to make fun of themselves and the sexuality of the classic chair dance/ strip tease.  In part two, Courtney Ozovek, played it straight and sexy in her high heeled solo pirtS. The show closed with what these dancers do best, fast paced, perfectly timed, hot commercial jazz. Men showing force in suits and ties and ladies sparkling in silver dresses, Whew! is appropriately titled.  These dancers have the stamina that is required for a life of a professional dancer.  High kicking, turning, and leaping right through to the end of the show, Finalize This was a an opportunity for these excellent dancer to show off their incredible skills and deep down love for dancing.

The show featured other works (outside of the MoveMeant theme), including an exquisitely performed solo by the captivating and spellbinding Amber Dupuy, a solemn ensemble piece choreographed by company member Chelsea Mischner, and a texture rich work featuring Kara Hess.  Overall, this show is worth your time and the ticket price.  Worth more actually.  When talking about the entertainment factor in dance: Martinec delivers.  This is a show that will make dancers want to get up and dance and dance fans leaving fully satisfied.

You have one more chance to catch the show Saturday at 8pm at the Madrid Theater.  There is no reason this show shouldn't sell out, so get your tickets now before it is too late.  You will be thoroughly entertained.

Did you see the show? Share your comments below!
Beth

For a past review of SoleVite that I year (featuring Modern Communication and 2). Click here. 

Review: New Original Works Festival: Week Three

The NOW Festival held at REDCAT on August 8, 2013 was a night of far-out performing arts that rallied the spirit of NOW in the LA arts scene. 

The evening opened with a music work composed by accordionist Daniel Corral entitled Dislike.  The music began in swelling harmonies with the eight accordion players falling in and out of dissonance as they played the loosely structured score. This endless din of accordion harmonies, contrasted the verbal assaults by the readers including highly punctuated accusations taken from a 24 record of the most "disliked" YouTube video ever. The rhythmic disparity allowed for the listener to catch bits and pieces of the caustic language over the drone of the accordions. The challenge existed when the accordions and the readers voices synchronized in the same register and competed for the aural space. However, this sonic competition was just another layer of the conceptual composition. A similar competition existed between lines of the libretto and the voices reading them. It was frustrating and irritating at times, because one would hear the beginning of a sentence but miss the second half due to a sudden sweep of cacophony surrounding it. Each reader talked into the mic in a way that they were talking at each other (and at times at no one) rather than with each other.  The somewhat arbitrary timing of the piece provided a context for outrageous and humorous moments to stand such as "Obama loves Bieber" and "Baby baby baby, oooh" or "Learn some grammar Bro," not to mention the string of profanity and name calling throughout.  By the end of the piece, I hated YouTube; I hated the Internet, and I would have given anything to make it stop. But, my experience of discomfort was what created the power in the Corral's social commentary. It was uncomfortable listening to ugliness of it all, recognizing just how much people feel they need to say, to be heard (at all costs) about things that are ultimately irrelevant to their personal everyday lives. Yet, the need to define oneself by speaking up compelled these YouTube watchers to participate in the ugly stream of toxic thoughts. This 20+ min piece offered the time to viscerally experience the inane communication that is so prevalent in the online environment and gave us pause to consider our own role in this world of dislike.

After a brief intermission, the stage was reset for a dance work entitled The Other Thing, by Meg Wolfe and Morgan Thorson.  The piece opened with a walking pattern that each of the three performers followed in canon. The floorplan allowed for moments for the performers to regard the audience and each other with momentary interest as they passed.  The sounds of their heeled shoes echoed through the space, amplified by a floor microphone. This created a spaciousness to the piece that matched the large and empty performance space.  Fleeting moments of activity left the audience wondering about these three, very different women and their respective natures.  Overall, there was no evident overarching compositional structure or story telling.  The non-sequitur movement and disparate dance phrases created all sorts of questions but never answered any of them. This of course drove my thinking into the purpose of the choreographers' choices.  I first looked to the title: The other thing? Other than what? Tradition? Commercialism? This train of thought seemed to hold some water because this piece offered a whimsical study in the expected and the unrelated. A smattering of patterns, relationships and scenarios, this piece exuded a postmodern/ dance-theater feel that was extremely intellectual and kinesthetic without relying on an evident theme nor narrative.

The mere combination of the dancers on stage provided dynamic contrast that begged questioning. The tall and severe, Meg Wolfe, communicated an energy of seriousness and gravity. But, the slight stature of the sweet, hometown-girl, Jessica Cressey brought a lightness and play to the stage.  Morgan Thorson contrasted both with her feminine allure and long blonde hair. The interaction between these three were quirky if nothing else. It seemed like the piece was one big challenge made to the audience. "Dare to get me and dare to dislike me." This theme of challenge was supported in a stand-out compositional choice in which Wolfe defiantly held both arms overhead in fists for the duration of a song plus another few minutes. Staring down the audience and unwilling to relinquish her stance (despite the apparent fatigue developing in the arms), she crafted a lasting image of the work. 

The night wrapped up with my debut performance on kazoo! Well, mine and the rest of the audience who kazooed in harmony (as designated by the color of your instrument). The one act musical Toxikos directed by Deena Selenow was a bawdy, humor driven, pop music and Greek theater mash up that got the audience laughing out loud. The pop culture references and well timed comedy were just what the audience needed to finish the night on an upbeat note. The original Greek text by Sophocles was well delivered by the cast of women, but unfortunately the narrative meaning was largely lost amidst the mischievous and funny antics by the performers. However, the audience didn't seem to mind or notice and instead were rousted to feverish applause after the final song and dance performance of Britney Spears' Toxic. Although I missed exactly how the song tied into the Greek classic, I, too, enjoyed the fluffy entertainment value and parodic dance moves choreographed by Genevieve Gearhart and Deena Selenow. 

Overall the evening had something for everyone and gave me a lot to thing about as an audience member and artist. NOW Festival is a provocative acronym because it made me link what I saw to the here-and-now of today and therefore framed my experience within my concept of what is NOW and  the question of how each work related to NOW? I was able to bend my brain into various definition of NOW whether it be pop culture references, rejection of current trends or extensions of yesterday's avant garde. Had the evening been presented under a different heading, I may not have made these connection or interpretations. But, I am always grateful for any tidbit of insight into an evening of performance and found these three works excellent representations of the many directions and interpretations of NOW.

The show runs for two more nights. Click here for a link to the REDCAT website and ticket information.  And, remember if you go see it, be sure to come back here and leave your own comments for the performing arts community.


Beth

Dance Needs You! (Or, rather, you need dance?)

I have been thinking a lot recently about the nature of dance and its need for stronger community support.  And, I am not talking about TV produced Dance reality shows. Obviously. 

I am talking about the little fish in the pond, the smaller buggers that put their life and soul into their art and often receive little to no community support outside of their immediate friends and family. 

But, I realized that the issue is not that dance needs people, but that people need dance.  I need dance. You need dance. Our society needs dance. But, why? 

We are forgetting.

We are forgetting how important it is to be in communion with our fellow community members. We are forgetting what it feels like to dance in harmony, to dance in unison, as one body, with one common trust in our own humanity.   We are forgetting just how it feels to be present in the moment without competition, without an audience, without an applause meter or a phone line voting system.  We are forgetting how it feels to be in the body with others who are in their own skins, breathing, sensing, moving, relating.  Dance isn't just about moving to move.  It is about our ability to cultivate relationships in motion.  To release our own sense of identity in order to partake in a larger body. 

I learned just recently about a beautiful Global dance that happened today.  Initiated my Martha Eddy, the Global Water Dance is a dance in celebration for all beings, of all cultures, in all locations.  This is an example of how dance (and music) transcends all barriers.  How dance is a safe and open invitation for all people to simply participate in being human by moving together in harmony. 

I am tired of dance as spectacle.  I am tired of dance for the privileged.  Dance for the stars. Dance for competition. Dance can serve all people in increasing their quality of life, in their quality of being human. 

When was the last time you danced?  At a wedding? In your living room? In a dance studio?  Have you forgotten? 

 And, this is not to point blame at you.  I believe the active dance world is as much to blame.  I suspect that the dance world may have encouraged you to forget.

And, what I mean by this is the tendency I see for the "dance world" to make work that is either "light entertainment" or "inaccessible art."  What are your impressions of concert dance?  When was the last dance show you attended in person? Why did you go? What did you get out of it?  Please comment because I actually want to know!  I suspect that most people who attend live dance concerts go because they know someone in the performance.  They go to show their support. This is admirable and much appreciated, however I would rather people come to be inspired! To rediscover themselves through the experience of watching live dance. To be enriched as individuals making their ways through the world.

I am convinced that there is concert dance in this world that is both artistic and enjoyable. And, I intended to keep making dances until I find that balance.  Until the audience remembers that seeing dance can increase their enjoyment of life and the richness in their understanding of themselves as humans in this world. 

And, I will know I have succeeded when I see strangers take the risk to see dance performances in their local towns and return to their homes and friends with stories of how they feel more alive and more "inside their skin". . . and how they couldn't resist dancing in their hearts out in their living room.

Then. Now. Onward: A Review of the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company

This was my first ever Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company show, so I came in with literally no expectations. What I knew of LACDC, consisted of a trio I saw of artistic director, Kate Hutter's just last Friday at Adam Parson's Commonality Dance benefit concert.  (See review here).

I also, knew a little about Lindsey Lollie's work (one of the guest artists), having seen her at a number of dance festivals in LA this past year.  But, all in all, I was a clean slate, and I was excited to see what LACDC had in store for me.

This spring repertory show was truly enjoyable.  Now, perhaps I have just been holed up in my suburban life (hello tenure process!), but this is the first local, professional contemporary modern dance company I have seen since I moved to the LA area.  I have seen fantastic touring groups come through, and I have seen short form contemporary work in regional festivals.  But, this was the first company with evening length repertory that I can say was not either a college dance show or some permutation of contemporary jazz.

The concert consisted of 4 pieces. Here are a few thoughts on each:

Lindsey Lollie's piece "En Route" was set to a live avant garde score of Peter Gonzales.  What a treat to have a blend of live instrumentation and real time ipad and macbook driven technical manipulation creating a living, breathing, aural landscape for the piece.  Lollie's syrupy movement dripped off the dancers in the signature style I have come to associate with her work.  The movement palette was silky smooth with a kinetic flow that poured into the floor and between bodies with a hypnotic result.  The dancers embodied the style with ease and vibrancy.

Arianne MacBean presented a beautiful and fun large ensemble piece entitled "100 Times is Not Enough."  MacBean's sense of comic timing and wit made this piece extra enjoyable for the audience.  Telling the "story" of a choreographer in the creative process, the piece featured LACDC's Kate Hutter as the "choreographer," who has to confront herself and her misgivings about creating dance again and again, but eventually finds solace in simple movements that weave together into a visual tapestry that is rich and satisfying.  What can I say? I love humor. And, Hutter's comic timing and ability to connect to the audience was excellent.  But, humor aside, the craftsmanship of the composition was what made this piece so victorious in the end!  It gave the audience a chance to see the piece come to life, and gave the audience a reason to cheer for the success of the piece. It was a choreographic victory happening before our eyes! "99!"

Returning from intermission, "Unravel" choreographed by Kate Hutter and performed by Hutter and Charlie Hodges, had the audience in rapture.  I think the power of this piece lies in the human connection.  This piece, more than any other in the evening, highlighted an intimacy between performers that was playful, invested, and personal.  The seamless partnering and dynamic flow of the two bodies in space had my neighboring audience member whispering "beautiful" under his breath and clapping overhead by the end.  Hutter and Hodges' life long friendship in movement was a treat for the audience to savor.

The evening culminated with Hutter's interpretation of The Rite of Spring, which celebrated it 100's anniversary just this past spring.  Entitled "Prite oef Stringh" (and yes, to save you a moment, it does work out to spell The Rite of Spring all jumbled), this piece was set to a recrafted version of Stranvisky's original score, as freshly composed by Austin Wintory.  I very much enjoyed the simple modifications to the original music to suit a contemporary aesthetic of dance as well as a newly crafted retelling of the story.  The dancer's wore white long underwear that was cut for the women, and socks on everyone that allowed the dancers to slide and be slid (by others) across the white marley floor.  The large cast was essential for creating the sense of tribe and community in the piece and made the final "outcast" particularly prominent.  The dancer's exquisite physicality was the shining star for me in this piece.  They danced from their gut in a way that was completely vulnerable and appropriately disturbing at times.  This, juxtaposed with periods of live clapping, added to the visceral immediacy of the "Rite."  A beautiful and beautifully danced contemporary work, that before now I hadn't experienced among the professional LA dance world. 

This show runs the weekend and should be seen by every dance lover who aches for concert length contemporary dance works that are unashamed to be exactly as they are in a city of glitter and red carpets. 

Then.  Now.  Onward!
 April 4, 5, 6 2013 8:00pm, April 7th at 7pm

LACDC’s Spring Repertory Concert featuring new work by L.A. choreographers Arianne MacBean, Lindsey Lollie, and Artistic Director, Kate Hutter.  The performance will also feature live performance of original music.

Diavolo Dance Space in the Brewery in downtown L.A.
616 Moulton Ave.  Los Angeles, CA  90031

Adam Parson's Commonality Dance Company

Living in Simi Valley, is a tricky one because I'm close to the LA dance scene, and yet, it really takes a effort to get out and participate.  But, tonight I am so glad I did.

Last minute I decided to jump in the car and head to North Hollywood to see Commonality Dance Company at Liv' Art Dance Studio.  Adam Parson started the company in 1998 and has toured internationally as well as being an LA favorite.  His style: Jazz. 

Parson's choreography is an excellent example of Jazz dance that is diverse, entertaining, athletic and musical.  His choreographic style hinges exclusively on the powerful relationship he creates with the music, and his ability to manifest a distinct and complex pallet of dynamics and effort qualities.  What does that mean in every day language?  His dances go beyond the flat aesthetic of cliché jazz dance.  There is a richness to the movement, that is detailed, refined and precise. 

One of my concerns with contemporary jazz practices is the tendency toward the overly dramatic and painfully hyper-emotional.  Parson's work was honest and human without the affectations of "show."  The dancers were relatable (despite their jaw dropping endurance, athleticism and pristine virtuosity).  I love seeing dancers as people, and this show was full of people dancing.  It was sexy, fun, well crafted dance that renewed my conviction to advocate for the genre in academia.  

People wonder if Jazz has a place in Higher Education.

Well. . .

THIS jazz certainly does.  The works I saw tonight were not only physically challenging, but ripe with compositional integrity, movement invention, design and musicianship.  This is not just dancing to a good pop song.  This is true craft.  

But, the craft is so well done it is virtually invisible. In other words, the audience at large may not leave thinking to themselves "Wow! That musical counterpoint was tremendous!" or " Did you notice the use of the dancer's kinesphere? Such versatility in somatic connectivity!"

They leave with a smile on their faces, because they could see and feel that this was "good" dance.  It included themes that they could identify with and movements that spoke to their souls.  But, just because something is enjoyable doesn't mean we should leave it at that.  We can't make the mistake of only analyzing the dances that are hard to get and or semi-sufferable! 

Let's honor this dance form by seeing at it is: so much more than just beautiful bodies doing impressive steps.  Parson is a composer of dance. He is a painter of the space and a visual musician. 

Here are a few notes I made on some of the pieces that really stuck with me: 

Good Intent was an all female piece choreographed by Adam Parson.  The six women performed exquisitely.  The movement pallet included small gestures and isolations that highlighted the hot/cool juxtaposition of  jazz dance.  The women were commanding and exact in their shoulder shrugs, hip rolls and hand gestures. I think I was particularly taken with this piece because of the musicality of the choreography and the way in which the movements embodied such a diverse range of movement qualities from sudden to sustained, direct and indirect, light and firm.  The combinations were playful and enriching to the piece that was ultimately a playful and flirty seduction through movement and allure. 

In contrast, Howitsdun was an all male piece by Parson that gave the male company members an opportunity to shine in their strength, masculinity and sex appeal.  The men dressed in slacks, button down shirts and ties, bounded through the space with an animal-like quality that was all power, while their exterior was cool, calm and collected.  The rhythms were engaging in their syncopation making this a current jazz piece that successfully evokes the aesthetics of Gene Kelly and Matt Mattox. 

Check it out for yourself!:

Another pick of the evening was the work of one of the guest artists, Jennifer Hamilton. This piece, called When My Train Comes In, was a much more contemporary jazz piece.  The finely trained dancers moved with strength power and emotional investment.  What made the movement less "traditional" jazz and more contemporary?  Well, the intense musicality was there, but, was driven by something other than the structural play of rhythmic syncopation.  This piece included rhythm as a means for driving the emotional content of the work, with the focus on regularly repeated movement to drive home the emotional desperation in the dancers.

The most contemporary piece of the show was Kate Hutter's HyperSuperUltraNow (LACDC).  This trio was the most abstract (least narrative), performed by three very diverse women. The piece included the same type of precision as seen in the other numbers, but shed some of the jazz styling to transform the dancers into these quirky characters, bobbing and listing through the space.  I found the material refreshing, playful and pleasantly odd.  But, while this piece might read jazzy on a contemporary modern dance concert, it was definitely the most "stand out-ish" for branching away from the jazz value set. 

All in all, I enjoyed the entire concert, and found that each piece offered me something to enjoy or think about.  Kudos to the entire cast and to the rest of the choreographers, Olivia Gaugain, Dominic Chaiduang, Theresa Kahl, Shanon Novak, and Alex Little. 

While the space is likely to sell out again (and the only real downfall of the evening was the flat seating for the audience), I encourage all dancers to attend the second performance today, Saturday March 30th, 2013.  It is worth sitting on the floor if you have to (so don't wear a skirt!).  Parson mentioned his vision of Commonality becoming THE premier jazz dance company of LA and after seeing this show, I think that he is already on his way. 

Review: Awakenings and Beginnings (Highlights)

As much as I prefer to give complete reviews for dance shows I attend,  I only have time to share the majority of the highlights.  (So, please don't take offense if I didn't get to your piece this time around!)

The evening of dance was produced by Noelle Andressen and featured pieces from her company Rubans Rouges as well as other companies from LA, Ventura and Santa Barbara county.  The show, appropriately entitled Awakenings and Beginnings, was the very first show produced by Andressen and her company. I was very fortunate to work with Andressen while she attended Moorpark College and must say I am most impressed with her courage, creative focus, and unrelenting persistence as an artist.

The show opened with Gitanas de Jazz choreographed by Roubans Rouge dancer Kirby Harrell. This Spanish and Latin inspired dance was a crowd pleaser with its sexy movement vocabulary and fun rhythmic components.  Harrell playfully incorporated body isolations and polyrhythms in such a way to make this dance tough to categorize as either jazz, folk or social.  What it was, was fun!

Amanda Hart, who is no stranger to the dance scene in LA, performed a charming solo called Fluff.  Her performance was simple, clean and captivating. I have seen her company perform many times, and was so pleased with the chance to her dance. She gave this sweet and playful choreography a mature gravity that was honest and lovely.

Another member of the Moorpark College family, department chair, Robert Salas of Movement Theater CoLab presented a trio of three fiery redheads in Four Steps.  These three women were stunning in both their power and sense of line.  True to Salas' style, this piece included a blend of sensitive gesture and athletic power moves.  This power trio (as I liked to call them) did justice to htis challenging work both physically and emotionally.

Casualties of War was a moving modern dance work choreographed by Heather Smith. Performed by the largest cast of the evening, this tribute to the hardships and loss in a soldiers life was performed by young dancers who generously gave an emotionally convincing account of war's tragedies.  The piece required the dancers to transport themselves to wartime, and the result was positive.

Under the newly formed performance collective, Art Bark (formerly Sonnenblaume), Misa and Stephen Kelly co-choreographed One World is Never Enough.  This piece had it all: charming children at the beginning, a cute Dachshund running across the stage and paper airplanes thrown by the audience!  Set to a complex soundscape (that I can't even begin to recreate in my memory), this piece played like an abstract impressionist painting, offering the audience a series of images and scenarios that hinted at travel and relationships, but left the majority of the meaning to be formed by the observer.  Very Art Barkian!

One of Andressen's works was the solo Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies, in which she danced while seated at the edge of a large mirror on the floor.  This largely gestural piece, played with the concepts of reflection and identity, ending with Andressen pouring colored paint onto the mirror to obscure her image before a fellow dancer entered to remove her head scarf in a final moment of unveiling.  The imagery of this piece reminds me of Andressen's background in film.  Like the lens of a camera, the mirrors were both a window into truth and lies, a representative example of Andresson's strong sense of dance as moving pictures. 

Jenn Logan choreographed a remarkable duet, Coupling, Cycles 1-3 performed by Katrina Amerince and Scot Tupper. This dance was seamless and brilliant.  The dancers and choreographer are all members of Nancy Evans Dance Theater and their intimacy and understanding of each other was evident in the complete ease of the performance.  The partnering was mesmerizing and the chemistry between the performers was honest.  The performance was an example of technical excellence that was a pure pleasure to watch. 

Megill & Company debuted a new piece, called the Señorita Dance, choreographed Beth Megill (that's me!).  The audience received this piece with a joyful giggle and enthusiastic applause.  The petite allegro and folklorico inspired rhythms set this piece apart from the rest of the concert with its strong sense of play and joy.  I am so very proud of the performers whose excellent stage presence made this piece such a crown pleaser.

The Most Fascinating Person I Ever Met... Myself  was an emotionally charged modern dance - hip hop hybrid choreographed by another of Moorpark College's faculty Wendi Baity.  (If her name sounds familiar, it is because I recently wrote about her video series the Relentless Chronicles).  In this piece Baity proves again her incredible ability to create movement that is not only physically challenging, but precise and energetically charged.  Baity's movement doesn't just dance to the music, it dances in and around both the message and emotions of the hip hop soundtrack. 

Andressen performed her most powerful piece of the evening with Kirby Harell, entitled Coeur de Verre.  This piece highlighted exactly what Andressen is best at. Her petite frame and incredible core strength allowed her to be easily manipulated by her partner through sequences of lifts and shapes that feature Andressen's sense of design and space.

Alex Floyd was a new name to me going into performance, but her piece Ten was a definite crowd pleaser.  Set to spoken word, this trio of technically strong dancers included a sophisticated blend of contemporary jazz technique and style with more modern phrasing and use of the spoken word soundtrack.  Upon hearing that she recently received her degree from the University of Wyoming, I was even more excited because her style is a fresh addition to the LA dance scene.

Melissa Lynn Block  of Santa Barbara (also performed with Art Bark) choreographed and performed a wonderfully rich and mature solo she titled Powerless. This somatic and release based modern dance work was perhaps the most unpretentious piece of the entire show. Dressed in a simple black dress, Bloch moved through the space with a strength and clarity that is less common in the current LA dance world.  She was grounded and powerful. 

Overall the show was a wonderful success and so well attended that audience members had to be accommodated by floor seating on the side of the performance space. The lighting is a simple on-off, and yet, the intimacy and aesthetic value of the performance was not diminished. The audience was quick to forgive any technical mishaps because the goal of the evening was an unveiling and opening of Andressen's vision and the entire audience seemed willing to honor that.

Did you see the show?  Please feel free to follow this blog and post comments about your observations!  The dance discussion is just beginning. . . Also if you have addition weblinks to share please do!

* I apologize for not having the musical selections for the pieces. The show was so well attended that I wasn't able to get a program!  Now, that is what I call a successful first show.

MixMatch Run Down (Sat Aug 25th, 2012)

This weekend and next Amanda Hart's Hart Pulse Dance is hosting the 6th Annual MixMatch Dance Festival at the Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica.

I am participating in the festival with my group Megill & Company, but tonight I took the time to attend the show as an audience member and enjoy the gifts of the dance scene here in LA (and beyond).  I am writing this review in order to help get the word out about dance in the So Cal community.  It is so hard for small, independent dance groups to get reviewed. So. . .  I thought I would go rogue and start doing it myself.  The following are my impressions, observations, and questions that emerged while watching this fun filled night of dance.  Please feel free to add comments if you saw the show as well or if I have made an egregious mistake that should be fixed!

I hope that this will serve the community as a springboard for talking about the amazing dance practices that are happening all around us.

ACT I

The show opened with Michelle Shear's "Two Forty Five," featuring a quartet of  dancers (3 female, one male) sitting around a table wearing structured suit jackets in various subdued colors.  The piece built from gestures of the head, arms and hands while seated at the table, to bigger "break off" phrases with full bodied movement grounded strongly in a ballet-modern technical vocabulary.  This was a well crafted piece, that contained strong elements of theatrical design, symmetry and asymmetry in space, theme and variation.  It reminded me of Kurt Jooss'  "The Green Table" in its use of the table and specific hand and arm gestures.

"Windows Within," choreographed by Joei Waldron of Axxiom Dance Collective, was a powerful male duet that featured impressive turns, leaps and extensions on behalf of the dancers.  While the interaction between the men was emotion-filled, I wondered whether it was a piece about two individuals or rather a single individual who may be struggling within (as suggested by the title).  Regardless of the specific narrative, the theme of yearning and struggle was evident and well performed by these athletic dancers who were powerful and passionate.

Sophie Olsen's "Peep Show" provided an unexpected commentary on women's power and sexuality.  The three female dancers opened the scene wearing bathrobes and performing perfunctory tasks of reading, chowing on chips and flossing.  Then, upon hearing the sound of quarters dropping in the machine they strip off their fuzzy exteriors revealing quintessential lingerie in red, black and white.  After performing a shocking routine of sex powered head rolls, body grinds and hip undulations, they returned to their boring world of waiting. This pattern repeated until these girls had had enough. rebelling against the structure and ending with broken movements that embodied the destruction of their compliance. 

"Then and Now" was choreographed by Heather Dale Wentworth or OPUS MIXTUS dance.  This sweet female duet was in stark contrast to the piece before it.  The performers, dressed in black and white, shared a yin yang quality that blended them together in moments of sensitivity and care.  The piece oscillated between moments of support and care, the most powerful of which for me was the image of the one girl holding the head of the other while kneeling in child's pose. 

Erica Lyn Pena performed a stunning solo entitled "inTAKE".  Wearing simple knit pants and a tank top, there was nothing particularly theatrical about this piece. Instead it was a study in motion and flow.  Pena leapt and rolled through the space in an opening that was kinetic and whirling in its repetition.  Each movement motif was developed in front of the audience in such a way that we as observers could track the movements visually and eventually feel the movements and their kinetic value. 

The first half closed with a film "La Femme" featuring the work of Sophie Olsen (who also choreographed "Peep Show" and the festival director Amanda Hart.  This is a steamy piece set to the music of Yael Meyer featuring a cast of stunning dancers who embody the flickering heat of fire perfectly.


ACT II

The second half of the show began with an earthy duet by Kim T Davis of Ktdavisdance.  The female duet began simply and grew over the duration of the piece in an organic way that surprised me by the end.  The exquisite modern dancers were patient and serene in their rock solid performance.  The aspect of the piece that stood out most to me was the use of the hands. This piece highlighted the power of touch, exploring it in countless ways and in so doing conveying the depth of intimacy between these two women.  Grasping, sliding, catching. I was gradually carried away into its chilling ending.

Phil Turay took the show into a hip hop flavored direction in his "Cleopatra." Turay is an articulate dancer whose use of isolation and urban movement vocabulary (as well as more popular music style) made this a groovy, good-time, energetic dance.  I was particularly surprised by the combination of his movement vocabulary, which was clearly influenced by street dance and club dance and his choice of not wearing shoes.  This contrast against expectation was refreshing and effective in blending a more urban vocabulary with concert dance.

Ericalynn Priolo of Priolo Dance Company assembled an excellent group of female dancers for her piece entitled "Process."  This piece featured a groups of women dressed in all black who moved powerfully and gracefully through the performance space.  There was a clear edginess to the piece that used strong lines as well as interwoven moments of release technique.  The dancers served the aesthetic and athletic vision of the choreographer moving with a seamlessness that made the performance a joy to watch.  I was left with only one question.  The dancers began the piece wearing dresses over pants, then they exited and removed the pants before finishing the performance in the dresses.  I admit, I found myself taken out of the dance for a moment as I tried to make sense of this.  (I would love to hear other people's ideas on this).  But, overall this piece was beautifully crafted and performed.

Jessica Wang presented her take on blending dance movement and martial arts in "Kung Fu Fusion" a piece that focused on the design potential of the body in slow moving shapes that were then contrasted with bursts of energy in quick kicks and jumps.  Wang's performance offered both serenity and power, conveyed in her unwavering focus.

"Flex/Pull," choreographed by Amanda Hart, closed the evening of dance.  The only male/female duet of the show, this piece offered a new energy to the audience.  The dancers were well matched in height and physique, very fit and powerful in their movement profile.  The nature of the relationship was primarily expressed through sculptural partnering that demonstrated the skill and strength of the dancers.  While there was a romantic component to the performance, the duet seemed to present a metaphor for two energies that pushed and pulled against each other in a fight for balance before coming together in a final image of interwoven ease. 

Overall, the show proves once again that there is great dance happening in the area, and I am so pleased to be a part of it.  I will continue to do my best to offer feedback for the festival participants, and hope that it will spark new discussion and appreciation of the dance that is happening here and now in our own backyard. 

FYI:  My company (Megill & Company) will be performing, Sunday Aug 26th, Friday August 31st and Sunday August 2nd.  Come check out this great dance event!