Making dances with games

Today, Erin and I played a few games as we introduced ourselves to the small space we were creating in and to each other in a different way.

Game #1: Stop & Go

What - Move with your partner, mirroring or mimicking their movement. At any time either partner can say "stop." At that time the other person freezes and the moving partner can move around the space, interrupt the frozen space, and manipulate the frozen partner. "Go" begins the frozen partner's movement.

Why - This was meant as a tool to warm us up, re-introduce each other to our movement tendencies, and offer some ground work for phrase material later.

Game #2: Observing the Solo

What - One dancer moves in the space and very slowly the observing partner moves into the dancer's space, getting in their way, until eventually they stop moving and come to a close.

Why - This is a shortened version of how the beginning of the piece might run.

Game #3: Drudging Through Space

What - One partner assists the other as they lose their balance, their grip, and direction in space.

Why - This was meant as a transitional section between the observing the solo portion and the duet.

Here is a super shortened glimpse at our rehearsal today as we played these movement games. I must say, I am very excited to continue moving with Erin. We had an extremely successful rehearsal today that only made me more excited to work with Erin, Sam (composer) and Leigh (writer). So much more to come...

So we go there...

The title came about as Alexandra Beller thumbed through my journal and skimmed the quotes on the bottom of each page - a precious gift from my fellow grad students at Oregon on my graduation day. Little did I know that the seemingly random quote we settled on (and the first she read aloud) would come to mean so much as my creative flow took me into a world of tragedy surrounded by a community of women, both weak and strong, dealing with an experience that affects each and every one of them.

Recently, I've been in awe of words written by a friend and decided that this work needed a sort of narrative that could be used both in print and verbally. I sent her a clip of the first version of "With Bated Breath" as a background of where I'm coming from, with a prompt of women dealing with tragedy. Her excited response of where she could go with this only made my blood flow faster as I impatiently await the time and opportunity to continue working on this piece.

For now it will start with a solo/duet between myself and the lovely Erin Cella. As of now, I'm imagining that we'll introduce you to one character who is alone, or at least thinks she is, as she physically attempts to make meaning out of the sadness she has experienced. Even in real life it takes a while to let someone see you, or allow them to help you through difficult times. This is where our second character comes in. A nurturing soul who quietly observes her sister - a silent shield, protecting her from further anguish. Although her presence has been known, she steps in with an attempt to provide solace. As the broken character begins to slightly heal and come back to the present, she begins to see that she isn't the only one who needs help.

So we go there, where nothing is waiting.

Here is a work in progress piece that Emily and I put together for the CRS choreolab with Alexandra Beller back in June. 

This particular piece is a stepping stone for the re-visitation of a larger work, previously titled, "With Bated Breath." You could consider this a sneak peek into what you might expect for the solo/duet piece I'm bringing to the 2012 TransForm concert in South Carolina in March.