Recently had to name an as-yet-unfinished solo … The program information came due for a show at the end of October, and I had to bite the bullet. As with most decisions, first I made a list:

1. To The Edges
2. Things I Do Not Want to Forget
3. Swatting, Swinging, Swaying, Swooning
4. Loop
5. Loup
6. I am a Strange Loop (loup)
7. Eccentric Orbit
8. Circle Back
9. Fist Face
10. Soft Precision
11. Soft Fist
12. Like Water on Skin
13. Moon Shot
14. Blinding
15. Moon Blind
16. Fist Blind
17. Stutter
18. Blinding Affection
19. Cinders
20. Shards

…I went with “Things I Do Not Want To Forget” for the following reasons (list number two):

1. It evokes a sense of memory and attachment, as well as personal identity and self-determination, plus the mind and brain (all concepts that were swirling around the work’s creation)
2. I wanted something a bit more approachable and less opaque than most of my titles.
3. I wanted a title with quite a few words, something with some typographical heft.
4. It was Alison’s favorite on the list.
5. The name itself evokes the action of catalogue-ing, or list-making, which supports the somewhat episodic/stream of consciousness aesthetic of the piece

…So there you have it. A new baby piece gets its name. Next steps:

1. Music
2. Costume
3. Ending

I’ve been tangled up in the simultaneous birthing of several new projects. The first to launch will be the premiere of “An Unfolded Space”, my new solo piece. Its got original music by Ian Williams… and its got me. That’s it, nothing too fancy, but I’m curious to see how it comes together in live performance. I’ll be posting soon about other projects on the horizon, and some new thoughts, but in the meantime, if you are in NYC, please consider coming to see me in concert!

dnodances @ NewSteps @ Mulberry Street Theater

April 24, 25, & 26 @ 7:30

Tickets: $12/$10 students and seniors

Call for Reservations: 212.349.0126

Mulberry Street Theater (aka Chen Dance Center) is located on the NE corner of Mulberry & Bayard Streets, one block south of Canal St. The theater is on the second floor of 70 Mulberry St.

Take the #6, N, R, Q, W, J, M to Canal St. Walk east along Canal St towards Chinatown and turn right on Mulberry St, walk 1 block south to Bayard St.

Click to View A HopStop Map of Theater Location

As I currently see it. There are two basic ways to fall.

1: with resistance

I can edge part of my weight away from center, while simultaneously holding an almost equal amount back. This suspends me at the very edge of my control, negotiating with the possibility of tipping completely into freefall without admitting the necessity of surrendering to it. I flirt with the idea of falling, but until the very last second, when my weight tips just enough, the reality of the situation is in question. Holding back is just as viable an option as releasing forwards.

The drama here lies in the question. Will I or won’t I?

2: with abandon

I can plunge forward with no resistance. In an instant the decision is made and gravity takes over. The only choice now is how I will deal with the forces suddenly working on my body; I can brace for a crash or absorb, rebound, and land on my feet.

The drama here lies in the answer. I will and then…

Resistance/Abandon

A simple dichotomy with a number of analogues:

dance
creative process
anger
love
life
et. al.

(nb: thanks to brigham for the title, and thanks to someone else for the inspiration for this post)

On Thursday evening, March 6th, I will be participating as a panelist for the “Dance Doc Slam” organized by Queens Council for the Arts and Greenspace. The panel will be reviewing video promotional materials submitted by choreographers and leading a discussion about best practice for effectively presenting dance on video.

The event is free, but registration is required.

Complete info at: http://www.queenscouncilarts.org/html/artsservices-dancedoc.html

I will post a summary of the event next weekend.

Sometimes in order to do something, I first have to do nothing.

This is terrifying, but true.

Space must be made before I can create something to fill it.

…

Tomorrow afternoon I am auditioning my little solo for NewSteps at the Mulberry St. Theater. I have a two-hour rehearsal tonight to brush it up. I am determined not to futz with the actual choreography too much, as I’m afraid I’ve had too much time to tinker lately, and not enough external feedback. This scenario has destroyed several pieces in the past. So, here is how I will spend my two hours:

-15 min: meditation and warm-up

-30 min: gentle walk-through, clarify changes I’ve made, solidify the choreography

- Run the solo two times, back- to -back (about 20 minutes)

- 10 min: reflective writing, note any changes in timing or intention that feel successful, other possibilities that have presented themselves

-10 min: lay on the floor, cleanse mind

- Run Solo once for video

-Watch video, take notes

-Run Solo once for video

-Watch video, take notes

-cool down

I chose dance because it is a communal art form. I have been privileged to be a part of the New York Dance community for the past seven years, and have spent shorter periods of time in many others. Each one had its own distinctive flavor, methods, and points of view. Without fail, immersing myself in a new situation resulted in exciting and unexpected syntheses of philosophy. In fact nothing has taught me more about the value of the transitory than moving between these different artistic spheres. Every person we have the opportunity to collaborate with can shift our belief system just a bit. So, if we are constantly engaging with new people, our process can become malleable, dynamic and evolving.

So then, what about this new online community? It is exponentially larger than any other, and free from all geographic constraints. Awesome!

And yet, now, I sometimes struggle to find the freedom to focus. Social multi-tasking has become the norm. At any given moment I’m holding the threads of many different conversations, held via e mail, text, phone, facebook message, flickr photo feeds… at what point does the quality of these interactions start to suffer?

(picking up my train of thought from this post )

The only way to “find balance” is to accept that it is transitory and free yourself from the desire to hold it. Buddhism as physical practice.

Going one step further: The only way to “create meaning” is to accept that it is transitory and free yourself from the desire to create it. Buddhism as artistic practice.

I do not intend to say that I am uninterested in content or in communicating specific ideas within my work. In fact, the opposite is true. It is a priority for me that my audience experiences my work as having a strong sense of intention and symbolism. What I recognize, however, is that this meaning is fluid. I wake up each morning with a different point of view. I walk onstage with a different body. My audience is a different collection of individuals each with a different point of view and a different body. So how can I expect “meaning” to have a static presence amidst all of this flow?

The creation of meaningful performance, then, is a lot like balancing. One must allow the situation to unfold in the moment, leaving space for re-adjustment in order to hit a moving target. Choreography itself, however, is a constant. I will perform the same actions each time I go onstage. Thus, “what I am doing” becomes the static container for the dynamic and potentially eloquent content of “how I am doing it.”

While it is important to have a sound and carefully considered container in which to pour myself, the fluid exploration of performance quality is my current interest.

People with interesting things to say, that are somewhat related to this topic:

Deborah Hay

Matthew Gough

Daniel Linehan

Chris Elam

more later…?

This past sunday I attended a screening of Jacques Tati’s first film, “Jour de Fete“. It was one of the more heartwarming artistic experiences I’ve had in a while. The content of the film is pure lighthearted slapstick: a bumbling, drunken mail carrier in a small town sees a hilariously exaggerated filmstrip about the American Post and attempts to inject his own route with similar speed and “heroics.”

What made this film so extraordinary was the absolute precision of its execution. Visual jokes were interwoven with a wonderfully delicate sense of composition. All the classic choreographic tools of theme, variation, motif, spacial transposition… were used masterfully. It was no wonder the screening was part of the Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center….

Tati also used sound in really interesting ways. There is very little dialogue of note in the film, but background noise (including dialogue overheard from an offscreen movie) makes a number of surprising appearances.

One other interesting note about the film: It was intended to be the first french color feature. Color processing was so new, however, that Tati shot with two cameras, one color, one black and white, just to be safe. Smart guy, because it turned out the color film couldn’t be processed, and Tati ended up releasing the black and white version. It wasn’t until after his death that his daughter was able to find a lab able to process the color film. This new color version is the one which I saw screened… and it is the one Tati had originally envisioned.

Unfortunately “Jour de Fete” isn’t available on DVD in the US. Three of his other movies including “Play Time” (the one I plan to see next) are available on Net Flix. Definitely check him out.

In the mean time, here are two clips of “Jour de Fete” that I found on youtube: