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  MONKEYHOUSE

C2C Blog

Getting to Know Nicole Harris

3/24/2019

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Photo by Ryan Carollo
by Sam Mullen

Here's a chat with Nicole about all of the things she's been busy doing around Monkeyhouse!

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. ​
Photo by karen Krolak
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...!
Photo by Clayton Raithel
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.
An image of Karen's grey hair on a wooden floor. Text:An Animated Edition of the Dictionary of Negative Space I_ARE Residency Showcase. Dance Complex, Cambridge- April 13th @8pm
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!
Image of people dancing in the street. Text: Malden Dance Mile Presented by Monkeyhouse & Onstage Dance Company for ArtWeek
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Getting to Know Sarah Feinberg

3/22/2019

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Dancer in white room Long brown hair flowing behind Reaches out and looks
G. Mark Lewis
by Sam Mullen
It's so great to talk to Sarah about the work she's doing. Did you know that she also does acro!?  It's pretty wild and we're all a little jealous...!

Sam Mullen: You created a new piece, Ricochet, for the version of this show we did at OnStage Dance Company in July. This winter you restaged it with Nicole for our upcoming performance.  What was that like?
Sarah Feinberg:
Honestly, setting Ricochet on Nicole was easy. She participated in the musings that lead to building the piece and already knew portions of the choreography. We made a few minor adjustments to sections to make them work better for our partnership but other than that not much had to be changed. Both Elizabeth (who originally danced the piece) and Nicole move so fluidly that their natural movement aesthetics worked well for this piece. I’d love to see Ricochet danced by the two of them together. Maybe next time! 
Woman upside down Legs extended, balancing  On another's feet
SM: In addition to dancing you can often be found upside down or up in the air at AcroStrong in Charlestown, MA. How are acro and and the partnering you do at Monkeyhouse different? How are they the same? Does being fluent in both impact the other?
SF:
All the training and experience I have received in contact improvisation and partnering was definitely beneficial to learning partner acrobatics. I was no stranger to being picked up, picking people up and being upside down. Even more important and useful is my understanding of connection and weight sharing. Acro is much more structured than contact improvisation and there are clear roles (base, flyer, mid, spotter) that are agreed upon before starting a skill. When we improvise at Monkeyhouse we don’t necessarily make those decisions in advance. You have to be ready to play any combination of those roles at any time. Having strong connections and clear weight shifts make that possible. I like to improvise in acro when I have a willing partner. It’s fun trying to come up with creative transitions and new shapes. Acro continues to challenge my perception of what I am capable of. A few years ago I never would have believed I could do the skills I am doing now. Acro has definitely made me stronger, a little more fearless and expanded my knowledge of partnering. For me, dance and acro compliment each other nicely. 
Three dancers in black room. Text reads: React, rebuild, recollect. March 29-20th- Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge
You can catch Sarah 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!
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Getting to Know karen Krolak

3/20/2019

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Picture
by Sam Mullen
It's time to catch up with our wonderful Artistic Director, karen Krolak! It was so wonderful hearing about old and new work!

Sam Mullen: How does it feel to set Firk II on new dancers?
karen Krolak: Mostly, I am glad that the piece is getting a new life. If there is one thing that I have learned by setting in on you and Olivia and Sarah, it is that my body used to be much more fluid and flexible...seventeen years ago when first built it. There is something humbling about a piece being able to have a long life span in this ephemeral medium. So often pieces just get performed over the course of one or two weekends and then vanish forever. ​
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SM: Can you remind me, how did Firk II get developed?
kK:
When Monkeyhouse was on tour in the summer of 2001, we became obsessed with the Oxford English Dictionary in the van. We discovered a mutual love of archaic words and when we began applying to festivals in the fall for our 2002 tour, we decided to create a choose your own adventure concert, titled Anablep and Other Oddities, where audience members ordered from a menu of titles based on these outdated gems. Looking back, I wonder how much our interest in obsolescence was related to how fundamentally our world shifted after 9/11.  And now, I am drawing parallels to finding solace in a dictionary at a time when the unimaginable happened and thousands of Americans died in 2001 and then how I began the Dictionary of Negative Space in response to the devastating lose of my family members in 2012. I suppose we will probably touch on that in a minute. 
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So back to Firk. this four letter word has a long and amusing history. Originally it meant to bring or carry then it evolved into urging oneself forward, eventually it became to urge or drive (like an animal) then it meant to cheat or make a living by cheating and was used to describe pick pockets and lawyers. You can see so much about how the collective mind of a culture works through this monosyllabic blast from the past. Audiences all over the country loved the interactive format of Anablep and Other Oddities and often came back to see the shows on multiple nights. If memory serves me right, we never managed to do the exact same show twice, which was great for the way that my brain works.
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SM: Wow, I wish that I could have seen that show. I love your Dictionary of Negative Space and I know that there are a few pieces related to it in re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT}. Have you considered presenting a choose you own adventure concert of pieces inspired by entries in the Dictionary of Negative Space?
kK:
Actually, I have thought about creating something like that in the future. People often ask me how they are supposed to explore the online version of the dictionary as if there is one correct way through it. Much like grief itself, though, each individual has to find a way to muddle through it. 
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SM: Oh, I am so excited about this idea.
kK:
Developing enough pieces to organize into a choose your own adventure format is going to take a couple of years, however. One of the conversations that has popped up during conversations with DeAnna Pellacchia of KAIROS dance through our I-ARE residencies has focused around how to build ambitious dance theater projects. Residency programs, like the ones at the Dance Complex, are vital to choreographers who want to develop big ideas into productions. The I-ARE residency, for example, has given me two opportunities for feedback from outside artists, an incredible amount of rehearsal space, a chance to test out workshops related to my project, and publicity support. You know that I am a vocal advocate for mentoring and I am so thankful to have time with Peter DiMuro, Rachel Roccoberton, and Daniel McCusker  as I create...especially because this project is so personal for me.
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You can catch Karen 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!
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Getting to Know Sarah Friswell Cotton

3/18/2019

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Picture
by Sam Mullen
Sam has been busy interviewing the artists we are working with for re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT} at the Multicultural Arts Center.  Here is our guest artist, Sarah Friswell Cotton!

​Sam Mullen: You used to dance with Monkeyhouse a bit more regularly before you went to grad school.  We are so excited to have you back working with us again!  What are some ways you keep dance in your life?
Sarah Friswell Cotton: I use dance as exercise all the time. It helps keep me active and helps keep me happy when life gets crazy. I try to take dance classes when I can but it's hard to get into the city where the classes I want to take are happening.
Dance and performance impacts my teaching all the time. I use my performing to try to engage my students all the time. We even create dance moves to help remember different science ideas. I use my expression and performance techniques as much as I can. It also makes my job more fun.
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SM: You grew up dancing with Nicole and Karen at Impulse Dance Center.  The piece you are performing for this concert came out of an adult tap class you took at Impulse just last year.  Can you talk about transitioning from being a student to the world of Monkeyhouse?
SFC: It's funny because I have known Nicole for a very long time in a number of capacities so the transition has not been something I've put much thought into. She has been my babysitter, a family friend, a teacher, a mentor, a company director, and now a friend so it has felt like a very seamless transition to be performing together now.
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SM: In addition to dancing you also sing. At times you can even be found with an a cappella group based out of Brookline!  What do you think draws you to those two art forms?
SFC: I think my passion for performing is what keeps me looking for opportunities like Monkeyhouse and like a cappella. I really enjoy performing and being in front of an audience. It is really thrilling and really fun to have an audience enjoy watching you or listening to you. I guess, for this performance, they will be watching AND listening since I'm performing in a tap piece.

Three dancers in black room. Text reads: Monkeyhouse Presents React, Rebuild, Recollect. March 29-30th- Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge
You can catch Sarah 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!
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Getting to Know Kim Holman

3/16/2019

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by Sam Mullen
Person in dance studio lays on back with knees raised, fabric above head
Photo by karen Krolak
We are so very excited to be working with our dear friend, Kim Holman, of Luminarium Dance this season! I had a quick conversation with her about all the incredible things she's been up to lately! While it's not talked about here she can also be found at Karen's I-ARE Residency show on April 13th!

Sam Mullen: ​Since you received your MFA last year, you have been exploring the question of where dance can happen. Could you possibly speak about your quest up the East Coast and how it has influenced projects you are working on now?
Kim Holman: Sure! Truly I think dance can (and should) happen anywhere. My project Roadtrip Dances consisted of a 1500 mile drive up the entire East Coast, where I stopped in each state for some sort of site-inspired public performance. I think back often to a moment in Durham, NC. I didn't anticipate discovering that nearly no one in the South spends time outside during the day in the hot summer except for tourists and the homeless. I had a great impromptu performance for an audience consisting of exactly one elderly homeless man who cheered and laughed and voiced his delight, afterwards asking a few cautious questions. That moment sticks with me and keeps me conscious of the fact that my work is for everyone—patrons, skeptics, casual bystanders alike.
SM: In the last year you started boxing, how has it influenced your performing?
KH: Boxing has cemented my own personal philosophy of not performing (and therefore performing... confusing, I know). When I enter the dance space to participate in work in front of an audience, I do so to complete a series of tasks I've been assigned. I know this sounds unbelievably boring and far from the performances we seek out onstage, bear with me. I don't love performing work that requires me to pretend to be something I am not. I love work that requires rigorous inquiry, absolute authenticity in the present moment, and asks something of me as a performer that I can discover again and again, whether I'm digging to unearth an emotional reaction, or seeing what my body can do in a specific situation. Boxing does this. I enter a ring to fight and I'm there to use the skills I have to engage with another human. It asks me to work towards the same goal each time and uses the same structure, but it's completely new each time. It's exactly the same "piece", but each performance might look completely unique. I can be most present and most myself when I can navigate through choreography in this way. Even if there's set movement, I want to find my way through the work as genuinely as possible each time. 
SM: You are the co-director of Luminarium Dance Company. We are thrilled you could take time out of your very busy schedule to work with us this year!  While our companies are good friends and have a lot in common we also tackle things from a variety of perspectives. Is there a specific thing you can point to that is different about the two experiences for you? 
KH: I think the main difference is that I'm coming in as a guest performer, as opposed to my work with Luminarium as an Artistic Director! It's been interesting to be on the other side of things as a performer, though Monkeyhouse is delightfully democratic and the idea of leadership is far from one-sided. I love the trust amongst the group and the willingness to take risks and try everything. 
SM: Speaking of Luminarium, what is the company up to these days?
KH: Lots! We are preparing for several festivals and collaborations all over New England. You can catch us working alongside Verdant Vibes in Providence, RI in May, and with visual artist Adria Arch in Portsmouth, NH in June, and as part of many great events that are part of the vibrant festival season in the Boston area. We are in the early stages of building new work, likely for late 2019, where you might see me try to merge my physical work in boxing with contemporary dance (among many other things). One of the most exciting updates is that we are relaunching 24-Hr ChoreoFest this year—an event I hold dear to my heart, and that Monkeyhouse has supported over the years. Keep an eye on our site, luminariumdance.org and our social media for updates!
Three dancers onstage. Two link arms across another's stomach. Text: Re{act}, re{build} re{collect}
You can catch Kim 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!
Two people dance at formal event
Kim holds her dog, Twyla. Both wear scarves.
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Getting to Know Olivia Scharff

3/15/2019

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by Nicole Harris
Dancer on wood floor Rolls on shoulders, legs in air Holding white paper
Photo by Clayton Raithel
We have been busy interviewing the artists we are working with for re{ACT} re{BUILD} re{COLLECT} at the Multicultural Arts Center.  Here is Olivia chatting about her time with the company so far!

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! 
In a studio, Dancer walks on rope on ground, One arm out, one bent
Photo by Sarah Friswell Cotton
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!
Image of three dancers. Text: Monkeyhouse Presents React, Rebuild, Recollect. March 29-30 Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge
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!
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Getting to Know Caleb Howe

3/13/2019

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by Sam Mullen
Sam had a chat with Caleb Howe about a new piece he's performing and on the development of Voetstoots, the duet he choreographed with Nicole this summer!!

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.
Photo by Clayton Raithel
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.
Photo by Clayton Raithel
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.

Image of three dancers. Text: Monkeyhouse Presents React, Rebuild, Recollect. March 29-30 Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge
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!
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Getting to Know Sam Mullen

3/12/2019

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Picture
Photo by Clayton Raithel
by Nicole Harris
We are excited to kick off this round of interviews with the amazing Sam Mullen because she has been an interviewing rockstar in the last week!  Keep an eye out for more interviews conducted by Sam with other members of the company and community!

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!
Picture
Photo by Clayton Raithel
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. ​
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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!
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re[ACT] re[BUILD] re[COLLECT] Program

7/27/2018

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Image of three dancers. Text: Monkeyhouse & OnStage Dance Company Present React, Rebuild, Recollect. March 29-30 Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge
Costume Design by
Karen Krolak
​unless otherwise noted

Lighting Design by Jason Ries

Special Thanks to
Impulse Dance Center,
Clayton Raithel, Catrin Evans and the Groton School Theatre Department,
​Aisha Cruse & Kelsey Griffith.

The biggest thanks goes to OnStage Dance Company for providing such an incredible opportunity to our community.  Monkeyhouse Loves You!

Photo by Olivia Blaisdell
Conglomerate (2018) *
Choreographed by Elizabeth Powers in collaboration with the dancers
Performed by Elyssa Berg, Sarah Feinberg, Nicole Harris, Caleb Howe, Samantha Mullen, and Olivia Scharff
Music by Kourosh Dini
This piece was created as a part of Monkeyhouse’s Choreography Mentorship Program and was originally presented at NACHMO Boston 2018. So many thanks to Karen Krolak and Nicole Harris for their mentorship throughout this process. Thank you to Jason Ries for mentorship in lighting and design. Special thanks to each of the performers for all of their input and trying the same prompt so many times while never producing the same outcome and to Karen Krolak for being at each rehearsal and always asking the right questions.

Ricochet (premiere)
Choreographed by Sarah Feinberg in collaboration with Elizabeth Powers
Performed by Sarah Feinberg and Elizabeth Powers
Music by Psycliq
Thank you to Monkeyhouse for providing me this opportunity to create and perform. Thank you to Karen Krolak for the mentorship you have provided throughout this choreographic process but also throughout my life. Thank you to Nicole Harris for inspiring me with your movement and creative choices during Musings. Thank you to Jason Ries for asking questions and challenging me to think about my work in new ways. Thank you to Elizabeth Powers for being a wonderful dance partner and for everything you have contributed to the choreographic process both in Musings and rehearsals.
Two dancers rehearse, One lies on ground, one stands above, In room with wood floor

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

Two dancers, one sitting on ground, one standing. Blue light reflects on reddened floor
Photo by JK Photo
Connexa (2013)
Choreographed by Sarah Feinberg and Nikki Sao Pedro-Welch
Performed by Olivia Scharff and Samantha Mullen
Music by Drop Trio
Thank you to Monkeyhouse for the opportunity share this piece again. Thank you to Olivia Scharff and Samantha Mullen for taking this piece on with such energy and enthusiasm. It’s been a blast working on it with you two!


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
This piece was created as part of the OnStage Dance Company Residency Program in the Spring of 2018.  Thank you to Jennifer Kuhnberg for organizing OnStage Dance Company’s Residency Program and providing the space for this work to be created.  Thank you to Karen Krolak for her always wise words of wisdom during this process.

[82] (premiere)
Choreographed by Karen Krolak in collaboration with Olivia Scarff
Performed by Olivia Scharff   
Sound Design by Karen Krolak
Special Thanks to Chris Lanier and to Olivia for being brave enough to take on this solo.
www.DictionaryofNegativeSpace.com

In a studio,  Dancer walks on rope on ground,  One arm out, one bent
Photo by Sarah Friswell Cotton

Dancer silhouette One arm and two feet planted firm Stomach to the sky
Photo by Sarah Friswell Cotton
Irradiance; In Three Parts (premiere) *
Choreographed by Elyssa Berg
Performed by Sarah Feinberg, Nicole Harris, Caleb Howe, Elizabeth Powers   
Music by Daniel Birch, Kevin MacLeod, and Mathieu Lamontagne and Emmanuel Toledo
Thank you to Monkeyhouse for the opportunity to create work and share the space with so many talented and supportive artists. Thank you to all of the artists who participated in musings to bring inspiration and insight into the direction of the work. And lastly, a special thank you to Nicole Harris, Karen Krolak, and Jason Reis for their guidance and support of working in new ways with new resources while growing as an artist.


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
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reACT reBUILD reCOLLECT Interviews - Karen Krolak

7/25/2018

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Photo by Stephanie Young
by Nicole Harris
In the last few weeks we've introduced you to new performers, guest artists and choreography mentees related to Friday's performance.  Just in case you were missing our incredible Artistic Director, Karen Krolak, we wanted to make sure you heard all about the three new pieces she has in the show.

Karen has created two new solos for Sam Mullen and Olivia Scharff as well as put together a Musing Prompt so you can see what improvisation time with Monkeyhouse can be like.  Karen has also designed costumes for the majority of the work being shown!

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!

Nicole Harris: You are building two solos for this performance. 
karen Krolak: Yes, through the Musings this year, I began to explore some choreographic ideas related to The Dictionary of Negative Space: an interdisciplinary lament. 

N: Can you talk a little about what the dictionary is and how the pieces relate to it?
kK: The dictionary began as my thesis project for my MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at Sierra Nevada College. It examines the negative space within the English language, the vast chasms of unnamed ideas related to mourning, trauma, and repair and it was inspired by the car accident that killed my mother, father, and older brother in 2012. By the time we began to plan Re act…, I had a two ideas for pieces based off of this research. 
N: You led a number of Musings around the text from MyFather’s              [1]           .              [13] Dance. It is choreographic score and it is very different from how you usually create work. Can you describe it?
kK: Hmm. It is an odd bit of text. Really, it is a list of physical instructions. I have been curious about how different people would make movement phrases based on these words. You know, some people when you say ‘Rewind’ will move backwards whereas someone else might turn around like the cog of an old cassette tape. 
 

N: How did you develop the verbs on this list?
Picture
www.DictionaryofNegativeSpace.com
kK: So, in the Dictionary of Negative Space, entries are labeled by the number in the bracket. For instance,                [1] is the place where a deceased person was last seen alive by the speaker.

​
Exactly two weeks before the accident, my father, Kwaq7aj’, and I went to see Monkeyhouse’s creation in Luminarium’s very first 24hr ChoreoFest. I decided to create a choreographic score to guide someone from the Dance Complex to the place where we said goodbye that day. When I began mapping out these activities, a little more than 5 years had already passed. 
 
Odd, I just remembered that I started working on the score after I left a showing that Luminarium presented at Green Street Studios this fall. 
 
Anyway, it was challenging to recreate exactly what happened. How long did we wait for the walk signal? Where exactly was our table when we sat down to eat? Since I did not know that this would be my last outing with my father, I did not memorize as many details as I wanted later. More importantly, I realized that I had tricked myself into thinking that this was my father’s 
               [1] because in reality both of my parent’s                [1] no longer exists.  That place was destroyed a few years after the accident. I had latched onto the goodbye from the day of ChoreoFest because my brain clearly did not want to deal with another missing thing. 
 
As I wrote out everything that was tangled up in my head, I realized that I was not writing instructions for my father’s 
               [1]. I was writing out my father’s  aaaaaaaaa[13] (n.[usually plural] activities that seem ordinary but take on new significance when they are the last moments spent with someone). I edited my thoughts down to just the verbs to emphasize those actions. 
In a studio,  Dancer walks on rope on ground,  One arm out, one bent
Photo by Sarah Friswell Cotton
N: Can you talk about what you discovered during Musings?
kK: It was fascinating to see how each person responded to the text. I remember the first time that you played with it, your work began an ended in the exact same spot over and over again. I loved how it felt as thought you became trapped in a memory loop. Elizabeth developed a phrase that just felt isolated or lost in her own mind and that was exacerbated when I asked other people to dance past her. I began to realize that the text could inspire multiple pieces without anyone in the audience feeling as though they were related. Both Sam and Olivia's solos evolved from the text but they did it in very different ways.
N: The one for Olivia Scharff was also influenced by a walk you went on in Malden Center.  Can you explain what you saw on the walk and what path the idea took once you were in the studio with Olivia?
kK: Right, I had received an email from Mobius and discovered that they were planning some dadamobile events in Boston at the Farmer’s Market on Copley Square. One of them was just a few hours after the email arrived and I had some free time. Two moments on that trip sparked an idea of how to approach this solo. 
 
First, while I was sitting near Copley over by the Finish Line for the Boston Marathon, a man approached me to use my phone. Having just recently adjusted to a new phone, I was hesitant to hand it over to a stranger. He was clearly in distress and wanted help to contact a medical clinic. I offered to call the clinic for him. As we navigated the phone tree, things got very frantic and confusing for him. He was in a treatment program for opioid addiction and had missed the time that he was supposed to contact his nurse that day. While he and I were sharing the phone in this awkward uncomfortable duet, people were just rushing by us and stepping over us. It was very similar to the feeling of Elizabeth’s phrase from that Musing.

Then on the way home from the T in Malden Center, I was behind three strings of children on walking ropes. I was still worrying about the man from Copley. Juxtaposing the security and calm of these kids making their way to the Ed Emberley Park against the man’s isolation and despair, I began to wonder about a person who realizes that they are all alone on their walking rope. Once again, I understood that I was exploring yet another entry from the dictionary but I will let people guess about which one until they come to the show. 
N: How did you approach working with Sam?
kK: Sam has not been told very much about the instructions on MyFather’s
                  [1]     .               [13] Dance 
other than that they are related to the Dictionary of Negative Space. Her choices are all very carefree and full of wonder. I wanted to see how she would experience the instructions without the weight of the backstory
.
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