Foundations update #1

Thurs, Dec. 11:  Last night was our final rehearsal at Brooklyn Arts Exchange before our first works-in-progress showing of Foundations at Dance New Amsterdam on Saturday.  Since we began rehearsal 6 or 8 weeks ago, this process has been unique, and last night's rehearsal reminded me how excited I feel about the journey this process will take us on the next 3-4 months.

As any choreographer knows, it's a curious thing to come into a process with a blank slate, and set out to create something from nothing.  I don't know how the pieces are meant to fit together, or the shape of the overall arc.  I'm writing a story, and although I have a vague idea about the themes inside the plot, I have yet to discover who the characters are, their relationships to one another, nor can I say I really even know how the story ends.

The choreographic process for Foundations is unique because I've been employing the choreographic tools I learned at Liz Lerman Dance Exchange this summer, which in essence put the dancers themselves in the role of "movement generators."  We've created movement from images in a newspaper story of the Wall Arch collapse in Arches National Park last summer, we've written about the "foundations" we each stand on, edited them into three "I Stand On..." spoken phrases from which we've generated short, medium and long movement descriptions. We created several "Add-On" phrases.  We've talked about why our foundations matter, editing those ideas to their essence through "Walking and Talking," and gathered "Spontaneous Gestures" that emerged from the discussion that followed.  I've discovered the value of the "Scripting" tool as a way to flesh out precious nuggets of movement material.  ( I appreciate that certain tools lend towards finding the essence of an idea, and other tools lend to fleshing out that essential quality).

In my role as a director, I continue to find the arc inside all this information.  How does a newspaper story about a falling arch relate to the very human experience of belief and faith?  What does the audience need to be safely guided along this journey?  How will the dancers transition between their performance of the representational elements of the movement, to the human elements of their movement?  How do music and text contribute?  It's thrilling to me!

And even more thrilling is that, after our final run last night, I feel we have a very poignant and powerful segment to share on Saturday!   Come see what we've been working on, and be ready to share your feedback afterwards....

Dance New Amsterdam Works-in-Progress

280 Broadway, 2nd floor (enter on Chambers)

5:30pm   suggested ticket price - $10