Self Portraits

An Artist's Residency in the Mountains of Virginia

arriving arriving arriving
the woods take me in
so far, so good
I've made a fire, unpacked
I'll make my first meal soon
teapot works
the view is nice
the rain sings
there's nothing to do
just listen
don't worry, it will come
You can think about survival if you want
but you're here to remember yourself
don't worry, she'll come


I'm at the Workspace for Choreographers in Sperryville, Virginia. A gorgeous studio in the mountains, hosted by the wise and gracious Sally Nash. I've been here five days now. City skin is finally starting to shed. The muse should be showing up any minute now...

It's been a busy season: Bryn Mawr Faculty show, 'Current' at Studio 34, InFlux at Mascher and next week, the Bryn Mawr Spring Concert. I've been working with the students there on a new piece called 'Monster Radar'. Music by Micronesia. Come check it out~

SPRING DANCE CONCERT
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, APRIL 25th AND 26th
7:30 PM MARSHALL AUDITORIUM/Haverford College
Free and open to the public; reception follows

Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore students perform in works by faculty, guest, and student choreographers ranging from ballet, to modern, to funk, to African.

Current at Studio 34
One night only!!!
SATURDAY 28th , 8 p.m. $5
Don’t miss a great line up for a super low price. Come meet and support local artists!!!
www.herebegindance.com/current.html

Saturday, Feb. 28th, 2009
Studio34 in West Philly
4522 Baltimore Ave.
www.studio34yoga.com

Alie Vidich (dance theater)
Annie Wilson (dance on film)
Christina Gesualdi (dance)
Michelle Stortz/Ring Dance Theater
Headlong Dance Theater
VISUAL ART BY J. Marshall - Lively

"Current" series is proudly starting its third year of existence as a guest at Studio34Yoga's monthly Studio Series. Come see some witty, funny and thoughtful pieces. "Joga"(not Yoga) performed by Alie Vidich will enlighten you with the practice of the art. Christina Gesualdi’s dance piece is asking "What would a duet look like that starred the characters: Nothing and No One?". Michelle Stortz/Ring Dance Theater is exploring the Flow Theory and opens a new chapter for her company exploring rhythm and spatial relationship. Annie Wilson will show a short dance on film while Headlong Dance Theater will present a brand new duet. Visual art will be by West Philly artist J. Marshall-Lively.

Hope to see you there!

New Old Thoughts

working on new movement material...thinking about time, rhythm... i'm actually counting. why did we stop counting? needed to i suppose.

am showing this material this friday. a friend pointed out – after i shared my concern about it not being 'finished' – that i could look at this process as being much larger and longer and that this showing happens to fall somewhere in the middle. i like this idea and it is not new. how do i forget these things?

my specific inquiry at this point is about the internal experience in shifting from set choreography to scored improvisations. there's something more in here about how i'm creating, my approach, that i can't put my finger on. feeling very 'old school'.

presently very inspired by Batsheva Dance Company and the Gaga approach to movement.

My First Butoh Ride

I was just in Katsura Kan's 'Curious Fish'. This was my first real Butoh experience and I loved it! I loved the use of internal story, the concept of filling a mask with emotion, the sense of ancient-ness, the taboo and beauty and absurdity. I especially had fun as a chicken. And I got to be naked - woohooo! On the whole, I went on a rich internal journey within a landscape of sparse and delicate physicality. Lovely.

Study 349

The Spiel Uhr show on Oct 18/19 went quite well. We got lots of great feedback on 'Study 349' – "interesting use of character and abstraction" – and the dancers seemed to enjoy themselves. This is the project on Flow theory that I've been working on and in this phase I was able to introduce some methods like repetitive movement and Viewpoints. Unfortunately our rehearsal period was so short that we hardly scratched the surface. In some ways it boiled down to standard rehearsals – shaping choreography, getting the details, etc.. So I'd like to get back into the studio with the dancers and really have an extended lab around the Flow state.

photo by Bill Hebert. dancers: Jodi Obeid and Sara Narva