Thursday, December 17, 2009

A Heartfelt Letter about Dance Place from Miya Hisaka Silva


Miya Hisaka Silva, Founder/Artistic Director of El Teatro de Danza Contemporanea de El Salvador, shares how Dance Place has impacted her life as an artist in Washington, DC:


For the past three decades, I have had the opportunity and great fortune to work with Carla Perlo, Deborah Riley and their excellent administrators, as they have presented my work since the beginning of my professional life in Washington, DC. Without their relentless, generous and high standard of excellence as presenters of dance, I know I would not be here today. As Founder/Artistic Director of two major ethnic, groundbreaking repertory dance companies, DC Contemporary Dance Theater (one of DC's first major African American companies) and TDC (from El Salvador now based in DC), being presented at Dance Place has helped us to reach new general audiences as well as our most marginal Latino populations through their successful Inreach Performances at their theater. Carla and Deborah's commitment to diversity and serving DC's general audiences has been the heart throb of DC's dance world - they have kept dance growing, diverse, exciting and they have truly enriched DC through their work. They have crossed cultural barriers through their tireless efforts and visions for the past 30 years.


What makes Dance Place different from any other presenting insitution is their long term relationship they develop with all their companies, their companies' artists and production staff. They join forces with the companies they present and truly work to help them solve their challenges, whether it be complicated production needs, housing guest artists, finding ways to increase their revenues and audiences, or helping with international artists' visas. Dance Place has become our "home" and their entire staff continuously works to make us feel that way every year. Regardless of the great number of companies they present annually, they never lose their humanity, sensibilities, or intimate relationships with the organizations they present.


Dance Place, Carla and Deborah are all about excellence in the arts and making things happen. Their vision and hard work for 3 dcades in DC has helped hundreds of companies and artists reach their long term goals. Without them, DC's dance scene would not have flourished as it has and would not have developed such a high level of quality and diversity. Dance Place has provided access for all audiences, affordable ticket prices, and has welcomed ALL. I know that my professional career would have been much different without their love, support and care for the past 25 years. They have helped me and my dancers to live our dreams and to receive international acclaim through our dances.


Respectfully,

Miya Hisaka Silva

Director of Dance at Georgetown University

Founder/Artistic Director of El Teatro de Danza Contemporanea de El Salvador






Thursday, November 12, 2009

Late Night Modern with Helanius Wilkins

Dance Place intern Jill Newman wants you to join her at the Wednesday night modern class:
Don’t let daylight savings time keep you indoors this winter, instead check out Helanius Wilkins’ Intermediate Modern dance class which takes place from 8-9:15 PM on Wednesday nights at Dance Place.

I took this class for the first time last week and it was fabulous! Helanius’ class is refreshing and challenging. The class also incorporates a lot of technique based combinations as well as principles of weight and gymnastic, so Helanius will have you using your hands as your feet and grooving to Stevie Wonder and Maroon Five before the hour and fifteen minutes is over.

Check out the Dance Place class schedule!

About Helanius:
Helanius J. Wilkins, a native of Lafayette LA, is an award winning choreographer, performance artist, and instructor based in Washington DC. He is the Founder & Artistic Director of EDGEWORKS Dance Theater, DC's premier all male contemporary dance company of predominately African-American men. He is a two-time Metro DC Dance Award winner and the 2006 Recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Local Dance Commissioning Project, an award he also received in 2002. In addition to performing the works of several internationally recognized choreographers, he has enjoyed creating, presenting, and receiving commissions for choreography throughout the United States and abroad. Foundations and organizations including the New England Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Regional Arts Commission, The Puffin Foundation, and DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities have supported Wilkins' work. Wilkins is a much sought-after instructor who teaches professional and pre-professional dancers, as well as students of various ages and levels of skill. He has served as an adjudicator and master teacher at American College Dance Festivals in 2004, 2005, and 2007. He is a former Associate Artistic Director of the Dance Institute of Washington. In addition to Dance Place, he is currently on faculty at Joy of Motion Dance Center.


You can see Helanius' company, EDGEWORKS Dance Theater, perform at Dance Place March 13-14. Purchase your tickets in advance!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Carla & Co Kick off Season with Performance for 500 Students


Last Friday, October 23,
Carla & Company, a resident modern dance company of Dance Place, performed for over 500 students and teachers at Glebe Elementary School in Arlington, VA. This performance was sponsored by the Arlington Humanities Project and was the first performance of the season for Carla & Co.




Carla & Co is an inter generational and interracial troupe of modern dancers. We focus on humanitarian themes and in this particular performance focused on the idea of flow and how to create a more perfect world. Through audience participation students came up with their own ideas about what we need to make our world better such as recycling and ending war. At the end of the performance the students were able to stand up and dance with us. This performance was an uplifting start to our season!


Carla & Co will perform three new works at Dance Place this holiday season in a performance featuring the Dance Place Step Team. Visit www.danceplace.org for more information and to purchase tickets.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Dance Place Jr. Staff Preps for College


Dance Place Energizers Junior Staff will be planning ahead for college this weekend when they take a group field trip to the University of Maryland College Fair. Led by Hermione Rhones-Glass, Dance Place Director of Youth Programs, the Junior Staff will be able to preview a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The fair is recommended for Junior and Senior high school students, and will be an all day event that includes a Step performance.


Interested in learning more about how Dance Place prepares children and teens for a brighter future? Visit our website and then join us for a SURPRISE PARTY on Friday, October 30th at 7:30pm in support of the NEXTgeneration Youth Programs at Dance Place! Purchase your tickets today.


About the Energizers Junior Staff Program:
In this leadership program, teens are trained in office administration, desktop publishing, facility maintenance and theater production in a hands-on atmosphere at Dance Place. Students are given a small honorarium for positive participation and successful completion of duties. Participants must have prior involvement through the Energizers or Kids on the Move! dance classes at Dance Place. We also expect students to meet specific academic requirements and show a consistent positive attitude for potential growth.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Laura Schandelmeier & Stephen Clapp explore nontraditional partnerships at Dance Place Oct 24 & 25

Baffled by a Louisiana Judge's recent denial of a marriage license to an interracial couple? Join us next weekend at Dance Place for a timely, relevant and dynamic dance theater performance exploring intersections between racism, interracial marriage and the highly charged debate surrounding the rights of same sex partners.

We invite you to The Loving Project: E-Race at Dance Place on October 24 & 25, 2009. To purchase tickets visit: www.danceplace.org

The Loving Project: E-Race is an interactive dance theater performance work that explores interracial marriages and nontraditional partnerships through historical and present-day perspectives. The work will enliven imagination, challenge assumptions, and invite audience input. Created and performed by Laura Schandelmeier & Stephen Clapp with Peter DiMuro, Ilana Faye Silverstein, Ken Yamaguchi-Clark and Dance Place repertory performers Michelle Anthony, Christine Curella, Heather Doyle, Jill Newman, Stacy Paull, Maria Tripodi and Pamela Williams.

In this challenging economic, political and culturally diverse climate, how are artists responding to the issues that face this nation?

Through performance, audience interaction, and community partnership, The Loving Project: E-Race reflects on social issues including racism, sexism and gender bias and uncovers aspects of partnership that make union across cultural boundaries viable. The work weaves together a tapestry of stories that include: the case of Loving vs. Virginia, which in 1967 overturned the law against interracial marriage in Virginia; the marriage between Russian Inventor Léon Theremin and dancer with the American Negro Ballet, Lavinia Williams; and the controversial Defense of Marriage Act which was signed into federal law in 1996 and hinders rights to same sex partners nationally. Schandelmeier & Clapp's fifth evening length work, The Loving Project: E-Race celebrates distinctive partnerships and the rare gifts they bring to the world.

As citizens of the United States sharing an interracial partnership with the benefit of legal marriage, Schandelmeier & Clapp often find themselves at the center of a contemporary dialogue about race, gender privilege, class ethnography, social dogma and political discourse. As a duet performance ensemble, they find respite from the challenges and tensions of this dialogue through the development of creative works that reflect their responses to these issues and invite a deeper exchange of ideas towards community transformation and cultural understanding. In today’s climate of global financial uncertainty, environmental crises, protracted warfare -- and hope for systemic positive social change, Schandelmeier & Clapp see creative collaboration as a critical source of understanding across (perceived and actual) cultural, ethnic, economic and civic boundaries. It is this collaborative process that has brought the duo through the development of five evening-length performance works over the past six years. Through in-depth research, creative exploration, ensemble development, community participation, movement discovery, and peer feedback, Schandelmeier & Clapp are building upon their creative and life partnership and experiences in a context of contemporary society and culturally accepted (and unaccepted) behaviors.

The Loving Project: E-Race

Saturday, October 24, 2009 @ 8:00pm
Sunday, October 25, 2009 @ 7:00pm

Dance Place
3225 8th Street, NE
Washington, DC 20017
www.danceplace.org


We hope you can join us!

Sincerely,
Laura & Stephen

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Co-Director Deborah Riley recounts the joys of a returning choreographer

After a thrilling performance at the White House, El Teatro de Danza de Contemporanea de El Salvador brought their passion and beauty to Dance Place. It was a special pleasure to have one special choreographer return to presenting works on the Dance Place stage. Co-Director Deborah Riley had this to say about the exciting weekend:


There are so many dance artists in the DC community that are part of our extended Dance Place family. Certainly El Teatro de Danza de Contemporanea de El Salvador is one of those groups whose performers have contributed so much to our theater. It was a double reunion this weekend for myself and Carla to have choreographer Juan Carlos Rinconnes return to our stage with his beautifully heartfelt dances. We’ve missed his personal performance and artistic voice for several years, so revisiting two of his dances with El Teatro de Danza was such a great reminder of the depth of his work. When he was directing his own company of dancers we had the gift of seeing his choreography and dancing regularly….such a range of dynamics they had. The way he personally danced, expressed emotion through his upper body etching and extending into space through his breath was magnificent. When a dancer/choreographer can simultaneously embody strength and vulnerability …that’s theater, that’s magic. Plus he just cares so much about his dancers, he's such a passionate, sweet person and those qualities endear him to us.

El Teatro de Danza de Contemporanea de El Salvador returns to Dance Place January 8-10, 2010. There will be more exciting returns at this performance, as founding company members return from El Salvador for the first time in six years. For more information, visit www.danceplace.org.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

A Choreographer's Guide


If you're a choreographer interested in getting your work performed, how do you do it in DC area? How do you get presented by one of the area's dance presenters: The Kennedy Center, Clarice Center for the Performing Arts, George Mason Institute for the Arts, Washington Performing Arts Society or Dance Place? How do you self produce your work in any of the venues available for rental: The Atlas Performing Arts Center, Joy of Motion, National Theater, The Kennedy Center, The American Dance Institute, Joe s Movement Emporium or others? If your resources are limited here are some suggestions!

So you can’t afford a rental house all on your own - what about collaborating with some other artists to share the expenses and sweat-equity that goes into self producing? Is there an artist you know who is also struggling to present her or his work? Have you recently been to a performance that you really appreciate, but the house was clearly undersold? Perhaps someone like this would love to share the responsibilities of producing their work. Building relationships with other artists is key to enhancing one’s own creative and professional work. The benefits of partnership could include audience building for both artists, shared expenses, wider visibility and could even lead to creative collaborations and wider networking opportunities. We artists need to stick together, even through the perceptions of limited resources. There is strength in numbers and successful partnerships can benefit the dance community as a whole and lead towards a stronger field nationally.

Speaking of The Field; The Field is a New York based artist services organization that sponsors many artistic assistance programs and can even serve as a fiscal agent for independent artists. In Washington, DC, The Field hosts a seasonal Fieldwork workshop: this 10-week workshop offers an opportunity for artists of any discipline to develop works-in-progress and receive critical feedback from peers through a structured process developed by artists. Fieldwork sessions often culminate in public performances. Upcoming Fieldwork sessions include an Aerial Dance Fieldwork session at Joe’s Movement Emporium. The 2009 Summer Fieldwork session will meet on Wednesday evenings (7:30pm - 9:30pm) at the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in Takoma Park. The session runs for 10 weeks from July 8 - August 26. For more information Click Here or contact Ilana Silverstein at Ilana.Silverstein@gmail.com

Residents of the District of Columbia are fortunate to have one of the few city arts councils in the region that offers grant support to individual artists. The DC Commission offers Arts-Education grants, Project-Based grants, and Capacity Building grants and Public Arts grants for individuals.

Washington, DC hosts a multitude of performance and art festivals each year. This summer, for example, there are at least three major festivals that offer opportunities for choreographers to showcase their work: The DC Fringe Festival offers shared marketing for artists to self-produce in venues throughout the city (here’s where partnerships among choreographers would come in very handy). The Source Festival often offers opportunities for local choreographers to collaborate with theater artists – resulting in dynamic creative experiences for dance artists to work across genres. Art-o-Matic is an un-curated bi-annual arts extravaganza that involves hundreds of regional artists and performers. Outside of the District, there are festivals in Bethesda, Takoma Park and Prince George’s County and many others. These festivals offer high visibility and opportunities to glimpse how other local artists are forwarding their work.

DC’s branch of Dance/USA , Dance Metro/DC is our clearinghouse for all our dance information. They sponsor an annual Dance is the Answer marketing campaign in partnership with dance organizations throughout the DC area. They just recently announced a new pilot program called Forward 5 which is intended to help dance-makers identify and realize their next steps artistically - from studio to performance to marketplace. Dance Metro/DC is the ultimate resource for dancers in the DC area with helpful information regarding company auditions, dance venues, rental space, dance classes and discounts discounts discounts for DC artists!

These are just a few of the many opportunities for DC area choreographers and Dance Place encourages all up and coming choreographers and artists to seek out partnerships, talk to your favorite dance teachers, share what you know with your fellow artists, and above all, keep making dances! The field of dance is built on the foundation of every single dance artist making work. So don’t give up! You are not alone! Dance on!

Learn From the Best!


A great way to foster creativity and get new ideas for your choreography is to watch what others are creating. However, on an artist budget theater tickets are often out of reach.
Dance Place’s ushers program gives you the opportunity to see a performance for FREE in exchange for your help before and after the performance.
Our upcoming 29th Performance Series includes works in West African, Tap, Modern and much more. In addition to seeing the performances, many shows include question and answer sessions following the performance and receptions in which you can mingle with the dancers and choreographers. Watch, question and learn from choreographers working in all styles of dance without spending a dime.
Please contact Danielle Greene at (202) 269-1600 or danielleg@danceplace.org for more information about program.

Practice Makes Perfect!


Looking for a way to break into the dance world, but don’t know where to start? Here at Dance Place we provide the ultimate opportunity for dancers – FREE CLASSES


The Dance Place Work Study and our Internship program is an exciting opportunity to take dance class for free while learning the inner workings of a non-profit dance organization. In exchange for working in our theater, at our performances, or at the Dance Place office participants are entitles to unlimited FREE classes. Ranging from West African to Modern, there is a class for dancers of all styles and levels. Through the Work Study program, you can broaden your range of technique and become a part of one of DC’s most respected dance communities.
The work you do in exchange for free classes will give you an opportunity to meet others in the industry, learn tricks of the trade, and explore the many sides to the dance world. Please contact Danielle Greene at (202) 269-1600 or danielleg@danceplace.org for more information about program.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Dance Africa DC Festival - Celebrating 22 Years of African Culture


The Dance Africa DC Festival is here again! To understand the mission behind the festival and how it has inspired others we went straight to the source! Read on for interviews with Festival Griot Baba Chuck Davis; Artistic Director of Coyaba Dance Theater, Sylvia Soumah and Dance Place Step Team Leader/Coyaba Dance Theater Dancer Donna Kearny.


Interview with Baba Chuck Davis

by Kaitlyn McCrystal and Sarah Jenny


Dance Africa began over 30 years ago and has continued to grow not only in size but in presence. Why are the ideals that brought together the first festival still so relevant today?


Dance Africa was designed initially to bring African American dance companies together; they were often so busy rehearsing and doing their own thing that they could not always support each other. Chuck Davis Dance Company joined with 5 other companies to create Dance Africa in a small studio that opened to a crowd of standing room audience only. Dance Africa DC still follows the original mission of bringing African American dance companies together and has expanded to African companies. Dance Africa is about awareness of dance, music and culture that originated on the continent of Africa and spread throughout the world.


You are known as the Father and Face of African Dance in America, how do you feel African Dance has changed and progressed throughout your career?


I am known as one of the strong supporters but not the Father, the list goes on and on long before me. I follow in the footsteps of my mentor: Solomon Ilori, Asadata Dafora, Nana Dinizulu, Joe Nash, LaRock QueadeyIn the early years, just because there was a drum attached they would do anything in the name of Africa. Now, because of technology and pioneers like Amanie Payne, Mama Perl Prmus and Katherine Dunham, you are more aware of what dance and music is and the need to be as authentic as possible in the presentation. You must research, study and learn and present something that has to be correct. There are now hundreds of people who know what you are doing so you have to do it right. Take Dance Place for example, the staff knows what you are doing so you can’t just do anything.


Where do you think African Dance is headed?


Dance Africa will become one of the main programs spreading across not only our continent but the world, paying homage to the cultures that have not had the chance to have their culture known.


What is it about African Dance that drew you to dedicate your life to it?


When I am studying dance I am studying people, when I am studying people I am studying culture, and when I am studying culture it makes me a better person on many different levels.


What can people hope to get out of this year’s Dance Africa DC?


All of the above that I spoke on, becoming aware of each other, different cultures, and developing respect. This year Dance Place is presenting a Dance Africa that is as diverse as the continent itself


Click here for a full schedule of Dance Africa DC events and see what all the fuss is about!

Sylvia Soumah: An Un-sung Heroine

by Hermione Rhones-Glass

Ask anyone about West African dance in the Washington DC area and you are likely to hear the name of Melvin Deal who, for 50 years, has been the Artistic Director of African Heritage Dancers & Drummers. Assane Konte, Artistic Director of KankouranWest African Dance Company, for over 25 years, is another name that will undoubtedly come up. Both of these gentlemen have taught, trained and given opportunities to hundreds of young dancers and drummers in the metropolitan area and the dance community has been blessed by the wealth of their cultural knowledge and artistry. But more and more, there is another name that is garnering much attention and praise. It is an unusually feminine name to be heard in the primarily, male dominated field of West African Dance. The name is Sylvia Soumah and for more than 10 years she has been the Artistic Director of Coyaba Dance Theater. Sylvia is a native of Cincinnati, OH, a "mama," an educator, a community builder and quite notably a gifted performer and artist. She was trained at The School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, in vocal music and dance. She came to DC in 1984 to work and continue her studies. Sylvia began taking West African classes with Aidoo Holmes, and immediately felt aligned with the energy of the music and the movement. "It really connected me to my heritage." In 1994, she visited Guinea, West Africa for the first time and fell in love with the people and the culture. "I love how Africa demonstrates the perfection of the human spirit." She has made it a priority in her life to go to Africa at least once a year to further her relationship with the rhythms and the dances of Senegal, and Guinea.

Donna Kearny: How African Dance Has Influenced Her


by Allie Sevy


Donna Kearney has been dancing at Dance Place since 1999, when she started taking West African Dance classes with Sylvia Soumah. Once Donna set her dancing feet in Dance Place s studio, she never wanted to stop. She became a member of Carla s Kids soon thereafter and formed the Dance Place step team in the fall of 2000. Donna has been dancing with Coyaba Dance Theater, Dance Place s resident West African dance company for ten years now, and has had the opportunity to travel nationally and internationally for performances. Donna also works administratively as the Box Office Manager here at Dance Place and maintains that you can live your dream just as long as you stay on track and work hard at it. She is forever grateful that she was introduced to Dance Place and the West African dance community in DC, and is ecstatic to one day pass her love for this "traditional yet spirited way to express movement to her young daughter. Donna is counting down the days until our annual DanceAfrica, DC Festival, a wonderful celebration of the West African dance community in DC. "At the end of the day, celebrating each other is what life is all about."


Click here for a full schedule of Dance Africa DC events and see what all the fuss is about!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Keo Woolford Comes to Town


Keo Woolford, a talented performer, will bring a mixed bag of hula, spoken word and hip hop to Dance Place this weekend (for more information or to purchase tickets, go to http://www.danceplace.org/) Before he hits the stage, we had a moment to talk about everything from President Obama to youthful punkdom.


First off, I must ask you about another fellow Hawaiian who has also dabbled at autobiographical work, our President Barack Obama. So, have you read Dreams from My Father?
Yes, I've read the book. It's been several years since I've read it though. It was very inspiring. I read it when I was still living in New York and there was this buzz about Barack Obama thinking about running for president. It sounded cool back then. If you asked me back then, I would have said I honestly didn't think it would happen so soon. I'm so glad I was wrong.

Much was made during the elections of President Obama’s cool, calm demeanor. Is such easiness a common trait on the island?
I'm not sure if his cool, calm demeanor can be totally credited from growing up in Hawai`i. I think it definitely helped. But I know some stressed out, high strung people in Hawai`i. Hahaha. I think if one is connected to themselves and the Universe, you go with the flow. And it's easy to feel that flow when you're in Hawai`i. There are so many reminders of the power and existence of something much greater than us in Hawai`i.

What led you to create I Land?
I have to give it up to Roberta Uno (my director and co-creator) for this one. I say this every time I am asked. She kept pushing me to do this. We were in New York when we met. She was taking a hula class at the Hawai`i Cultural Foundation in New York City and I was assisting Michelle Akina with the classes. We started talking one day and found we knew about each other from the arts community. She told me I should do something. That I have a one-man show in me. I resisted for a long time, questioning if I had anything to say or if anyone would want to hear what I had to say. But after some time and further pushing and encouraging, I agreed to do a one on one writing workshop with her. Rachel Cooper at the Asia Society was generous in giving us their theater space to create, and after three consecutive, eight-hour writing days of Roberta giving me writing prompts and improv and writing exercises, I had written a stack of things for Roberta to look over. A couple weeks later she calls me up and tells me I have a show in here (referring to the writing). I said, "Really? You're kidding." And we took it from there. It was also a good time because I was getting pretty frustrated with the dearth of roles that were out there for me. A little before this process started, I had completed a very long and fulfilling run as the lead in the King and I in London's West End, and there didn't seem to be a whole lot of other roles that I fit into. It was perfect timing actually. It was completely satisfying artistically.

Did incorporating such a range of styles (hula, hip hop, spoken word) come naturally to you?
I have to say that hula, hip-hop and spoken word were all a part of my growing up, so it was natural that they all were a part of this show. It wasn't contrived or planned. Since most of the show is autobiographical, and all of those things influenced my life, it just needed to be in there. We just needed to figure out how we were going to piece them together. But because of the wonderful choreographers, my kumu (hula master teacher, Robert Cazimero) and Rokafella (original B-girl) and their philosophies behind their craft, it blended together effortlessly.

You had the opportunity to study hula from a master. How did that opportunity come about? And how has studying the art form improved you?
I am very blessed to be a part of Robert Cazimero's Halau Na Kamalei. They were my idols when I was younger and to get into the school, you need to be invited. And then you need to pass a beginning class after that. Robert and I knew of each other and one of his dancers invited me to try the beginning class. But because I was a young punk with lack of discipline, I went to one class and didn't go back. Years later, from mutual friends living in Los Angeles, of all places, we re-connected. After a lot of humbling life experience, I was in a different place and we became friends. I would always ask him that if I moved back to Hawai`i, could I dance for him. He always said yes, but I think he thought I was joking. So the time came when I moved back home to be in the boyband, Brownskin, and a week after I was back there, I was in the beginning class again. This time I stuck it out and was asked to join halau. Being in the group has benefitted me in so many ways. It's truly difficult to explain because it has touched almost every aspect of my life. Hula is not just dancing. Being in halau (hula school) is not just being in a dance class. And dancing for the legendary Robert Cazimero...well, as I said in the beginning, I am so very blessed.

You worked with choreographers for I Land, including Rokafella (who will be performing with her company, Full Circle Productions at Dance Place, May 16-17). Since I Land is such a personal piece, how was it working with an outside choreographer?
Rockafella is awesome! I'm so glad she was a part of this. I am a huge fan of hers and Kwikstep. During the process we became friends and related on many levels. It never felt like anyone was coming from "outside" into this project. Everyone who was involved was an integral part of the journey and an extension of what made the piece so personal. I am very grateful for her.

In what ways do your life stories reflect what is best about the American landscape? And in what ways does it reflect our challenges?
I think the most important aspect is this being a part of the "American landscape" is the fact that I am able to tell this story and people are able to hear it and experience it. I feel it's a universal theme of self-discovery and identity. And in that aspect, it's a story everyone in the United States can relate to if they are willing. Because there are both sides to the story. We are a young nation with strong ideals and are still going through growing pains. It's the trial and error, the hits and misses and the learning and growing that makes us better as individuals and a people.

In addition to being a dancer, you also act. What’s that balancing act like?
I'm very fortunate to be able to do both. Both in my show and individually. There really is no balancing act for them. Primarily, I am an actor. But when my Kumu calls me to do a show with them, if I'm available I will do it. I am very fortunate to be living away from Hawai`i and still be a part of the halau and travel to do shows with them. And we get to go to some amazing places. This theater piece incorporates both. I'm in the process of taking it a step further and bringing it to the big screen.

Any advice for aspiring dancers?
My only advice to any artist in whatever field they are in, is to follow your heart. If it makes you feel good, do it.
-s. love

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Czech National Theatre Ballet debuts


The Czech National Theater Ballet made their Washington debut last night, delivering exquisitely beautiful ballets. The highlight of the night was Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort a piece of such intelligence that the simple note of hands hitting bare flesh became at once both erotic and cerebral. The 6 male dancers who opened the piece, banishing swords nonetheless, displayed a sublime masculinity that was neither forced nor imbalanced. With the right amount of grace and femininity, the dancer's strength and aggression did not fall on the side of brutality and could therefore be 1). understood and 2). swallowed with easy pleasure.

The ballet was presented by the Embassy of the Czech Republic under its "CZ in the DC", an event series in honor of the republic's current hold of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), a 6-month rotating seat that ends this June. Check out the embassy's website for more information on other events showcasing Czech culture at www.mzv.cz/washington
-s.love

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Lisa Traiger's review of Deborah Riley Dance Projects and Human Landscape Dance


Did you see Lisa Traiger's review of Deborah Riley Dance Projects and Human Landscape Dance at Dance Place last weekend? 

Read the full review, "Of Closets and Communities" by Lisa Traiger by clicking on the link below:


Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Take a Journey with Deviated Theatre


Choosing the unbeaten path is never the easier option. Though, should you take the leap, you end up finding yourself in good company. Kimmie Dobbs and Enoch Chan are artists who nudge you towards that leap. In 2007 they formed Deviated Theatre, where "depart from the norm" is not only the motto but also an invitation.

The dancemakers will debut their new work, Lore, at Dance Place this weekend (Go to http://www.danceplace.org/ for more information).

Dance Place recently talked with the duo about art, dance and working with the one you love.

As the country struggles to right its economic downturn and stimulus money begins to be doled out to different sectors, bubbling to the surface of conversation is the importance of the arts. What’s your take on the debate? How necessary are the arts to our way of life?
Enoch: I think that at the end of the day people forget how important art is to our lives and our society. In our ultra-capitalist society we tend to only value art for its monetary worth: how much a painting sells for, how much profit a show makes, etc… or to go in the total opposite direction and only value it as a community service. But art has social value beyond all that. Art moves, art feeds the soul, art is the mirror, or better yet, the prism through which we see ourselves both as individuals and as a whole so that true change can be affected. This is the true worth of art. Therefore, I think that money needs to be put out there to support the arts, it is tantamount for the sake of our society.

Kimmie: To paraphrase Bruce Springsteen recently on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, ‘in times like these people turn to the storytellers.’ The arts are so integral to humanity, originate from a very deep place within a person, and reach across languages, and barriers, and transcend society and culture, and connect to a place deep inside another. The need for expression, and reflection, is so fundamental to the human experience and is more evident in times like these as people try to make sense of their experiences. Art is so essential, and in fact spiritual, that many artists would choose their art over wealth. I think the country is tired of this dichotomy, and there are many who realize that everything in this world takes some amount of money to be sustained. I think as a country, we are ready to see artists flourish… and not just the select few. We are tired of the select few.

Being full-time artists you offer a unique view. Are you feeling any particular pressures or strains being a working artist in this current economic climate?
E: Yes, definitely… I feel the strains that anyone in our society feels. How am I going to pay my bills? How am I going to put food on the table? How am I going to survive this next month? I think we as artists are especially vulnerable since the income for our basic needs is dependent on the expendable income of others. What most of us make is barely a living wage to begin with, but now to have that be reduced even further? I know that I have found myself not wanting to get out of bed some mornings to face another day of trying to scratch my way through…
But all I know is that it’s my calling, it’s what feeds my soul, it burns at me… who am I to argue?
K: Interestingly, I spend most of my time right now teaching Pilates and Gyrotonic Lessons. I am looking for ways to transition into the world of art. Enoch and I would like to make our company sustainable and to provide opportunities for others to be sustained. I would also like to do whatever I can to be behind Enoch’s photographic work. Having started Deviated Theatre with Enoch in Winter 2007, and knowing how enlivening the work is, as well as how severely talented Enoch is… I don’t see any other choice.

Deviated Theatre melds the worlds of theater and dance. Do you actually see these two things as being two entities or does one very simply lead to the other?
K: I view theatre as being all encompassing. I like to think of how Bruce Lee described Kung-Fu: You study technique so that you can let go of the technique. At first, the various dance and theatre techniques and disciplines can be distilled and learned very separately. At some point they all meld together to become a giant pool of options for expression. Dance just happens to be my strongest voice—my strongest option. But I know that Enoch and I are open to various options. For example, we put aerial dance in our last show because it seemed very fitting for the character, even though neither of us had ever worked with aerial dance before. Who knows, there could be singing, or puppetry next show. Any modality we choose (ballet, or stage combat, or aerial dance) we are going to exploit its expressive/communicative properties, rather than only its spectacle. But the common ground between Enoch, as a theatre director, and I, as a choreographer, is expressive movement. This seems to be the foundation for much of our work.
E: I don’t see art and theatre as very different or far from one another… I think that in our society we like to categorize and label everything so that we can feel safe by knowing exactly what we are going to experience. This has been done to dance and theatre and much of the art we see. This is one style or type, that is another… I truly believe that all art flows and should flow freely into one another. It speaks to a basic part of who we are as human beings…
When the earliest peoples felt the need to express their view of the world on the caves of their homes did they worry if it was neoclassical or baroque? When we first began to dance and sing the stories of our fears, our inspirations, our gods, did the others of our tribe stop us to ask if it was going to be a comedy, tragedy or musical theatre?
This is our art, it is our need to tell a story, to express our inner life, to scream a primal scream that somehow rings true to the basic thread that ties us all together as one humanity. To take an audience on a ride with us, and hopefully let them catch a hint of the darkness and the light that is hidden in their true selves.

You’ll be premiering Lore at Dance Place. What inspired this piece?
E: It’s kind of hard to nail down… We wanted to speak a little about subcultures at first, the ideas of what they were and are… We knew we wanted to have a queen, and some kind of really contagious disease and those who had it were put into some type of dungeon… Then I started to draw some inspiration from old Arthurian Legends and brought in a magical talisman, its allure and the price it exacts. Also the idea that resonates in many older myths about the link between the health of a land and its ruler’s health or validity… Before we knew it there was this shell of a story with these characters that somehow spoke to what needed to be revealed to tell their story fully. It’s funny how it works… It’s a little like sculpting… you start with these ideas and before you know it the stone is telling you how it wants to be carved… so you just kinda just use the chisel and set it free.

K: A show and a story go through so many evolutions before arriving as a completed piece! There is so much that inspired this show. I do know that we were originally intrigued by the idea of subculture. Also, we like to choose striking images that stick with people for a long time after the show, so we knew we wanted to have a dungeon scene. We also were very drawn to the idea of the connectedness of a community and so we developed the story to show the shared responsibility of each of the characters for the state of the town. It is based on the concept that sometimes we make choices by NOT making choices. This story is therefore also about the theme of knowing, versus not knowing. Our actions will always have an impact on others, but once we learn a certain piece of information we can’t UN-learn it and we must make actions accordingly. All in all this story is about shifting perspective—it is a shift in perspective that dooms the town and then in fact saves the town. LORE also makes a point that once you start acting on a more conscious level, not all things can be restored, and we must find a place of acceptance within ourselves on actions from the past, and a way to move forward.

You two are artistic collaborators, you’re also married. What’s it like creating works with the one you love?
K: It’s awesome. I both admire Enoch as an artist, and love him, and so I both respect what he says because I know he is a great artist, and I owe it to him personally to listen carefully. I can be pretty stubborn sometimes, and artists are known for being very protective over what they create, so this partnership has helped me to learn to make distinctions between what is actually working for a piece and what I just feel really emotionally attached to. All writers (choreographers) need an editor—a fresh outside eye.
E: Creating works with the one I love is both the most treasured gift I have and my greatest curse. I think it has to be otherwise I’m not sure I would be doing it right. Art needs tension, it needs the fire and the passion of conflict to set it free. Kimmie and I will get heated about our ideas and what we want artistically all the time. But I think it is from these disagreements that we get our best work. What is most important is that we don’t let our artistic differences mar and intrude on the love and respect for each other. Art needs that too.

Why dance? What first drew you to dance, and what keeps you there?
E: I don’t know that it’s just dance… I think that right now dance, or what I want dance to be for me, has more of all the elements of art than any other discipline, but as I said before I think there is a natural blending that happens within all the arts… paint on canvas has its sense of kinetic energy as much as movers onstage create static compositional lines.
But I guess there is a purity to communicating to others with bodies. We all have them to one extent or another, we all know how it feels to move in them. In this world where there is so much squabble, and noise, and worthless verbal and visual information thrown at us , it is nice to let go of all that and just truly see each other and talk to each other with all that we were given when we were born and all that will be left just before we die. Our bodies, skin, bones, sinews, flesh…
K: Movement turns me on… meaning, enlivens me… and this is one of the few things that I know is true.

The audiences for dance—even amongst the most well-known of companies—can be small (particularly when compared to theater audiences). Why do you think that is? And what can be done to excite people into seeing live dance?
K: I think when people are not versed in a specific technique, they do not always know how to appreciate it. Theater speaks to audiences and draws them in. It gives them a context. People like to know where they are. Blending theater into dance (and vice-versa) gives audiences who are new to dance (or theatre) a doorway in, through something that is familiar. Enoch and I were having a discussion the other day about how we like to make people a little bit uncomfortable with our material. I knew I was fascinated by the idea that I get enjoyment out of pushing buttons and boundaries. Enoch said, ‘you have to make people a little bit uncomfortable to be able to touch them’. I think once you touch someone in a powerful enough way, they will seek it out again and again.
E: I am always surprised how hard it is to get people to see dance and why people don’t go to watch dance more… I think there are many different factors at work, here are just a couple.
One is this constant labeling and relabeling of art and its forms. We have given everything names and rules… and so many people only feel comfortable going to watch the smallest niche of the art form that they think they will like. So let’s stop labeling everything in hopes of getting that little niche. Just call it a performance and let people enjoy the discovery.
When it comes to why theatre gets more audiences the truth is that theatre is easier for an audience. I don’t say that to take anything away from theatre, it is the background I come from. But language is easy. If I tell an audience that my uncle killed my father and married my mother they get it. Easy. I don’t have to work much but more importantly the audience doesn’t have to work much. It is literally spelled out for them. We are all used to communicating with speech and language, how many people pay as much attention to physical communication? It takes a lot of work, both as an artist and as an audience to share a concept with just movement. But I don’t think it is impossible, it just takes a little more work and actually trying to make sure our vocabulary of movement is getting across.

Finally, I wonder if we haven’t overly academized the form. I think we sometimes create work for other choreographers, or for grant boards, or for some elite board of dance historians. To make it worse we have built this great excuse for ourselves when an audience doesn’t understand our work, “ there is nothing to get, it is just dance for dance’s sake or art for art’s sake.” I know that the process of creating the work is what draws us to art and some of us just like to move, but I feel that the purpose of any art form is expression. This immediately intimates an audience and in order for that act of expression to be successful the audience must have some inkling of what is meant to express. I am not saying we should spoon feed our audiences, most like a challenge, but we have to keep them in mind when we create our work… if we truly try to speak to them and touch them with our work I know they will keep coming back for more.

Any advice for aspiring dancers or choreographers?
K: I would tell newer choreographers what I learning in a writing seminar at NYU: First just barf everything out onto the page. Put everything out there, including first instincts. Editing is a secondary and separate process. If you try to edit along the way you’ll stop yourself from ever writing anything at all. To aspiring dancers, I would say pay attention to what really turns you on (enlivens you) because that is what will carry you through. Let yourself accept the full experience—the aches, the joy, the losses, the euphoria, the frustration, the calm—because dance for sure will bring all of this and you must find a way to keep dance in your life if that is what is true for you.
E: I don’t know that I have much to say to them, I often feel that I am still an aspiring choreographer/artist at the very beginning of my journey. Maybe just a few of the things I have learned. Don’t ask for an opportunity, create one for yourself. If you want to create work, find the people and do it. Have fun, make mistakes, play, choose your life or life might choose a path for you that you might not like… If those all sound like fortune cookies I apologize, it’s my Chinese heritage sneaking up on me.
Maybe the key to it all is one final thought I learned recently from my wife, Kimmie… live life as if you have no fear.
-s. love

Junior Staffer Wins Top Prize


Our very own Jasmine McLaurin, star Junior Staffer, just won the grand prize for the 2009 International Youth Arts Contest.


What About Peace ? is an international art contest for youth ages 14 - 20 to express ideas and thoughts about peace.


Check out her winning video at www.whataboutpeace.org/2009/index.htm


Congratulations Jasmine!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Chicago has come to DC


The musical Chicago is currently playing at The National Theatre, and I had the pleasure of witnessing this entertaining production starring an impossible to dislike Roxie Hart, played by the captivating Charlotte d’Amboise. Chicago, of course, being one of Bob Fosse’s crowning achievements, we are razzle-dazzled as much by Fosse’s brand of movement as we are by the storyline of murder, fame and jazz. What comes to mind, if one dares to think on it, is how utterly unique and personal was Fosse’s style. It is said that his own embarrassment with his premature balding is what sparked his now iconic use of hats. But what is definitely obvious is that he was making it up as he went along. The sexuality, however smirking it may be, the small movements of hands and feet—which do not become lost in the shuffle but are given center stage—the rolling of the back, all bear the mark of one who is unrestrained by propriety, of one who is going his own way. It becomes dangerous to dwell on this for too long for one is surely bound to stumble on the nibbling fact that we are experiencing a shortage of such wild-eyed personalities. Such a realization leaves you to feel at once both thrilled at the legacy left behind and fearful that it all lies in the past. -s. love
For show times and ticket information, visit http://www.nationaltheatre.org/

Saturday, March 28, 2009

This Weekend...from the Washington Post

Hey There!

Check out the article on the Washington Post by Lisa Traiger about this weekend's performances by Daniel Burkholder and Jane Jerardi:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/26/AR2009032600975_pf.html


Tuesday, March 24, 2009

New Documentary - Ballerina


As we huddle in the attics of our minds awaiting either our capture or our release from the marching regime of panic over the future of our economy, there remains, though it goes quite unnoticed, a life full of small, splendid certainties that reestablished our equilibrium, allowing us by simple proxy to know our north from south, east from west.

Art is host to thousands of these small certainties. The simple act of putting pen to paper or paint to canvas has a way of causing any static in your life to melt in the background and then slowly fade away. The art of dance proves particularly reassuring, and in the realm of reassurance, the uncompromising discipline of ballet takes the cake.

This is what came to mind as I watched Bertrand Normand’s Ballerina, a portrait of five St. Petersburg ballerinas from the Mariinski Theatre (formally the Kirov). The film, now playing at E Street Cinema (555 11th Street NW Washington, DC), details the grit and single-mindedness that ballet dancers who want to climb out of the pit of the corps must possess. It is a beautiful and engaging portrait, even in its brevity (It clocks in at just 80 minutes).

Yet, at times, the beauty of the ballet dancer seems to travel from the farthest of distances. Despite the prettiness there is a disconnect (Unless, of course, she is very special, as the ballerina Diana Vishneva proves to be). Case in point: one graduating student sits stone faced staring blankly into the camera as she explains in monotone how happy she is be accepted into Mariinski’s professional company. Her supposed happiness has all the juice of a rock.

What seems to be missing is what yogis like to call “shakti”. My southern Baptist family calls it “the spirit.” Some of my off-the-radar friends call it “light behind the eyes.” (Such different interpretations of the same thing, proof that what is human is not foreign to humans).

It is easy to cast ballerinas, with their restrained, tailored sensibility, as empty vessels, only coming to life—and then only adroitly so—when the most talented of choreographers whip them, like puppet masters, into élan. On the other side of the coin are those few ballet dancers who transcend their training, who are able to pour such an immense amount of focus and drama, of self into each movement that each pirouette is transformed into something new and fresh and unseen. Bernard’s Ballerina showcases—though I can imagine unintentionally—each side of the proverbial penny. This is what makes this film such a treat and why the audience leaves the theater with change to spare. -s. love