By Nicole Harris
N: You have done many virtual performances in the last year, between 24hr ChoreoFest and OnStage’s most recent season. What are the joys you are finding in this format that you wouldn’t get in live performance? AF: For 24 hour ChoreoFest, I found joy in creating a duet that could never be performed in a conventional theater. In this duet, I was projected onto a screen in the room where my collaborator was dancing in, allowing us to look like we were in the same place, while we were miles away. The duet that I created was inspired by the ending of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, a story that I wouldn’t have been able to approach if not for the virtual format. For OnStage’s Season 19, it was inspiring to be able to dance in nature at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA. While it took a couple of rehearsals to learn how to dance on grass, I have never performed in a more beautiful space than that! N: This year’s NACHMO is different than anything we’ve done in the past, with all events entirely virtual. How will you change your process to deal with the obstacles 2021 brings us? What is the first thing you did at the start of the month? AF: My goal for NACHMO is to embrace the fact that we are all dancing in our homes. Because of that, I started this month with playing around with dancing on my bed and other places of my house. It took a little bit of time to understand how to work in a narrow hallway or a bouncy bed, but these experiences certainly opened up the movement vocabulary of my piece.
N: Who are your mentors? What makes those relationships special to you? What are you doing to pay forward the gifts they have given you? AF: Larissa Ursprung is my constant sounding board and mentor. She’s usually the first person I run my dance ideas by and sometimes, like for 24 hour ChoreoFest, I get to collaborate with her! Being a member of OnStage has also provided a community of dancers who mentor each other. The OnStage choreographers often provide feedback and help each other think through their pieces. N: It is important to us that we continue to lift up other artists in our community. Who are some of your favorite Boston area choreographers? Why? AF: Wendy O’Byrne of Contemporarily Out of Order is among my favorite Boston area choreographers. I find her way of incorporating a story into her choreography compelling. Natalia Maldari is another one of my favorite Boston area choreographers. I appreciate how she juxtaposes traditional ballet vocabulary with novel movement.
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By Nicole Harris
N: The piece you are building this year is a bit of a love letter to your kitchen. Can you talk a little about why dancing in your kitchen is so important to you? RR: Haha- yes, my kitchen. I have a number of reasons. One is that some of my silliest memories with my mom are of dancing together in the kitchen. In fact, one time she dipped me and dropped me but we were giggling so hard. It was awesome! I also have so many different memories in the various kitchens of my life- eating breakfast and listening to the radio while my mom blow dried her hair in the next room; making pies with my dad; the portable dishwasher I grew up with; sneaking treats like whipped cream or M&Ms when I wasn't supposed to; dancing around the island pretending we were on a 3 hour tour; making applesauce with my parents, my friends, my own family; hosting after Thanksgiving parties....you get the idea. I think most people have these kinds of memories. The kitchen may not be the central point of a home any more, but it is an essential point that everyone goes through every day. Then in addition to all of that, I keep exploring my own challenges with the kitchen and food and the essential life as the food maker for a child. A frequent question in our house- "What should we do for dinner?" "I don't know." "What do we need from the grocery store?" "Will you do the dishes?" "Is there coffee?" And I also have a love of negative space and reactionary movement- how can you dance with the refrigerator? Or the microwave? Since it won't be often that I can bring these partners to the stage, I decided to take advantage now. N: How have you been handling quarantine? What have you been doing to keep moving and creating during this year? RR: I am mostly at home- WFH, school from home, date from home, movies from home, dance from home...you name it! My house is all healthy but the pandemic has meant changes in parenting schedules. I have been learning how to do what I want while also seeing to my child's needs and letting him learn what I do and want to do. I made a playlist of dance videos I like and exercise to. We take walks and bike. My creation isn't always in movement- I have also completed 4 quilts, various projects with my son, and a fully online musical for kids. N: This year’s NACHMO is different than anything we’ve done in the past, with all events entirely virtual. How will you change your process to deal with the obstacles 2021 brings us? What is the first thing you did at the start of the month? RR: I did a lot of thinking- I usually do before choreography. I have a sense of what I want to do and think a lot. Then write a bit and explore. The challenge is finding time to video when I won't be interrupted!
N: Who are your mentors? What makes those relationships special to you? What are you doing to pay forward the gifts they have given you? RR: I don't have a specific mentor right now. I very much reflect on the classes and work I have done with Susan Creitz who was an improv professor of mine in college and a former Nikolais dancer. She helped train us to be very connected to the moment of the group so that we could improvise together and create beautiful work. I also respect the work of karen Krolak and her work on grief. I think it's incredibly important to explore all our grief and sometimes the best way to process is through movement. I also like the work of Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion in creating work and choreography that is elegant and approachable to all people. I hope to bring these gifts through my work and to work and honor dancers who offer the same. N: It is important to us that we continue to lift up other artists in our community. Who are some of your favorite Boston area choreographers? Why? RR: As mentioned above- Karen Krolak and her work on grief and movement of the every day. Peter DiMuro for his work that honors places and stories. Kristin Wagner for her work with women and telling women's stories. Aysha Upchurch for her powerful storytelling. There are so many others.... By Nicole Harris
N: How have you been handling quarantine? What have you been doing to keep moving and creating during this year? SC: As an extrovert with a typically very busy schedule, quarantine has been really hard. I’ve tried to do as many walks and outdoor activities as possible, both alone and with friends and loved ones, in order to still have some social time (and lots of phone calls and Zoom chats). After some initial numbness/resistance in the early pandemic times, I soon started taking online dance master classes and yoga classes – and I started some online teaching in the fall which really helped me get back into the creative groove. N: What will you be making for NACHMO? Will you be working with dancers or on your own? SC: I’m making a tap piece based around one of my favorite pieces of classical-jazz music; I’m working on it as a solo. This year’s NACHMO is different than anything we’ve done in the past, with all events entirely virtual. How will you change your process to deal with the obstacles 2021 brings us? What is the first thing you did at the start of the month? This is my first time doing NACHMO, so I don’t have past years to compare to. However, I will do a LOT more improv/self-filming and then selecting aspects I like to build upon. I use my computer and phone to note my choreography ideas much more than I used to, even speaking steps and rhythms into Voice Memos! At the start of the month, the first thing I did was reflect quietly and listen to what inspired me – and pretty quickly, an idea came to mind that started with the music. N: A lot happens in a short amount of time during NACHMO. What are you most excited about in this process? What are you most nervous about? SC: I’m most excited about feeling the collective motivation and push to create something, and the opportunity to connect with other choreographers. I’m most nervous about actually creating something that I feel is “good” and interesting – not boring or “standard.”
These choreographers came to mind because they each have a powerful voice and commitment not only to making creative work, but also to building collaborative, loving communities. They are supportive of others and dedicated to making the Boston dance scene a thriving one. N: Who are your mentors? What makes those relationships special to you? What are you doing to pay forward the gifts they have given you?
SC: I had the joy of taking class with Dianne Walker over the past couple of years, pre-pandemic, and she is one of the most fun, funny, and nurturing mentors you will ever find. She is hugely supportive of the Boston (and global) tap scene and encourages all of her students with such love! Most recently, another wonderful mentor has been Brenda Bufalino. I took a virtual course with her in the fall, which launched into individual mentorship, and she has shared so much insight, not to mention tons of information and resources to help shape my process and work. The fact that someone so amazing (she has done so much in her life!) is willing to share her time – on Zoom, no less – with younger creators just shows how generous she is! Also: my mom has been one of my mentors! She is also a tap teacher, and has continued to coach and support, and to share her ideas with me as we both navigate the world of teaching virtually. I hope to pay it forward by teaching my own students with the same encouragement and openness that all of these women bring to the table – or tap floor. By Nicole Harris One of my favorite things about NACHMO Boston is the number of new people I get to meet! It’s so exciting to watch our community strengthen and grow every year! Here is Jennifer Binversie, a NACHMO first timer! Learn more about Jennifer, NACHMO, and follow the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge by following us on Instagram! N: You have done a lot of teaching in your career. What is your favorite thing about being an educator? What do you hope your students can take away from their time with you? JB: Teaching is my passion and my strength. It amazes me how our job as educators is to make our dancers better than the generation before then because we have that much more information in us then our teachers had in them! I hope my students take away an appreciation for the art of dance. I teach dancers varying from outreach programs to classical ballet schools and I always say that if after all of this you decide you don’t like dance at least when you see dance on the stage you have an appreciation for the art and an understanding that what those dancers are doing is not easy and in the very least you give them credit for that. N: How have you been handling quarantine? What have you been doing to keep moving and creating during this year? JB: My creative dance juices turned into creative knit juices. I became a test knitter for an amazing knitwear designer Knit Sisu. I learned how to cross stitch. Took up a new language and even took golf lessons because I just never learned! N: NACHMO brings unusual challenges to our creative processes and this year adds a whole new slew of things to think about. How will you change your process to deal with the short timeline and the obstacles 2021 brings us? What are you most excited about in this process? What are you most nervous about? How are those things different than years past? JB: This is my first year with NACHMO as I identify myself as a dancer and dance educator. Choreography does not come easy to me so already joining NACHMO was a huge step for me and I’m already nervous! I’m really falling back on different exercises I learned in college at the University of Hartford to help me out. With the choreographic prompt of “searching for Joy” I have been writing down all the things that have made me happy over this last year and surprisingly there are more than you think! N: Who are your mentors? What makes those relationships special to you? What are you doing to pay forward the gifts they have given you?
JB: It’s amazing to think about all the people that have impacted you in a positive way and they don’t even know they did! When I moved to Boston three years ago I was so lucky that I was taken in by a supportive female ran business at Upward Spiral Studio and then followed by my Education and Community Initiative family at Boston Ballet where I have learned and continue to learn so much from teachers like Erin McNulty and Mary Teuscher. Never have I felt the importance of the statement, females supporting females then I have during my time here in Boston and I make it a priority to continue that mentality whenever I can be it via the dance community or otherwise. N: It is important to us that we continue to lift up other artists in our community. Who are some of your favorite local choreographers? Why? JB: I have worked with dancers of NSquared twice now and they never disappoint when it comes to feeding off of each others energies on stage. I also love watching pieces and taking class from choreographer Jenna Pollack. And of course another shout out to choreographer Erin McNulty as I worked with her in a contemporary music video she choreographed for. By Nicole Harris Next up on the NACHMO Boston interview list is the one and only Evolve Dynamicz. I am so excited to be working with them not only as choreographers but as co-hosts of our Mental Health Happy Hours! You can join us any Tuesday or Friday in January at 7:30pm EST! You can always find the link to Happy Hour on the front page of our site. To learn more about Evolve, Collective Moments, NACHMO Boston, and to follow the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge, follow us on Instagram! N: Evolve Dynamicz is co-hosting Mental Health Happy Hours as part of NACHMO Boston this year. Why are these mental health breaks so valuable to you? Evolve: We believe taking the time to focus on something that sparks joy (like dancing!) is important for our sanity, especially during this pandemic. We put on a production in October 2019 called LUCIDITY that Monkeyhouse was also involved in! The production was a series of vignettes about people’s experiences with mental health and illness: written, danced, choreographed, and spoken. We also partnered with a national non-profit called, This is My Brave, whose tagline is “storytelling saves lives” and we’ve really adapted that mindset as well. Normalizing conversations of mental health is essential to making it out of this pandemic on the other side. We are not only losing lives to COVID-19, we are also losing lives to the effects of social isolation on top of the preexisting systemic issues which add to the burden of mental illnesses. And we believe that community support is one of the best ways to combat this by enhancing mental health and wellness. And so, we are excited for others to join us and take a moment to take care of our mental health together, as a community. N: Kaylee, what made you decide to start your own company? Kaylee: I could write you a novel on why I decided to start my own dance company simply because I could talk forever and ever about dance. Instead I’ll give the short answer. I decided to start my own dance company because there is nothing more interesting and exciting for me than choreographing and getting to work with people. It has always been a dream of mine to create my own dance company! So, I decided to just go for it and here we are! Why wait to chase your dreams, life is too short to not wake up and do what you love to do everyday!!!! N: This year’s NACHMO is different from anything we’ve done in the past, with all events entirely virtual. How will you change your process to deal with the obstacles 2021 brings us? What is the first thing you will do when the month begins? Evolve: We shifted to Zoom rehearsals at the beginning of the pandemic and have been working that way since. So we’ve had some time to work out the kinks of virtual rehearsals. We’ve also put together a few films already, but not yet in one month’s time! We hope that by providing Kaylee with our pre-established virtual rehearsal structure, she will have more space to focus on creating and teaching her choreography! Kaylee: This first thing I am doing is having a (Virtual) meeting with everyone in the piece, sort of as a check in to see where we are all at! We all have different living circumstances etc, which is something important to be mindful of. I am doing this piece completely stationary which I am excited to play with. In having that challenge, I hope it helps alleviate some of the potential pressure/ anxious feeling of wanting to be able to dance but not having the proper space. Again, for me as a choreographer and individual it is important for me to be aware of everyone as individuals and try to keep in mind the dancers needs and/ or challenges!!!! N: Evolve Dynamicz has participated in NACHMO Boston several times in the past. This year you are collaborating with Kaylee Mahan’s new company, Collective Moments Dance Company, which is a new way to tackle the month long challenge. What are you most excited about in this process? What are you most nervous about? Evolve: We are so excited to mentor Kaylee and support her through this process. Lisa: After knowing Kaylee since she was 7, it has been inspiring to watch her through high school, college (as an Evolve apprentice, too!), and now launching her own company. Nicole: I have not had the pleasure of knowing Kaylee as long as Lisa has, but she has been with us as an apprentice since our first production as a company SPACES in 2017 and it has been a pleasure having her on this journey with us! (She is now a full member since graduating college in May.) I remember in SPACES we did an improvised piece and I was injured at the time, so I was improvising while sitting on a prop we had built for the show. She came over to me during the performance, danced with me while I was seated, and the piece ended with us hugging. I knew in that moment that our souls connected on a deeper level and that our dance careers would be intertwined for years to come. We are very excited to both be a part of her new company and watch her grow as a leader and artist. The only thing that we are nervous about this month is hitting ceiling fans as we are dancing in our homes! Kaylee: Nicole that moment will stay with me forever. I truly cannot begin to come close to expressing my gratitude and love for these two people! They truly are an inspiration to me everyday and I cannot thank them enough for sharing their dance journey with me! I still cannot believe I have been with Evolve since basically the beginning and I had never gotten the chance to be a part of this event! I am very excited! I think I am most excited to honestly start the new year off creating a new work! I can have quite the difficulty in trying to make decisions/ be decisive, but, I feel with the prompt of having a month to do it will help push me to make decisions and be decisive. And I think that is also what I am most nervous about.
Luminarium - we really look up to Luminarium as a company doing things that we hope to be doing in the next 5 years. A lot of the decisions we have made in growing our company have been inspired by Luminarium!
Ellen Oliver - Nicole had the pleasure of participating in The Dance Complex’s aMaSSit residency and was inspired by her thoughtful and carefully curated body of work. Lisa got to meet her this past October when we were performing at the Starlight stage and we were both mesmerized by her choreography and movement involving tinfoil! She is such an elegant mover, choreographer, and filmmaker! She is also producing a film festival this winter that everyone should check out! By Nicole Harris Ruth Benson Levin and Lynn Modell’s piece was one of my favorite parts of NACHMO Boston in 2020. (Which might make it one of my favorite things in 2020 all the way around!) I’m thrilled to have them back this year and to get a chance to learn a little more about them! To learn more about Ruth & Lynn, NACHMO Boston, and to follow the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge, follow us on Instagram! N: I noticed in your bios that you both went to Adelphi. Is that where you met? R&L: Yes, we met in 1972 as 17-year-old freshman dance majors in the Adelphi U. dance program. After college, we moved to Boston with 2 other AU graduates and formed a company, Kineticompany, 1976-84. R&L: The heart of Boston is the dance studios. For us, it was Green Street Studios and The Dance Complex (formerly the Joy of Movement Center). This is where we took class, taught class, rehearsed, and performed. The loss of Green Street is huge. N: How have you been handling quarantine? What have you been doing to keep moving and creating during this year? R&L: We have performed outdoors 4 times since June: Twice at Larz Anderson Park, Lynn's neighborhood, and at the Starlight Theater. We have rehearsed over Zoom as well as outside. Lynn has continued teaching her classes that used to meet at United Parish in Brookline and now are on Zoom. N: This year’s NACHMO is different than anything we’ve done in the past, with all events entirely virtual. How will you change your process to deal with the obstacles 2020 brings us? What is the first thing you will do when the month begins? R&L: It has been difficult for us to get together since winter arrived. Rehearsing outside is unappealing and the rise in Covid numbers has limited our in-person work. We are doing most of our brainstorming and planning on Zoom. N: This is your second NACHMO as a collaborative pair. What are you most excited about in this process? What are you most nervous about? How are those things different from last year? R&L: The constraints of virtual performance have motivated us to develop skills in creating and editing video. We're excited to be part of NACHMO to use these new skills.
By Nicole Harris January is National Choreography Month. We are working with NACHMO Boston again this year. I can’t wait to introduce you to all these incredible artists! First up is Alexandria Nunweiler from Alive Dance Collective. Follow NACHMO and Monkeyhouse on Instagram to learn more about this month’s events and participate in the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge! N: Your work is described as being “rooted in community, history, and daily life.” What does that mean for you? How do you involve those things in your process? AN: As the Alive Dance Collective we create dance for the human experience. We use that art to process and connect with others to better understand each other and grow as a community. Connecting that overarching theme to me and my process, I root my work in relatability and storytelling. Whether that be something as universal as your arm falling asleep, or the life of Henri Matisse, or the lore surrounding the Loch Ness monster I seek to surprise and connect with my audience on every level. N: I understand you grew up in a dance family. What was it like to be part of a studio owned by your mother? How did she impact the dancer you became? AN: Great question! I see my mom as the center pillar in my dance training and a wonderful mentor to how I create and teach today. I always refer to myself as a "studio brat" because I did my real growing up in a studio... and when I say "growing up" I mean from the womb until high school graduation-- my mom was still rolling around on the floor teaching Graham technique 9 months pregnant with me! My mom put a strong emphasis on education as well which pushed me to pursue my college degree in dance. I regularly return to Dance Theatre of Greenville to set work for my mom's students, teach master classes and attend performances. She runs a truly special program in the upstate of South Carolina and many (including me!) have benefitted from her education, approach and experience. N: This year’s NACHMO is different than anything we’ve done in the past, holding all events entirely virtually. How will you change your process to deal with the obstacles 2020 brings us? What is the first thing you will do when the month begins?
N: Alive has been part of NACHMO for many years, and you performed in 2020, but this is your first time choreographing for NACHMO. What are you most excited about in this process? What are you most nervous about?
AN: I am most excited to take on the challenge of a new work in one month. I love the open-endedness of NACHMO and that as long as you're creating you're right. Additionally, being a somewhat new member of the Alive Collective, I'm nervous/excited to work in the group as a choreographer for the first time and make something new with them. N: Who are your mentors? What makes those relationships special to you? What are you doing to pay forward the gifts they have given you? AN: I lean a lot on my mom as a mentor and I will be paying that one forward for the rest of my life. Outside of that relationship, I rely on a lot of peer-mentors. One person in particular is my collaborator Ashlea Sovetts who I am currently working with on a research project. She is the ultimate sounding board and creative yin to my yang. I'm able to pay this forward by participating in things like NACHMO where peer-mentorship is encouraged and growing the tightness of the dance community is a must. N: It is important to us that we continue to lift up other artists in our community. Who are some of your favorite local choreographers? Why? AN: Kristin Wagner has been a real inspiration to me personally. Her work is always so truthfully raw and I'm constantly reminded to dig deeper while working with and watching her. I'm also very inspired by Brian Feigenbaum. He really gave me my dance family in Boston when I first moved here and started showing up to his classes. He is so gifted in a way that transcends words and makes movement the only language that matters. In 2014 Monkeyhouse interviewed many of the participants in the CoolNY Dance Festival, including Jordan Rosin of the Ume Group, who celebrates a birthday this month! Originally posted here on 01/28/2014. By Nicole Harris Our next interview in the CoolNY 2014 Dance Festival series is with Jordan Rosin of The Ume Group. You can see his work on Friday, February 7 at 9:00pm & Sunday, February 9 at 6:00pm. All performances are held at the WHITE WAVE John Ryan Theatre, 25 Jay St., Brooklyn, NY and are FREE! -Nicole. N: Butoh is such a distinct movement style. How do you find it blends with the other movement styles you experiment with? Are there things that you struggle to meld due to the nature of Butoh?
JR: While from the outside eye it may appear that there is not much in common between butoh and some of the other physical disciplines we practice (like gymnastics or kung fu), there hasn't yet been a movement style we've hands-down failed to meld with Butoh. Mostly, I think this is because of the fact that we view Butoh more as a philosophy and as a physical / spiritual discipline than as a movement style in and of itself. There are certain characters and situations in drama where our most self-sacrificial Butoh practices may seem out of place in performance, but things like embracing the physical hardship of a choreography or offering our dance to the benefit of others can really only deepen the resonance of a given performance (in any style). N: Your company, The Ume Group, is called a physical theatre company. Can you talk a bit about what that means and how it differs from dance or dance theatre? JR: Primarily, our core ensemble has come from the world of theatre. All of us have trained in method-based acting and a realistic approach to telling stories onstage. The word "physical" comes in because we aim to train our bodies and to practice our art with the self-discipline and dedication characteristic of athletes or dancers. Every 2nd & 4th Tuesday for example, our core ensemble and community of followers join together in a free & open-to-the-public event known as "Open Training" where 3 teachers share 3 radically different approaches to training the physical body of a performer. I'm excited that in February we'll also begin our first weekly "Company Classes" which will focus (at least initially) on tightly goal-oriented training in gymnastics, yoga, and butoh for our most frequent performers. Many would say that the work we do is like dance, but not coming from that world myself, I wouldn't really know. N: It looks like your work is a very intense and hands on. How do you find the people you work with? How much say do they have in the creation process? JR: In the last year or so we instituted a physical training program known as the Training Ensemble, where for three months at a time one day each week a group of 6 artists gather to learn a variety of physical disciplines, create new work together, and practice their own skill as teachers. From this program - now in its third quarter - most of our principle dancers have emerged, including Marie Putko and Dave Herigstadwhom you will see perform when you join us at the CoolNY Festival on Feb. 7 and 9. In our first two years as a company, membership was all about participation in our flagship martial-arts / butoh-dance epic, BUTOH ELECTRA which we produced at numerous venues and for which casts of actors and actor/dancers selected from extensive rounds of auditioning trained and rehearsed for months at a time. That's how we met Yokko and Hannah Scott, who still teach and dance with us on a regular basis. Now we've begun - through the Training Ensemble - to develop a more formal, but still remarkably organic way of initiating new artists into our creative process. As far as that creative process is concerned, it is always truly varied and highly ensemble-based. As a "choreographer", I pick a few of the landmarks (sometimes themes, music, words; occasionally the body positions) which I think will render the most interesting or resonant journey for the artists to undergo in front of an audience and then I ask the artists to practice that journey, discovering their own landmarks with sometimes similar, sometimes different destinations. Their commitment to moment-to-moment honesty with themselves and with the universe around them is more important than any combination of poses or words, which I think of as part of that final destination. N: People in the arts often develop strong mentor/mentee relationships. Did/do you have a mentor throughout your career? Do you have a person or people that you have taken the mentorship role for now that you're a more established artist? How do you feel those relationships change your work? JR: Awesome question. I believe that mentor-ship is fantastically important. I was lucky enough when I was in acting school to have a teacher by the name of Steven Cross who truly pushed me to explore alternate ideas of what "theatre" could mean. As one of the school's two "movement" teachers in the acting program, he not only advised all of my directing work, but was also the first one to introduce me to the tools-of-the-body I use on a regular basis today... yogic asanas, whole-body listening, handstands (which are a fabulously useful trick for anyone to explore), and centering myself with breath. From these seeds I developed a whole variety of interests in disciplines as diverse as butoh and competition-style gymnastics, but perhaps more importantly, he helped me develop an awareness of my body as a playground and a temple, across which my spirit is thrilled to dance and play in new ways every day. That's what I aim to cultivate in the artists I mentor when I am blessed to teach in The Ume Group's workshops and Open Training sessions. B-A-R Dance is a new company co-directed by our very own Elizabeth Powers along side Michelle Boilard, Cayley Dorr and Erin Saunders. We can't wait to see what they've been working on as part of Uplift! Get your tickets for Saturday's show today and you can catch Monkeyhouse hosting the post show conversation, too! Nicole Harris: What will you be doing for Uplift? BAR: B-A-R is founded on the idea that dance is fun and bodies are rad. We are passionate about using the power of movement to incite radical joy and transcend socialized and politicized boundaries.We believe in the power of using movement to instill a positive environment in which all bodies can thrive. Through this performance experience, we can continue to fulfill our commitment to creating work that is both accessible and challenging. N: B-A-R Dance is new to the community and is directed by 4 choreographers. How do you know each other? How do you work together? Sharing direction under so many people can be challenging. What is the division of work between you? BAR: The four of us met while we were all studying Dance and Performance Studies at Roger Williams University. After working together and becoming so close in college, we knew that we shared similar artistic and personal values, as well as a common vision for what dance can and should be and do. B-A-R was born out of our desire to contribute something new and deeply personal to us to the Boston/ New England dance community. We all have different strengths, from community outreach to education to arts management to social media prowess, so we find that our individual work complements our work together quite naturally. Yes, working with four different voices at the table can be challenging, but we came together to form a company with a deep commitment to our friendship first. We dance together because we love each other and value one another as humans. We know that movement brings us together, and cannot drive us apart. N: Who are your mentors past and present? BAR: We each have our own personal mentors but we are all extremely lucky to also share the same mentors from Roger Williams University. While we were studying, we were taught and mentored by Gary Shore, France Hunter, Cathy Nicoli, Michael Bolger, and Michael DeQuattro. Being a part of such a small program allowed us to be vulnerable and create close relationships with all of our professors and accompanists. We strongly feel that our time at RWU and these important connections with our mentors greatly influenced our decision to pursue our goals and form B-A-R. N: Aside from the amazing people in this festival who are some of your favorite local choreographers?
BAR: In the Boston dance community, there are so many amazing choreographers/dancers we look up to and we feel so lucky to be included. To name two, we owe so much to Kenzie Finn of Project31 and Lacey Sasso of Sasso and Company. Both of these strong women run dance companies that we admire and look up to. They have also given us opportunities to dance and perform in their shows, which we are extremely grateful for. We strive to be as calm and collected as they are when they are producing their own shows, while pushing their limits to create innovative and challenging works. If you have the chance to see their companies perform, do it. You will not be disappointed!
Nicole Harris: What will you be doing for Uplift? Lisa & Nicole: We will be performing a piece called “Purlieus.” It’s funny because we choreographed the piece before Nozama even announced the theme of their show this year and it is actually about how we support one another as a group of women! N: We have been thrilled to hear about your recent focus on mental health. Can you tell us about LUCIDITY and why the topic is so important to you? L&N: LUCIDITY is our upcoming production, premiering this fall! As artists, we’ve recently been focused a lot on who we are and what we want to say with our dancing and choreography. We believe mental health (not just illness!) is something that is not discussed enough in our day to day lives. We believe that taking care of your mental health should be just as important as taking care of your physical health… you workout to keep your body healthy, so why shouldn’t we discuss what’s going on with our mental states on a daily basis? There is so much stigma surrounding mental health and talking about emotions, and we want to end that! We all have emotions— happiness, sadness, anxiety, grief, excitement… the list could go on forever, but we want to bring those emotions to the surface and explore them without stigma. LUCIDITY is a compilation of the emotional experiences of us and our dancers and topics range from eating disorders to anxiety to injury induced depression, as well as community mentality, support systems, and authenticity. We are also partnering with a non-profit called “This is My Brave” (look them up if you don’t yet know them) and we will have a few of their speakers as a part of our show too! We are so excited to be part of UPLIFT because we think it is a great compliment to our show! Nozama works hard to empower women and in doing that they are also ending the stigma surrounding women’s emotions. And we think that is great! N: Who are your mentors past and present? Nicole: A past mentor of mine was my college dance professor, Missy Pfohl Smith. She shaped my choreographic mind before I even really understood what choreography was. Missy was the one who helped me bring my academic background of physics into my artistic and creative work and I am forever thankful for her continued presence in my life. A current mentor of mine would be a current grad school professor, Mary Hale. I am pursuing a Masters in Architecture and Mary is a practicing architect with her own creative firm that works specifically with dancers in the performance realm! Mary has taught me so much so far and I am excited to keep learning from her in the next two years of my degree program. Lisa: My biggest mentors are my former dance teachers, Karen White and Terry Paretti. They taught me every style of dance and instilled a pure love for the art form that dance can be. They also supported and encouraged me to pursue my dream of having a career in dance once I graduated from high school! A current mentor of mine is a former coworker and good friend of mine, Melenie Diarbekarian. Although we aren’t far apart in age, I am constantly blown away by her hard work and dedication. She is a part of some of my favorite local dance companies and is a bright light in everything she does. Not to mention someone I can count on to be my barre buddy in ballet class! Through our time in knowing each other, she has shown me how to make things work and keep the flame of passion burning inside no matter how crazy life gets. N: Aside from the amazing people in this festival who are some of your favorite local choreographers?
L&N: Modern Connections Turning Key Dance Company Luminarium Get your tickets to see Alex and all of the ChoreoFest artists at Ignite at Green Street on June 23rd! Nicole Harris: You talk a lot about tying fiber arts into your work as a choreographer. Can you talk about places where those two worlds have intertwined in your work? What draws you to those two art forms? Alexander Davis: Fiber is a very empathetic medium. There are lots of shared, tactical experiences with fiber and textiles. When one sees fiber in a heightened artistic context, it is easier to have a physical, empathetic response to it. For this reason I have always believed that dance and fiber are connected. I have created fiber works that are simply wall hangings, or installation experiences, but I have also create knit costumes and performance environments. Everything is related. N: You are the director of Urbanity Dance’s Summer Choreography Intensive Program. Can you tell me a little about the program? What makes that particular program unique? AD: Urbanity's Summer Choreography Intensive program is a highly curated, one-week intensive focusing on creating a platform for helping emerging artists continue to develop their voices as makers. The cohort of artists work and support each other throughout the week. They create work across community spaces in Boston's South End, and it culminates in an informal showing. I believe what makes this program unique is the individualized attention and mentorship that each student receives during their time. I (along with a group of guest artists) take the time to first identify each individuals goals as a dance maker before then helping them gain the skills and experience to achieve growth within towards those goals. N: You will be working in one of the site specific locations at this year’s ChoreoFest. Where will you be working and what made you choose that spot? AD: I enjoy adapting my work for specific spaces. In this case I was attracted to the nook between studios 1 and 2 as a challenge to explore entrance and exits. The nook is framed by two door ways. I am looking to use this time to research entrances, exits, beginnings, and endings in order to inform future, evening length works that are currently in process with my collaborator Joy Davis. N: What are you most nervous about for ChoreoFest? AD: I am most nervous about being exhausted. I usually go to bed around 11:00pm and wake up around 7:00am. I am anxious about staying up all night, and how that will affect the following few days and the work I have to get done in those days. N: Who are your mentors, past and present? AD: It takes a village, and I am endlessly grateful to all of the folks who have supported me and continue to support me along my journey. I would say my collaborators are my primary mentors; Joy Davis, Jenna Pollack, Harrison Burke, Eric Mullis and beyond. Peter DiMuro. Monica Bill Barnes. William Seigh. Too many to count and name. Thank you to all. N: Where else can we find you this Spring/Summer? AD: I will be performing at Gibney Dance in NYC with Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion June 13-15th. This summer I am focusing on my own dance training by participating in One Body One Career at Springboard in Montreal. This is a two week Counter Technique intensive in July. In August I will be directing Urbanity's Choreography Intensive and preparing for the upcoming semester at Endicott College, where I am on faculty in the Visual and Performing Arts Department. N: What other local companies/ choreographers do you recommend people check out? Why? AD: Boston has a dynamic and growing dance community. Joy Davis is my dear friend and collaborator (together we are The Davis Sisters), who is developing beautiful and thoughtful work. I am a huge fan of Heather Stewart. Her recent premier of "against hard air" at the Boston Center for the Arts was unbelievable. by Nicole Harris Get your tickets to see Colleen and the rest of the artists at Ignite on June 23rd! Nicole Harris: You began your relationship with movement as a competitive gymnast. How does that experience inform your choreography today? In what ways are the two worlds similar? Different? Colleen Walsh: In my very young years I actually danced before my career as a competitive gymnast, but as gymnastics became more serious, I stopped dancing and didn’t return to it until college when my time as a gymnast came to an end. Although looking back, as a gymnast I choreographed my own floor and beam routines, so even during that time there were signs that dance would play a part in my future... My time as a gymnast influenced the person I am in so many ways- and does continue to influence my choreography today. It taught me a lot about dedication during times of trial, overcoming obstacles, respect, and consistency- all of which we know to be required skills of a choreographer. My work also tends to be quite athletic, rooted in my love for pushing boundaries with gravity and being upside down. Certainly there are some differences between ‘the two worlds’ of gymnastics and dance, but I see them as more similar than they are different. Both are communities of deeply passionate and dedicated individuals who love to move. As I became more involved in the dance community, I used to be embarrassed to admit that I didn’t study dance for hours in the studio during my childhood and teen years. I felt like without that, my place in this community wasn’t validated. But, I did spend hours in the gym during those years. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate that there’s a lot of different ways to do something right- there’s a lot of different ways to get to where you want to go- and no way of getting there makes your journey any less valid. N: Who are the dancers you’ll be working with as part of ChoreoFest? CW: I’m actually still finalizing this based on availability and unfortunately a few dancers I work with dealing with injuries. I’m very interested in continuing to develop both solo work and group work- so no matter how things end up, I’m thrilled for this experience...I’m trusting it will work out exactly how it needs to best serving this experience. If I move forward working with dancers, I’ll be sharing who they are and how amazing they are on my social- so keep an eye out! N: What are you most nervous about for ChoreoFest? CW: My choreographic process tends to spend a lot of time in the ‘gathering inspiration’ or research phase, and I’m truly trying to not think much about what I’ll create until I walk in the door on June 21st, to really embrace the purpose of this festival, so that has me a bit outside of my element right now. N: Who are your mentors, past and present? CW: I feel really lucky to have had such tremendous mentors in so many different areas of my life. I’d love to give a shoutout to Duane Lee Holland, Jeanine McCain, Pam Pietro and T Lang who have each had a profound impact on me as a dancer and choreographer, teaching me along my journey a little bit more about the artist and human I want to be. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude when I think about the many beautiful people who have cheered me on, supported me, picked me back up, and loved me along the way. N: What do you most value in a mentor? CW: A big open heart and honesty. N: What other local companies/ choreographers do you recommend people check out? CW: This Boston dance community is the dang best. I’m lucky to come into contact with a lot of truly beautiful artists and companies and to have the opportunity to talk with them and watch them share their souls. Get out to festivals, classes, workshops, and performances this summer and support local artists! A few people whose work, teaching, dedication, guts, service to the community, and artistry have been inspiring to me recently: J Michael Winward Jean Appolon Kristin Wagner’s That’s What She Said Michael Figueroa Aysha Upchurch Ali Kenner Brodsky Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion ...and truly so many more... ...and the people I get to stand alongside during this ChoreoFest...come on! Amazing!! N: Where else can we find you this Spring/Summer? CW: You can find me teaching at The Dance Complex’s Summer Sizzle Dance Festival, on a regular basis at Shanti Yoga in Hopkinton, and getting my butt into the studio a lot. A few years ago I lost a lot, and to be honest choreographing and performing has felt a lot like ripping off a bandaid since then...but it’s time to get ripping. By Nicole Harris Introducing our next ChoreoFest choreographer, Kelsey Saulnier! She will be working in one of the site specific locations at Green Street during the festival. Don't miss Kelsey and all of the ChoreoFest artists at Ignite on June 23rd! Get your tickets today! Nicole Harris: Your work incorporates both choreographed movement and improvisational scores. How do you weave those two things together within the same work? What sorts of improvisation scores are most interesting to you? How have you developed an idea from simple improvisation to a repeatable score? Kelsey Saulnier: I like to think of improvisation and set material as not so different, and this helps to weave these two ideas together and transition in and out of them within the same work. Improvisation is simply about in the moment choice making, and because of this there is always some degree of improvisation in all that we do. Even in set material, we are not necessarily choosing to come up with new movement, but we are constantly choosing how we embody what is already there; we are choosing how to make it come alive… how to make it more profound than just a shape; or how not to. I am most interested in improvisational scores that stem from a more visceral place… scores that provoke movement from the inside out. It is one thing to put on a piece of sound and simply improvise to it, but this sort of feels like a wash for me. I do not know where the movement is coming from or why, and although this is a valid way of working it does not sit right with my dancing body. Which is sometimes okay, but not ideal. Scores that deal with an imagined density or resistance, a cooking of the organs, a spreading of skin or imagined imprinting of the air. Scores like this really allow me to work without the notion that my movement has too look a certain way, and dance from a place of true investigation. I like to video myself improvising sometimes, then relearn only the best bits and string them together into a more repeatable phrase. Improvisational scores are also wonderful choreographic tools. For example, I can propose a score that deals with attempting to move exclusively from your most inner bone marrow, and instead of improvising with it, create set movements that embody this task and string them together into phrasework. N: What are you most nervous about for ChoreoFest? KS: I feel most nervous about being invested in a particular artistic process for twelve hours straight. I enjoy creating work in pieces because it allows me to step outside of it for a bit and get some perspective on what the heck I just made. This is especially helpful with solo work. I can revisit it later with fresh eyes. Being IN a work for this extended amount of time feels frightening but also like a totally exciting challenge. I am interested in how far I will fall into it. N: Who are your mentors, past and present? KS: Two movers/mentors that have been super important in my development as an artist are Chris Aiken and Leslie Frye-Maietta. They’re two very special humans in the Five Colleges that taught me during my time in undergrad and really helped me find my voice as an improviser. Chris teaches at Smith College and is a master at improvisation both in contact and composition. I have worked closely with him over the years in both class and rehearsal settings and he has supported me endlessly. Leslie really opened my eyes to what else dance and movement could be artistically when I first arrived at college. She is an amazingly thoughtful choreographer and really great at pulling heart and soul out of everyone she works with. I’ve danced for her in many of her works over the past four years and her rehearsal process has always been super transformative for me. N: Where else can we find you this Spring/Summer? KS: This summer is filled with lots of dance, work, and travel, which is so wonderful. I am showing a newish-solo around NYC throughout June. I’ll also be spending some time in Vienna during July/August dancing/studying at ImPulsTanz. I have had my eye on this festival for years and feel so grateful and excited that it was able to work out this summer. Other than that, I work as a nanny and a dog walker (the hustle is real). So, you might find me out walking some pooches. N: What other local companies/ choreographers do you recommend people check out? Why?
KS: Jenna Pollock is a thoughtful and fiery choreographer who is doing wonderfully progressive things in the Boston area. She emphasizes the importance of improvisation and works to create thought provoking dance. I recommend checking her out if you haven’t. Also, David Dorfman Dance Company. They are not exactly local to Boston, but they often hold rehearsals and intensives in Connecticut as well as NYC. Their work is humorous, quirky, abstract, athletic, and truly joyful. They are a company of kind and caring individuals who everyone should really check out. by Nicole Harris Introducing another 24hr ChoreoFest artist, Nick Daniels! He is coming to us from Pittsburgh. We are thrilled to have him in the studios with us at Green Street in a couple of weeks! This year the ChoreoFest artists will show their work at Ignite, Luminarium's gala event on Sunday, June 23rd. Don't miss this opportunity to see new work and support a whole range of choreographers! Nicole Harris: You recently returned to choreographing after quite a few years. What has been different in this “second chance”? What are you most excited about doing with your work at this stage in your career? Nick Daniels: When I left the dance world in 1994, the internet was a new thing. I’m most excited to take advantage of technology advancements. Also, during my hiatus I lost both my parents at separate times. Through that loss I found strength and knew I had to come back to honor them. N: You recently resurrected Pittsburgh Dance Week. Can you tell me a bit about what that is and why it was important to you to bring it back? ND: When I returned, things in Pittsburgh’s community were very different. I asked my dancers about Pittsburgh Dance week, but they weren’t aware it was even a thing. At that point I knew I had to reinstate the tradition of having a week of classes, discussions, showcases and performances to showcase how very diverse and talented my hometown is. N: Where else can we find you this Spring/Summer? ND: This summer I will be performing in Dancing Queerly here in Boston at the Dance Complex, then more work in festivals, teaching and developing new work for our next season. N: What other local companies/ choreographers do you recommend people check out? Why? ND: Companies to look out for... In Pittsburgh, SlowDanger. In Boston, I love Peter DiMuro’s work. There’s an honesty that I am drawn to with both groups. by Nicole Harris
24hr ChoreoFest is a unique choreography event fashioned after 24 hour play and film festivals. Choreographers are locked into Green Street Studios overnight on June 21st with the mission of creating something new. All of the work will be shown at Luminarium's Gala Event, Ignite, on Sunday, June 23rd. Keep an eye out here for more information about the festival and the artists involved! Get your tickets to be part of the magic! The first interviewee is choreographer Emma Morris. She comes to us from Atlanta where she works as a dancer and freelance choreographer. Nicole Harris: Who are the dancers you’ll be working with for ChoreoFest? Emma Morris: I’ll be working with a couple dancers and long-time collaborators that I met during my time at USC. Meredith Price is a Boston native, who in addition to being a talented dancer is an outstanding visual artist as both a photographer and graphic designer. I will also be bringing Lauren Bobo, a dance artist and teacher who I’ve worked with on nearly every work I’ve created. N: What are you most nervous about for ChoreoFest? EM: What I’m most nervous for during ChoreoFest is shortening parts of my process to fit into such a short period of time. As a choreographer, words are used as a jumping off point. I discuss with my dancers the theme of the piece, and let where the conversation develop where it may between the people and the experiences in the room. I then collect words and phrases from those conversations and use them to inform gestures and base choreography. In only having a limited time, I will have to condense this process and I am nervous if my work will loose the layered intentionality my work possesses. Or it might allow for an even more intentional piece! N: Who are your mentors, past and present? EM: I have never really found myself in the direct mentorship of any one artist. I’ve learned so much from so many people, be it colleagues, teachers, or directors. But, I’ve learned the most from and still continue to look to for inspiration and advice from Shaun Boyle D’arcy. I met Shaun while a sophomore at USC when she selected me as an understudy for the creation of a new work, she saw something in me I didn’t see in myself yet. Her creation process deeply influenced the way I create, and working with her again my senior year, her encouragement in my personal voice gave me the confidence to pursue choreography. N: Where else can we find you this Spring/Summer? EM: This summer I’m working a lot in Atlanta. I’m premiering a new work on June 14th at MIXTAPE, a feminist dance festival produced by Zoetic Dance. After 24hr ChoreoFest, I’ll head back to Atlanta to continue to work with multiple companies in the area- I’ve got a few new projects in the works. I’m hoping to head to WA for another project in August but its not finalized yet. N: What other local companies/ choreographers do you recommend people check out? Why? EM: So I’m not from Boston, so maybe not the best person to give advice on the dance scene but I can tell you all about the gems in Atlanta and Columbia SC. In Atlanta I love Zoetic, they’re an all female company that creates work centered on female empowerment, and Kit Modus, a company creating beautiful and intricate work with some of the most talented artists in the city. In Columbia I have to say Yuhas and Dancers is amazing, creating highly intelligent work that is socially relevant- most recently creating a work with SC’s poet laurate. Sam Mullen: You have a lot of choreography that is now being performed by other company members. What has it been like to teach the choreography to each dancer? How does it feel to see your work being performed by each person/personality? Nicole Harris: While we all come from different backgrounds I think one thing that is universal within Monkeyhouse is that we are all interested in seeing how a piece changes as it is performed by new bodies with new personalities and experiences to draw from. Our goal is never to have someone mimic the choreographer but to find their own voice within the work. It's why almost every piece is choreographed in collaboration with the dancers and you'll never quite see the same piece twice. Some pieces, when they acquire a new performer, stay within the same movement vocabulary and the changes come out in tone and texture. Other pieces add, subtract or replace phrases based on the needs of the new performers. Some pieces retain their concept or story but it ends up being told in a completely different manner. I was actually just talking about this last option with Caleb last night. One of the pieces I have restaged for this show is a duet that was originally performed by Caitlin Meehan and Nikki Sao Pedro-Welch. (For this show it will be performed by me and Sarah Feinberg.) The structure of the piece is largely one phrase that gets repeated and manipulated over and over with a final section of partnering between the two characters. In watching Sarah learn and develop her version of the piece I thought I would love to take the same structure but allow the dancer(s) to create their own phrase as the base of the movement instead of just adapting my original phrase - as Sarah and I did. When I first took this piece out of hibernation I had thought that it would be an interesting one to add to the series of duets Caleb and I have been performing, only the vocabulary of the original choreography is completely different than the vocabulary that comes out of where our two movement backgrounds meet. But the integrity of the piece won't change at all if the choreography of that main phrase is completely different. Karen talked quite a bit about restaging Firk II with you and Olivia so I'll skip that one. The last piece I restaged for this show is a solo I created in 2011 with Caitlin Meehan. I have actually taught this piece to two different dancers (Caleb from Monkeyhouse and Julien, my student at the Groton School) in the last few months. In both cases it was much more of the first method I mentioned above. The choreography, which was originally created through improvisations with Caitlin, has become now a set series of gestures. However, the piece is entirely about the personality and idiosyncrasies of the character in a very real and relatable situation. So, despite there being a written list of gestures that defines the structures, Caleb and Julien each had drastically different (but equally amazing) interpretations of the piece. SM: You have two duets with both Caleb and Sarah. What has it been like working on the duets with each person? Are the duets similar or completely different from one another with each specific person? Have the similarities /differences impacted rehearsals at all (tough changing from one character/emotion to the next or, if they are similar, is it the same character being continued over into the next story)? N: Yes, since the show is largely about relationships there are quite a few duets. You and Olivia have two as well! All four of my duets are pretty drastically different. It's always possible to draw comparisons. Both of my duets with Caleb are about relationships, although in one the relationship is just beginning and the other doesn't end well... We also have props that make our duets more like trios at times. Sarah and I have a similar partnering vocabulary in the two pieces, so they are definitely alike in that way. However, one is fairly linear in its storytelling and the other is rather abstract. Like any Monkeyhouse show (or any show with many choreographic voices) this show requires a lot of mental elasticity from the performers. Even just in these four pieces I jump from an overview of an entire relationship in which I am left alone at the end. Then I am the one who does the abandoning and we explore what it means to trust someone. The next piece plays with rebound and reaction and how two people intentionally or unintentionally impact one another. And finally I am one of two people who has to learn where baggage, insecurity and mental illness can fit into establishing a new relationship. That's a lot of emotional roller coaster - and I'm in at least 2 other pieces that aren't duets...! SM: You have quite a few props for your pieces in this show! What has it been like working with vastly different elements, i.e. a very special, large umbrella vs a much smaller light source in total darkness? N: It's interesting because the props all come from very different sources. The light, which is used in Elyssa Berg's Irradiance, was something that Elyssa had been playing with in Musings for months. Caleb and I were asked to dance in that particular piece and the movement entirely came from prompts by Elyssa. So while we did play with the light (and we are always entertained by the patterns it makes on the ceiling while we're performing) it was something that was directed from the outside. Similarly, the idea for the umbrella came from an outside source. Karen, who built the beautiful umbrellas as the start for a project that eventually became the Dictionary of Negative Space, brought them in to Musing almost a year ago and led a series of improvisations around the idea of the umbrella being a security blanket. When Caleb and I proposed the idea of building a duet Karen suggested that those improvisations might be a good place to start. We definitely never would have come up with Voetstoots without Karen's suggestions or her umbrella! So, the umbrella was given to us from the outside, but the movement it generated came entirely from the two of us and our interpretation of the idea. The hardest part of the umbrella is that from a storytelling perspective it isn't supposed to be easy to keep the umbrella under control, especially once we are dancing together. However, like most things, practice makes better - so the longer this piece get rehearsed and performed the easier it is to encourage the umbrella to do what we want. So we have to constantly remember what it was like in the early days and try and keep that feeling in every performance. SM: You are always so busy working on new adventures for Monkeyhouse. Can you tell people about all of the exciting things we have coming up?
N: Oh yes! We are simultaneously building three large events at the moment. The first is this show, of course. Then on April 13th we will be performing with Karen for her I-ARE residency showcase at the Dance Complex. And on April 27th we will be out on the Malden Community Trail co-hosting the very first Malden Dance Mile with OnStage Dance Company as part of ArtWeek 2019! Everyone should keep an eye out on our social media and here on the website for more information about how you can be involved with all of these exciting choreographic adventures!
Nicole Harris: You have been working with Sam Mullen quite regularly for almost two years. You will be performing two duets, Connexa (choreographed by Nikki Sao Pedro-Welch and Sarah Feinberg) and Firk II (choreographed by Karen Krolak and myself) in this concert. Can you talk about what it has been like to work with Sam? Olivia Scharff: Working with Sam has been wonderful! From the moment we met at Musing, we both knew we were kindred spirits and would get along well. This friendship is clear when dancing with Sam because our personalities mesh and performing becomes easy. I would like to point out that Connexa is especially easy for us. It is as if Sarah and Nikki set the characters on us specifically and we have a great time bringing them to life! N: When we did re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT} in the OnStage Summer Series in July Karen created a new solo, [82], for you. Since then the piece has also been taught to one of our guest artists, Kim Holman. Can you talk about what it was like to see a work you helped generate performed by someone else for the first time? OS: I really enjoyed watching Kim perform [82] at Groton School in the beginning of February. This piece created by Karen has many different interpretations, which is what I love about it. I enjoyed how the piece had the same background and story but the journey throughout was different. It’s like if you give two children instructions to construct a house, the result you get will be a house, but the journey to create this structure will be very different! You can catch Olivia at
re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT} on March 29-30th at the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, MA Get your tickets today for $5 off the door price! Sam Mullen: You will be performing a new (to you) piece in this show. It was choreographed by Nicole Harris and originally performed by Caitlin Meehan. As you worked on making the piece your own you developed a rather extensive backstory of your character, Fred. How did that come about and how did it change how you viewed the piece? Caleb Howe: As an exercise to help me with Noumenon, Nicole asked me to fill in a lot of the backstory that goes unsaid in the piece. With whom is the character texting? Why? Where is he? In a couple cases the specifics of the backstory became part of the piece. His aunt's habit of calling at inopportune times was incorporated into the choreography. But the exercise wasn't just about informing specific moments in the piece, but also finding all the ways that the character *isn't* Caleb. Because the piece is rooted in a personal moment that we've all experienced it was easy to become self conscious about the movement. Inventing a substantial backstory for the character helped separate his motivations, movements and decisions from my own. SM: You and Nicole developed a duet, Voetstoots, (your choreographic debut!) for the first version of re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT} in July. It has changed some since that first performance. How have audience responses from different concerts helped develop the piece? CH: I'm not sure how much we've incorporated from the audience as we've developed the piece. I think both Nicole and I went into the July performance knowing that we wanted to do a lot of work on the piece afterward. More than anything we wanted time to get past rehearsing the movement and work on the other aspects of the piece - the characters, the dynamic between them and the acting. That said, because the piece is so narrative, it has been fun to hear audience members interpretation of the story. SM: How does your background in theatrical design influence either the development of the umbrella piece or how you perform in general? CH: I used to do stage carpentry for a theater group in the bay area. The best analogy I can draw to working with Monkeyhouse is that when I was building sets, someone else was giving me a design and it was my job to fill in the gaps and make it work within the constraints of the space, the materials and the budget. Much of what I've done with Monkeyhouse follows a similar pattern - whether it's Musings where the leader has an idea and I'm trying to interpret it, or the umbrella piece where the physical prop was the starting point and everything evolved from there. You can catch Caleb at
re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT} on March 29-30th at the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, MA Get your tickets today for $5 off the door price! Nicole Harris: You will be doing two duets with Olivia Scharff during the show. Can you tell me a bit about what it has been like to have one partner that you work with with more regularity? Sam Mullen: Working with Olivia has been a completely different experience than I’ve had with any other partner. We had a natural connection from the instant we met and partnering together was completely organic. We gravitate towards each other when working on improv prompts in monthly Musings and have similar movement styles. It was obvious early on that we needed to explore partnering pieces together. Our personalities compliment each other well which comes through in our movements. We trust each other entirely which allows us to try out tricks that we would otherwise feel anxious about. We’ve been able to grow together by supporting and encouraging each other over the last year and a half. I cannot wait to bring our quirky friendship to the stage this month! N: Connexa is a duet you and Olivia have performed before but you're adding a new one to this show called Firk II. The piece was originally choreographed in 2006 by me and Karen and this is the first time anyone else has danced it. Not surprisingly for the two of us, there is no small amount of partnering in the piece. What has it been like to learn the piece and all the new lifts? SM: Most of my recent work in Musings and rehearsals has been very grounded and slower paced. Learning Firk II for the first time was shocking! There are flips, tricks, and lifts sprinkled throughout the choreography. At first, I was afraid my body wouldn’t allow me to do some of these tricks anymore. Would my body still be flexible enough in the ways needed to be able to perform this piece? Within the first two hours of learning the piece, I was obsessed. Karen and Nicole choreographed this high energy, strong piece in a way that is very easy to learn. There are tricks to the tricks that make them much easier to perform than they appear. It is so invigorating to perform! It might even be my new favorite piece. You can catch Sam at
re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT} on March 29-30th at the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, MA Get your tickets today for $5 off the door price!
Nicole Harris: Can you tell me about the work you’ll be performing as part of the OnStage Summer Performance Series? Lisa Costello & Nicole Zizzi: The work we are showcasing will be performed to the composer Roberto Cacciapaglia’s album titled Quarto Tempo. We are experimenting with how to bring visual diversity to a set of music that is more or less similar and coherent. We are also hoping to engage in a storytelling through movement by means of contemporary dance that is not literal in its purpose. We love to experiment with ambiguity in our movement vocabulary and choreography so that the audience can interpret our choreography in their own ways. We want each of the audience members to be able to connect to our work in their own ways so we don’t like to be too obvious in our intentions and meanings. However, we obviously pull our inspiration from very specific places, so it is always interesting to see how the audience interpretations align with our own inspirations. So we are very excited for the informal nature of the show and the ability to interact with the audience afterwords! The OnStage Summer Performance Series is a good place for us to experiment with our newest ideas and get feedback from a diverse audience.
L&N: Since January, we have both choreographed each of our own separate pieces and we think they have both been successful in their own ways! Our individual movement styles are very similar but it has been interesting to see how our choreography can be different. We both have similar choreographic processes in the way we use notebooks and notations, but the way they come out on the dancers bodies really show our individual personalities and that has been really cool to see! We compliment each other in our differences, which is why we ultimately decided to work together when we first founded Evolve. So it has always been something we knew, but it has been so fun to see how that has manifested itself physically! We’ve decided to highlight our differences by inviting additional guest choreographers to set pieces on us for this show. We are really testing the waters on our different movement and choreography styles have be brought together in a cohesive way. It’s almost like our differences are exactly what has inspired the whole concept of this show. N: Nicole, you had just recovered from hip reconstruction surgery in time to perform for NACHMO Boston. As dancers we are always hesitant to talk about injuries and setbacks, however, we all face them. What were the challenges you faced in getting yourself back on stage, especially after the prescribed “recovery time” was over? What did you learn from the time you were out of commission? What recommendations do you have for other dancers facing physical setbacks? Nicole: The prescribed recovery time technically wasn’t even over until mid-June, so I would say the biggest challenge was the time it took to recover. I had about a year and a half period of pain before the doctor’s could actually diagnose me with Hip Dysplasia. I won’t go into that story but if anyone is interested I have been keeping a recovery blog! https://www.nicolezizzi.com/never-give-up I think the biggest thing I learned from the whole 2 year process from pre-diagnosis to surgery and recovery was that you should never doubt yourself. If you feel like you’re in pain, listen to your body and, even more so, advocate for yourself! If the doctor’s aren’t listening, find doctors who will listen. I ended up with the most amazing support team from the doctors and nurses at Boston Children’s (who treat the Boston Ballet dancers!) to my physical therapy team at Girl Fit in Newton and finally my “mental skills coach” Kelsey Griffith out of the Micheli Center for Injury prevention at Boston Children’s. Each and every one of my care team members were fully invested in my recovery. I also had the most amazing friend by my side the entire time and that, of course, was Lisa. :) She came to visit me while I was in the hospital and danced for me when I couldn’t express my emotions through dance. I was fortunate enough to never have to leave the dance world because she helped me stay involved in every possible way I could. I unfortunately did have to give up a dance teaching job due to the injury, but Lisa and the rest of Evolve really made sure I was still involved in the dance community. I choreographed and improvised and even taught chair choreography while I was still on crutches. My biggest recommendation to any dancers facing any kind of physical set back is to surround yourself with people who support and care about you, who are able to listen to you when it feels like the world is caving in, and most importantly who are able to remind you that there ARE ways to keep dancing even if not the way you had before. N: What are three amazing things that have happened since NACHMO Boston? L&N: Since participating in NACHMO Boston, we have had some amazing advances through Evolve. After applying for the past three years, we were accepted to the Boston Contemporary Festival for the first time! A very big accomplishment for us as directors and as dancers. We have also hit double digits with our number of dancers. We now have 10 dancers and we feel very proud to know that two short years ago we were only a company of 2. Lastly, we are so happy to announce our first out of state collaboration with fellow company, The D’Amby Project, in New York. Keep your eyes peeled for the final product!
N: Monkeyhouse believes in the importance of both giving back and paying forward. Who are some of your mentors? How are you paying forward what was given to you?
Nicole: My biggest mentor was my dance professor in college Missy Pfohl-Smith. My university unfortunately did not have a dance major, so of course it made sense for me to study physics….(makes a lot of sense, right?) …. Anyways, Missy really encouraged me to bring in my interest of physics into my dance studies. She always encouraged me to be genuine and authentic in my artistic endeavors and that has been one of the most important life lessons I have ever learned. I ultimately decided to stray from the field of physics, but recently started my Masters in Architecture and I plan to one day own my own design firm in conjunction with Evolve. :) I am always striving to stay true to myself no matter how out of the ordinary that may be! Lisa: My biggest mentor is my former dance teachers, Karen White and Terry Paretti. They taught me every style of dance and instilled a pure love for the artform that dance can be. They also supported and encouraged me to pursue my dream of having a career in dance once I graduated from high school. I learned so much from them, I take the joy and love for dance that they taught me and pass it on to my youngest students at age 2 all the way up through my adult company members each day. I cannot thank them enough for shaping me through my early years into the dancer I am today.
Nicole Harris: Can you tell me about the work you’ll be performing as part of the OnStage Summer Performance Series? Jenny Oliver: This performance includes sections from our upcoming evening length concert, ‘Hot Water Over Raised Fists’ that will be further developed during our DanceMaker’s Residency at the Boston Center for the Arts and premiered in June 2019. HWORF was originally inspired by my desire to create meaningful dialogue around the broad issue of water rights and protest. The Dakota Access Pipeline protests and the water injustices in Flint, MI have stayed with me for the past 2 years. These issues became the nexus of the two themes of my show. The first theme water, exploring its importance, the destruction it can provoke & the sustainability it provides. The second theme is protest, investigating why it is needed, how it is used & the longevity it provides. We are in the beginning phases of exploring the development of these ideas and this concert includes excerpts resonant of a flip book of different manifestations of the two themes through a visceral experience using modern dance combined with a mix of jazz and eclectic music. While allowing us to share our perspective about water and protest this concert also allows us to fulfill our mission of Philanthropy through Dance. A large percentage of the ticket sales will go towards the Rasin Foundation’s De-Worming Initiative that it provides to the community of Leogane, Haiti. As a Board member of the Foundation I am eager to create an intersection between art and health in a tangible way. We are currently serving 1,000 children and 168 peri partum women providing medication to help prevent intestinal parasites that potentially lead to death.
To be a humanitarian is a duty that all privileged people should be aiming for. As defined by Merriam-Webster: a Humanitarian (n) is a person promoting human welfare and social reform. (adj) relating to or characteristic of people who work to improve the lives and living conditions of other people. These are the motivators for the work I want to produce. As Zora Neale Hurston is quoted as saying “If you are silent about your pain, they will kill you and say you enjoyed it.” My aim is still not remain silent about the things that affect my life and instead share my perspective with the world. The more variety of voices providing perspective, the richer the conversation and understanding can be. N: Your company’s mission, in part, is to create research based choreography. Can you explain what that means and how it may differ from other choreographic processes? JO: Creating research based choreography has been a wonderful experience and one that is new to my practice. In other works that I’ve made the focus has been heavily on movement, athleticism and the spectacle of the music. I’ve since shifted my approach to one that I’ve been exposed to through working with other choreographers that I admire and one that fully resonates with what I want to be saying as an Artist. Being able to immerse myself in the stories, facts, outcomes and potentials of the subject that I am focusing on has helped me to approach my dancers in a way that helps them create the relationships onstage that are full and robust. Once I have collected my research, I try to find ways to share that information with my dancers and discuss the most authentic representation on stage. Throughout my process with the dancers, we’re in constant dialogue about movement and how our relationships to each other are reflecting the overall message of the piece. Using this method is still new to my practice but experimenting with this approach has brought fulfilling challenges elevating my choreographic lens and enhancing the depth of my dancers.
Nailah Randall-Bellinger is a major mentor. She was my college professor who showed me a world of dance that I didn’t know existed. Almost 20 years later and she is the person that I call on as a friend and artistic advisor when creating work and discussing issues that effect that creation process. Bob Thomas was another college professor of mine who spoke truth to power about the realities of dance and career. He often helps me with strategizing to make money and inspires me with his ability to think way outside of the artistic box. He has often been a sounding board and friend to me over the years. Last but not least, Marlene Edouard, she has become my second mom and the person who introduced and guided me through the Haitian culture and tradition, not only of dance but life as well. She trained me in Folkloric Dance and opened many doors for me in Boston while encouraging me to dream bigger and execute larger. Through the work of my company and the classes that I teach both in the community and through the schools and universities that I work for, I am providing a space for people to discover dance and themselves. By creating critically thinking individuals who, hopefully, will continue to pay forward everything that I share with them my intention is to raise the artistic bar in this city. N: Who are some of your favorite choreographers and why?
JO: Ulysses Dove!! His works are some of the first that I saw that really moved me to want to dance fully and share stories through movement. Particularly, VESPERS, still has me awe struck and butterfly filled. After watching his interviews I felt more connected to his work. He states “I am interested in passion. In every embrace, every second of life (should be) lived so fully that there can be no regrets, no retreat, no looking back.” -Published in Connoisseur magazine Other choreographers that I admire are Katherine Dunham for her anthropological approach to black dance, Pearl Primus for her choreographic works that reflected her research of black dance and culture in Africa and the Caribbean. Fatima Robinson for her edge and creativity in commercial dance and more recently Reggie Wilson for his approach and process to creating black dance using research based methods. I often find myself being motivated by the works that these people have created and the dedication that they gave to the art form.
Nicole Harris: Can you tell me about the work you’ll be performing as part of the OnStage Summer Performance Series? Noa Barankin: The theme of the show is "Rhythm Re-imagined" (which is also the title). In my work, the audience will be able to see new uses of props and technology, for the purpose of making rhythms and integrating them with dance and movement. In particular, the cast is made of all tap dancers. However, we are also drumming (on and with various objects), and doing body percussion. There is some integration of modern dance, as well as tap dance classics. I also like to call what I do - "visual rhythm", because it is rhythm that you can see. Most of our pieces are stand-alone, meaning that you can take them out of the context of the full show and they can be performed on their own. A lot of thought was put into making these pieces come to life, and the details are noticeable - from the choice of the prop to the way we use it and integrate it with the sounds of tap dance or percussion.
N: Who are some of your favorite choreographers and why? NB: Ummmmm all of them? I love all artists and learn from what I see. I absorb. Possibly Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire for their lack of fear in tap, and the endless incorporation of props and special effects in their dances. I'm ALL about props (as you shall see in the show!!) N: Monkeyhouse believes in the importance of both giving back and paying forward. Who are some of your mentors? How are you paying forward what was given to you?
Another mentor is Doron Raphaeli, who gave me my first professional paying job as a dancer. It was in Tararam, a drummimg company, where before that I have never laid my hands on a pair of drumsticks. As artists, we need that person in our lives, who gives us that trust. I'm paying it forward to my cast by doing the same - creating opportunity and teaching them something new.
The third one is Sean Fielder, through which I encountered most of my cast, and who gave me the opportunity to join the Boston Tap Company - my introductory dance path as a newbie in Boston. There is also Pam Caira, director of Step by Step dance studio, which is where we rehearse, and I cannot omit her name from this list by any means because she's a source of inspiration and a real supporter of DrumatiX. It's through her help and support that I am now able to bring drumming classes to the studio, for young dancers to get a taste of DrumatiX and explore a whole new world of rhythm making.
Musing Prompt #46.329 (premiere) Improvisation Prompt by Karen Krolak Performed by Caleb Howe, Elyssa Berg, Nicole Harris, Olivia Scharff and Sam Mullen Music by Twink the Toy Piano Band Special Thanks to Aisha Cruse Ukiyo (premiere) Choreographed by Nicole Harris Performed by Sarah Friswell Cotton, Olivia Scharff, Nicole Harris Costumes by Nicole Harris Special Thanks to Kelsey Griffith, Impulse Dance Center Ukiyo (Japanese) - the “floating world”; a place of fleeting beauty and living in the moment, detached from the bothers of life. [220] (premiere) Choreographed by Karen Krolak in collaboration with Sam Mullen Performed by Sam Mullen Music by Twink the Toy Piano Band Sam would like to thank Karen for the encouragement, freedom of expression and constant support. www.DictionaryofNegativeSpace.com
4 things (2018) Choreographed by Elizabeth Powers in collaboration with the dancers Performed by Michelle Boilard, Michela Doherty, Sarah Feinberg, and Elizabeth Powers Music by Mystified Costumes by Elizabeth Powers
Voetstoots (premiere) Choreographed and Performed by Caleb Howe and Nicole Harris Music by Francois Couture Sound Design by Nicole Harris Umbrella Design by Karen Krolak Special Thanks to Karen Krolak and Peter-John de Kock Voetstoots (Afrikaans) - refers to something, usually sold, with all its faults and without guarantees - “As is” * Created as part of Monkeyhouse’s Choreography Mentorship Program
by Karen Krolak Nicole enjoyed interviewing the other choreographers we are working with, but Karen stepped in when it came time to interview the choreographers of Voetstoots, Caleb Howe and Nicole herself. Here are their thoughts on collaboration, the choreographic process and working together. Nicole and Caleb will also be dancing in work by Elizabeth Powers, Karen Krolak and Elyssa Berg. reACT reBUILD reCOLLECT Friday, July 27th @ 8pm 665 Salem St, Malden, MA Tickets available here for only $10 if you use the VIP Code MH10. VIP tickets are not available at the door so get yours today! karen Krolak: Lots of people loath collaborating. What drew the two of you to want to build something together? Caleb Howe & Nicole Harris: We improvise well together. We’ve had a lot of opportunity to experiment with movement together over the last year and while we are both happy with what comes out of those exercises, this was an opportunity to see what could happen with a more prolonged process. Caleb has never choreographed before, and so collaborating gave him the opportunity to build a piece without having to take on everything at once. kK: Can you describe how this piece grew out of specific Musing exercises? C: When you first made the umbrellas during the first generation of what later became the Dictionary of Negative Space, they had a very different intent than the prompts you gave when you brought them into rehearsal back in March. You handed an umbrella to me and asked Nicole to coax me out from underneath it. We were the only two in attendance which gave us the opportunity to do a lot in a short amount of time. Working with the same partner over and over again allowed us to build an understanding of how the umbrella moves even as the specifics of the prompt changed. N: When we left the studio that day both Caleb and I were interested in continuing to play with the ideas you had introduced. Knowing you and what you know of the roles depression and anxiety can play in both mine and Caleb's lives, I am not surprised that you selected those particular prompts for us. When we got in the studio this spring we tried to stay true to the idea of finding the ways you can help support another person, even when that means temporarily setting your own problems to the side. The idea of the umbrella expanded and the journey of the characters developed, but the seed of the piece continues to be that same exercise of two people supportively coaxing each other. kK: Caleb, how did the umbrella shape your movement choices? C: Much of the movement that Monkeyhouse is drawn to tends to be very grounded, either on the floor or with hands on the floor. The umbrella does not like to be upside down and so it restricts choices and required me to find more upright movement. While I do have some background in ballroom dance, the choice to use it here came much more from the restrictions the umbrella posed than simply relying on what I knew. kK: Nicole, this is the first time the you have collaborated with Caleb on choreographing a piece, how was the process different than other choreographers in Monkeyhouse?
N: Since I have primarily collaborated with you for the last 18 years, we have developed a shorthand (both verbal and physical) in working together which doesn’t exists yet with Caleb, so the experience was very different in that regard. I think my biggest challenge was making sure I supported Caleb, who hasn’t choreographed a piece before, in a way that didn’t impose my own agenda on the work or the process. kK: Caleb, what were some of the challenges you dealt with as you choreographed a piece for the first time? C: I don’t have any training as a dancer, The challenge for me building this piece was not having a movement vocabulary to draw upon, and having to construct each of the movements from scratch. N: Caleb described it to me as being similar to when a child learns to read or write. They don’t yet have the experience to recognize entire words but instead process each letter one at a time. I thought that was a really great analogy for what I saw in working with Caleb. kK: Nicole - how did you find the music for this duet? N: Before we knew what the piece was going to be we were playing Pink Martini’s “Hang on Little Tomato” in rehearsal. The movement instantly began to transform itself. However we knew we would not get the rights to Pink Martini’s music, so we slowly introduced other pieces of music discovered on Ilicensemusic.com until we found the right combination of what we were looking for, not too fast, no lyrics, not too heavy a swing. Once the music was selected I did a little editing to the beginning to help support the story we are trying to tell.
Nicole Harris: You are building a series of vignettes using four different dancers. Can you talk about who is in each section and what drew you to those people/pairings? Elyssa Berg: This decision came from watching how people interacted during Musings. I was able to work quite a few times with these ideas and throughout the sessions of Musings I was able to watch the pairings of people, seeing how they interacted with the light and each other. I chose the pairings in this way so that the connections appeared genuine and true to the relationship of the pairings. Nicole and Caleb are a part of the first section in which the feeling of the piece is curious and explorative. The second section includes Elizabeth and Sarah and the feeling is more playful which is very true to the relationship between the two of them and how they move together. The last section is a solo with Elizabeth in which I wanted the feeling to be isolated and contained. Thanks to Musings each decision was made based on how the individuals and their actions inspired me as they brought themselves to the work. N: You have led a series of Musings (a time for choreographers to play with ideas in a low stakes setting) over the last year in preparation for creating this piece. How have you used Musing time to help get you where you are now? What was something from Musing that was unexpectedly helpful? EB: Musings have helped me in feeling prepared to create. When you come into rehearsal with a big idea, of something you haven't done before, it can be very intimidating. The most frustrating part of building a new piece can be the trial and error process that you feel you don't have time for. It can feel like a lot of pressure to build something quickly with the resources that you have, feeling like everything you make has to be good. Musings gave me the chance to have all of the trial and error moments that you need before you start setting a work. Since there is no pressure in Musings you can try just about anything. You can go in with a small idea and just see what happens. A lot of unexpected things have happened during Musings that made their way into the piece. With all of this time to weed out the ideas that I didn't need I was able to focus on what I liked and what read the best. It was amazing to see how easy the building process of the pieces was after preparing through Musings.
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