pillow 2006

the schedule is out.
definitely on my short list to see are:
Emanuel Gat Dance
Tero Saarinen Company
Danish Dance Theatre *
*see previous post (art that changes us, re:graffiti)

art that changes us

i recently read ken foster's, plenary speech for dance/usa on tour.

this line struck me particularly:

I’m thinking that the times demand of us a deeper exploration of our individual psyche and correspondingly of the social and human psyche that is the substance of the human condition. There is no time now for self- indulgence; for lovely movement and pretty dances that just make people happy. If they go away without a deeper understanding of themselves or the contemporary world, why are we bothering?

this articulates, one of my problems with mark morris, i think. seeing l'allegro on friday, i felt like i had a good evening. saw some great dance. but, really, i left unchanged. the two moments, that did have an affect, were, what i will describe as, the partner changing love circle and a moment when there were about four couples on stage just embracing.

two pieces that have had that sort of life changing affect on me were johannes wieland's, artificial, and tim rushton's, graffiti.

stan won't dance

maybe i am just a sucker for the group's name, stan won't dance, but i think this looks kind of interesting. they will be performing sinner ("a self destructive solo for 2 men") at ps122 in march.

an interview about the piece

mmdg

um, yeah, mark morris opens tonight. probably worth seeing if you have the time/money (go student if you can). that's all i'm saying.

Mark Morris Dance Group
L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
with orchestra and chorus
of Emmanuel Music

January 20-22 | The Wang Theatre
Friday | 7:30pm
Saturday | 8pm
Sunday | 3pm

more info

home movies

everett dance theater
home movies
zero arrow theater
cambridge ma
presented by crasharts/worldmusic
1.13.06

there is something very low-tech and honest about this work despite being multimedia, which i appreciated. at first, seeing a couple of screens jerk up and down on which scratchy homemovies were displayed, turned me off. admittedly, i've become accustomed to glossy flashy techy stuff that offers little more than a cool factor. but, maybe that's the point...homemovies are that way. what makes them wonderful are the imperfections. i am tired of seeing bland all girl dance department dance, and this was not that. all of the dancers were unique in personality, appearance, movement style, and, as we came to understand, their histories.
i wish there had been a little more optimism to the work. (yes, this is me saying that). yes, life is hard. of course it is. we all have our stories of things that have affected us negatively. and, particularly in a performance setting, those stories more easily draw out an emotional response. it is harder to talk about life being good and draw the audience in. i don't think everett was up to that challenge. that is not say that there weren't funny moments. there were several that i even laughed at. the movement at times was witty, but sometimes silly or overly simple. the partnering and group exchanges were some of the best i've seen in awhile.

some other people's thoughts
marcia siegel
ted bale

blush

blush
Wim Vandekeybus, Belgium, 2005

will be shown at the dance on camera festival 2006 in nyc this january.
having only seen a clip, this sort of thing really interests me. this film is based on an original piece of choreography, but was redesigned film. apparently it is quite effective (nominated for a jury prize).
more on the company

boston was lucky enough to see some of the 2005 dance on camera films when the films were screened at the mfa in association with the boston cyberarts festival
program listing
my original take here

hopefully boston will eventually get to see more dance for film. in a tech town it would make sense?

space dance

with recent reports (admittedly not cited here) that the majority of cultural event attenders attend for the social experience associated, i have been considering the typical form of dance presentation. if people go to art to be social, should we cater to that? do we need to force people into a seat in a theater for them to get it?

i've been thinking about artists who are playing with this idea and altering the way they choose to "offer"(?) art to their audiences.

john jasperse's recent work prone jumps out.

review here

a friend also pointed me to tokyo space dance who did a workshop at mit a few years back. (too bad i missed them.)