Monthly Archives: September 2011

Sep27

Are you a Good Dancer?

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Are you a Good Dancer?

dancingFeet

 

My first ballet teacher always said, “If you are satisfied with your dancing, then you’re in the wrong field” which meant that as far as she was concerned there was always room for improvement. Perfection, or the closest thing to it, is a dancer’s job description. Over time we improve through intention and practice. But many of us still wrestle with the question of whether or not we are good dancers.

 

It’s common to feel pressure to get ahead, to be more, to do more. I certainly felt this way when I was dancing in professional ballet companies. Every career holds hundreds of performances with each one (hopefully) being the best that it can be.There were times when I asked myself am I any good at all? It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly where you stand in the dance world, because feedback is often minimal, if it exists at all.

 

It was only after a well-known musician/composer friend introduced the idea of “good enough” that I found any resolution. “Generally, I don’t read reviews of my work,” she said. “They are simply one person’s opinion. I know with every project that I have given my personal best and that is all that I can do. I find peace knowing that.”

 

The same thing applies to dance. There will always be some dancers who are better… and some that are not as good. There is a wide spectrum of talent and every dancer’s career is a personal journey with a distinct starting point and an ending point. How we get from point A to point B can vary, but somewhere within all the hard work we need to enjoy the ride. If you know you’ve done your best, then let go and relax. Just a little.

Further recommended reading:


School of American Ballet’s master teacher Suki Schorer’s book offers advice and affirmations to young dancers.

 

 

 

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Sep22

Terpsichore D’Amour at Trails and Vistas, Terpsichore Diaries, Part VII.

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Terpsichore D’Amour at Trails and Vistas, Terpsichore Diaries, Part VII.

Trails and Vistas is now over and our debut performances as Terpsichore D’Amour were a success. Spooner Lake is an absolutely stunning place to spend time; it’s all groves of whispering aspen and wildflowers, the air sweetly scented with sage. We arrived the day before performances to allow ourselves time to scout out our site and see how the choreography worked.

 

The first run-through was a disaster. Granted, we were tired from the long (almost 4 hours) car ride up to Tahoe, but… we were basically trying to dance in a swamp. Or maybe it was just a bog. Either way, the ground was dangerously bumpy and uneven, the grass was knee high, itchy and riddled with sticky burs that clung to our clothing. The dog went exploring only to come back covered in so many burs that she looked brown instead of black. Things were looking tenuous at best.

 

 

Dancing in nature is not at all like dancing in a studio or on stage. We knew this already, and thought we had prepared with outdoor rehearsals. However, circumstances dictated that we had to make do with the site we were given, so we got creative. We moved everything up onto the hiking trail and danced a few feet on either side of it. It was a small space, but we realized this was probably a good thing because we would be performing so many times. We took out the jumps and simplified a few other steps that were dangerous to try on uneven ground. We pounded down the bumps with a giant log. We were ready.

 

The audience departed on their docent-lead hikes every 15 minutes, which meant they arrived at our site…. um… whenever they got there. Some groups were fast, some incredibly slow. Sometimes they arrived only moments apart. In between each performance we chugged water, kept a sharp eye out for the next group, laughed a lot, discussed what was and wasn’t working in the dance. Sometimes there was even enough time to cop a squat and go pee… but we had to be lightning fast- we could never really be sure when the next group would round the corner.

 

It all came together; choreography, teamwork, costumes, makeup. For the first time ever, dance and theater both came into play. It was such a different dynamic to interact with my dance partner and the audience, all of it framed by nature.

 

It was an accomplishment.

 

The stats:

 

• 27 performances over 2 days

 

• 26 installations, 18 performing groups

 

• ~ 750 people

 

• countless hours lost sleep (dreams are ridiculously vivid at altitude)

 


 

 

Our friends raved. But they are our friends, and therefore inherently biased. However, we did have a final moment of glory late in the day on Sunday, just as we were almost through. A father wandered down the path, trailed by two boys on bicycles, ages 4 and 6 (approximately). He stopped.

 

“We saw the show this morning,” he offered. “You guys were our favorite performers.”

 

 

 

 

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Sep12

Guerilla Art in the Park: Terpsichore Diaries, Part VI.

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Guerilla Art in the Park: Terpsichore Diaries, Part VI.

 

kids

Dance rehearsals for Terpsichore D’Amour are still happening in our friendly, neighborhood park, at least for the immediate future (weather permitting). We run through our piece once, twice, three times with a rotating cast of overenthusiastic ball-fetching dogs, vigilant moms and goggle-eyed toddlers who line up at the fence, watching every move. I can’t help feeling like there’s something important happening here; we are making dance public, more accessible, more tangible and meaningful, bringing it to people who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to be exposed.

 

Having direct contact with an audience is a completely foreign concept for me. During the many years I danced as a professional ballerina I never once had the opportunity to look at my audience. They always remained one step removed, a sea of heads in the darkness. It’s far more intimate to have eye contact, to witness the look on a person’s face. I can’t say I’m completely comfortable with it, but I’m getting more and more opportunities to settle into the new paradigm.

 

I’ve had a lot of moms ask what we are up to, and the feedback has all been positive. We’ve both enjoyed our park rehearsals enough to begin planning a performance circuit at other parks throughout the county.

 

I like to think that we are leading by example. When we are out there doing what we do, we are sending a message: this is what 40-something can look like… we are moms and we are also creative people… artistic expression has value. By creating this troupe we have given ourselves (and anyone who watches a rehearsal or show) free artistic license to be creative, no holds barred.

 

 

It’s a reminder that life is full of complexities and layers of being. It is energizing to be a part of something that brings joy to ourselves and others. This aspect of my being feeds my soul so I have more to offer the rest of the areas of my life. If dogs and toddlers are interested, all the better.

 

 

 

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Sep7

How to Find the Right Costume for A Dance Performance: Terpsichore Diaries Part V.

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How to Find the Right Costume for A Dance Performance: Terpsichore Diaries Part V.

 

Finding the right costume for a dance performance is critical to the success of a the show. When you are working on a tight budget, finding costumes is a lot more difficult. We decided to start with simple white unitards figuring we could dye, paint and embellish original creations. The only problem is that unitards are no longer popular- it seems they had their heyday in the 80s and now almost no one makes them anymore. The few that were available were either the wrong style or the wrong color… or we couldn’t find two matching ones.

 

Finally, when the frustration had reached an all-time high, I decided to look into alternative options. I ask the Universe for a little guidance. Okay, I begged. (Hey, it couldn’t hurt).

 

Within moments my fingers stumbled, quite literally, across a website that had a whole lot of glitzy stuff, but they also had a costume that looked interesting. It was a whole new approach, but Mymuna and I decided that it would work. We ordered immediately.

 

The costumes arrived a few weeks later. I was so excited to try them on. I tore open the package, wondering what they’d look like. The website had shown the outfit in black, but we’d ordered brown, thinking it was a better choice for an outdoor, daytime performance. The fabric was soft to the touch as I slipped it from the bag. I laid it on the bed for a closer look.

 

Um. Not gonna work. Like, really not gonna work. Is this really what I ordered? Did they send the right costume?

 

It looked nothing like the picture on the website. And there was so much gold… gold shorts, gold tank bra… it looked way too Flashdance/Solid Gold dancers. Not at all what we had thought. Definitely not family-friendly. More appropriate for… cheerleading. Or pole-dancing. Yikes.

 

It’s times like these where ingenuity and flexibility come in handy. We would simply have to add to what we already had. There wasn’t enough time left to do anything else. And parts of the costume were cool (and even faintly resembled the website photo)… we could work with it.

 

We went fabric shopping and found beautiful fabric. On sale. Spent a few hours cutting strips and panels, tucking them into place, with Mymuna as a live model. Tuck. Strut and spin to see how it looks when we move. Good. Pin. Next panel.

 

And so on.

 

The finished products will certainly be one-of-a-kind. Pretty cool, really. Soon to be posted. Just as soon as I get a free moment to pull out the sewing machine.

 

photo by: Rayko Swensson

 

 

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