Preparing For Performance- Terpsichore Diaries Part IV
If you’ve ever wondered what goes into getting prepared for a dance performance…
suffice to say it’s a lot. We have less than three weeks of countdown until our first performances as a company. Although we have been rehearsing for the past few months, we are still refining the beginning and closing segments of choreography. They must be fine-tuned because Trails and Vistas is not your typical performance venue; the show will occur outside along a trail, with the audience standing and no clearly delineated performance space.
Right now we are working out the following…
• Crowd management: we plan to use props (large decorated staffs) to indicate the border of our performance area.
• Our characters: the archetypes we will embody during performance.
• Moving around during the opening and closing chants instead of standing still, as originally planned.
• Clearly indicating the end of a dance that has no music. If we stand still long enough, will it be obvious?
We both have quite a bit going on in our personal lives…
busy work lives, household changes of casts of characters, injured children, anniversaries… it’s interesting juggling it all. While we may not always have full-blown energy by the time we arrive at rehearsals, we always arrive and we always accomplish something. The piece moves forward. We move forward as performers. Our relationship as fellow dance company members continues to grow.
We will need to be in tip-top condition for the show…
since we will end up doing this piece at least twenty times over the course of two days… at over 6,000 feet altitude. I devote time each day to improving my (cardiovascular) level of fitness- the dog and I run up the trail behind my daughter’s school. Here’s how I’m getting fit:
• a million sit-ups (which I hate, in my heart of hearts, and can only do if I put on inspiring music)
• push-ups
• free weights for arm strength
• core-strengthening exercises like plank pose
• plies, plies and more plies
And dancing as often as possible, of course. The most exciting part of the whole venture is that these performances are merely a beginning of things to come in the future. Even as we prepare for the end results on September 17th and 18th, we are already planning the next performances… and the next.
The other day as I was perusing an article about New York City Ballet, I was shocked to see that one of my ex-colleagues is still dancing with them. And then I realized that I am doing the same thing… only I’m doing it on my terms. I’ve got to admit it feels good.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Dancing With the Stars: The Terpsichore Diaries Part 3
Dancing with the stars is a great description for the dance rehearsals for Terpsichore D’Amour. Most of the time we practice outside since our upcoming performance in September is going to be outside. It makes perfect sense, after all, since we need to be comfortable dancing on the same sort of terrain that we will use for performances. We have had a few rehearsals in a traditional studio, but dance studio space comes at a premium and when you rent by the hour it’s not always easy to get the space when you need it. And really, it’s kind of nice to dance in a natural setting for a change, looking at nothing but trees, grass and blue sky (and easy on the wallet).
I live close enough to our rehearsal space in the park that I usually walk. I’d much rather walk than drive whenever possible. I could get used to this, was my thought as I walked over for rehearsal the other day. It’s pretty cool to dance under the big blue sky, nothing but you and the clouds and stars overhead. It’s free, heck it’s freeing. Honestly, I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing and admiring our ingenuity for thinking of it in the first place.
Until I got to the spot where we usually rehearse and was confronted with:
Um. Okaaaaay.
Getting a dance performance off the ground, especially with a brand new dance company that you’ve made up from scratch, requires a certain degree of flexibility and the ability to think quickly on your feet. Then again, so does parenthood, so I’ve had a fair amount of practice in on-the-spot decision making over the past eight years since I became a mom.
What did I do? I did nothing.
Okay, that’s not exactly true. I laughed about it. Then I stretched and waited for my dance partner to show up.
It all worked out, of course. We just shifted down into a different (much busier) area of the park. We performed to an audience of energetic toddlers and the caregivers and hyperactive dogs against the l whining of chainsaws and grinding of heavy machinery.
I figure it was the perfect preparation for the real thing.
Taking a Professional Promotional Photograph: The Terpsichore Diaries, Part 2
There’s a lot that goes into preparing for a dance performance. Everything that goes into making a show adds up to countless hours of rehearsals, choreography and refinement, not to mention the time it takes to design, construct and purchase materials for costumes, props and sets. But the work doesn’t end there- there’s a whole new realm to conquer: marketing and promotion. Press releases must be written and distributed, bios executed, promotional photographs taken and polished. Getting a single decent promotional photograph is often a job in itself.
I had the perfect location in mind. Scouting for a the perfect photographic background is yet another job in itself, so it was good to have that part taken care of in advance. However, the location was deep in the midst of a busy shopping center which meant we’d have to photograph there sometime during off hours, specifically extremely early. Since one of us (who shall remain nameless) is not an early morning person, there was a certain amount of wheedling, pleading and cheerleading (you can do this! we must seize the opportunity!) that lead up to my 6:45am arrival to pick up my partner in crime, Mymuna. While it was a little bit painful to spring into action with the sun as our sole companion, it was nothing a little coffee couldn’t rectify.
And we had some killer costumes. Man, were they stylin’. Several of the construction crews that drove past said so (probably on their way to Starbuck’s four doors down). But don’t get me wrong, the guys weren’t lecherous, merely appreciative- I didn’t feel the need to shower after they said what they said.
We were a little antsy anyway, with the limited amount of time we had to work with before the stores reopened and the masses descended. We worked quickly and diligently to get ourselves costumed, feathers strategically placed, pointe shoes properly affixed, the camera set up and ready to go, and we basically had the place to ourselves.
Until we didn’t.
Just as we had gotten into position with the shutter on the camera ready to click away, a work truck pulled up and parked right behind us a few feet away. I hoped they would move on in a matter of moments, but it soon became clear they had no intention of leaving anytime soon when they unhinged the back gate of their truck and began unloading heavy equipment. We couldn’t figure out what they were up to until one guy unfurled a long hose with a fierce-looking nozzle.
They were going to pressure wash. Technically, they were pressure-washing us right out of the picture. Our picture. The one we had so diligently (and painfully) prepared for.
Long moments passed. They completely ignored us as they continued to go about their business (which is interesting in itself since we were pretty hard to ignore in red and black corsets, pink pointe shoes and black tutus. Not the sort of things you see every day). Mymuna and I looked around, then back at each other. We threw our remaining scattered items into bags, grabbed the camera and tripod and moved down to the next part of the emporium… which we realized was also probably due to be pressure washed shortly after the previous location… which meant we had an even more limited window of time to create a photographic masterpiece. The pressure was on… both literally and figuratively.
Sometimes when life lights a fire under your feet it’s just the thing you need- that ubiquitous cosmic cattle prod, that jolt to create. The end result is an adrenaline-filled thrill ride.
Book Review: My Friend Maya Loves to Dance
title: My Friend Maya Loves To Dance
author: Cheryl Willis Hudson
illustrator: Eric Velasquez
ages: 4-8
publisher: Abrams Books For Young Readers, 2008
ISBN: 9780810983281
A young narrator describes her friend Maya’s love of dance, which is visibly present everywhere Maya goes. Whether she’s at the local mall, performing during worship at her church or pretending she’s dancing for a queen, Maya’s passion for dancing is contagious- for her friend the narrator, and all the other people she meets. Indeed, Maya, a young African American girl, is the picture of grace, dancing to every kind of music she hears; jazz, blues, rap, Bach or blues. Her lithe, willowy form is portrayed across every page in different settings and costumes. She is just as comfortable in a tutu or jeans… she’s even shown wearing Kente cloth.
This lyrical story is a pleasurable read. Ms. Hudson’s flowing verse echoes Maya’s graceful movements:
My friend Maya loves to dance
Wherever there is music,
Maya takes a stance,
She points her toes,
Then away she goes.
Dancing is fun.
Maya Knows!
In the closing lines, it is revealed that the narrator is confined to a wheelchair, yet she is still inspired to dance by her friend:
Maya dances strong, and free
With joy all can see.
Dancing is magic for her and for me.
Colorful photo-realistic illustrations by Eric Velasquez, a recipient of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for new talent, bring the story to life. This book is a great pick for anyone who loves to dance or dreams of being a dancer one day. Perfect for story time, bedtime and anytime in between, readers 4-8 and their caregivers will fall in love with Maya and dance by the time they reach the final page.
Post:Ballet: Bringing Ballet into the Present
Post:Ballet makes dance relevant to modern society. Artistic Director Robert Dekkers accomplishes this through his choreography (which is both expressive and organic) and the use of modern technologies, including cinematography and digital photography. The company also collaborates with visual artists, musicians and composers to create new works. Post:Ballet successfully completed its second season this past weekend with performance at the Herbst Theater, located in the center of San Francisco’s cultural aorta.
The program opened with Colouring, a piece that explores the nature of the creative process. Original score was created and performed live by Daniel Berkman. Artist Enrique Quintero diligently painted the backdrop with successive symbols and strokes as two dancers, Jared Hunt and Beau Campbell, reenacted a mock rehearsal. Photographer Natalia Perez captured the moment by moment action, which was projected at the end of the piece, showing everything in reverse. In essence, the audience was reliving everything they had just experienced with visual proof of how they had arrived.
Flutter showcased a trio of men, Daniel Marshalsay, Jonathan Mansgosing and Christian Squires. The piece opened with music by Steve Reich, a percussive, primitive, repetitive score, which later transitioned to the lyrical strains of J.S. Bach. Here Dekkers shows what he does best- explosive movement that made great use of three-dimensional space and highlighted the strength and abilities of the dancers, through successive turns and tours en l’air. Flutter is aptly named, for the behavior of the heart while watching their shirtless forms and the choreography – the dancers often looked as though they were moving through water…
Happiness of Pursuit, a playful piece for seven dancers, was a highlight, both for the wild abandon with which the dancers moved, and the music- this may well be the first ballet ever set to beat-boxing, flawlessly performed live by Joe Hickey.
The program closed with a world premiere of Interference Pattern, a study on the effects of observation. Dekkers was fascinated by a quantum physics experiment that showed that observation had an effect on the behavior of subatomic particles. This study lead to other questions: if observation effects the world on such a microscopic level, what other effects occur? The piece was performed against a cinematographic backdrop of the same choreography being performed during rehearsal times, both observed and unobserved by other dancers. Dekkers concludes that although the differences are subtle, they are palpable.
All of the dancers are classically trained, and collectively possess an impressive background. Post:Ballet provides them with a new expressive outlet of cutting edge choreography paired with creative collaboration. The sum total is a performance unlike any other. Ballet has taken a quantum leap.
Starting a Dance Company: My Journey With Terpsichore D’Amour
I’ve become compelled, at age 44, to start a dance company. After decades of following other peoples’ visions and performing their choreography, it’s a welcome relief to do things my way for a change. There is no director monitoring my every move, which means less pressure in some ways, and more pressure in others. For just as there is inherent freedom in doing your own thing, every responsibility is also yours, from choreography to costumes and planning to publicity.
It has been about ten years since I’ve last performed, although I’ve never stopped dancing since I started forty years ago. I took a hiatus from performing from the time when my daughter was born through the preschool years, and in the last few years, the desire to perform again grew. And grew.
Finally, opportunity knocked when I was invited to participate in Trails and Vistas, a live outdoor performance in Lake Tahoe where the audience happens upon various performances during a docent-lead hike. Another friend had been involved for several years, and I had always loved the idea. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to join in, and promptly called another friend (and fellow mom) who was also itching to perform, and we immediately went to work. Our company, named Terpsichore D’Amour, was born.
Thus far it’s been an interesting journey. Our choreographic process has been both organic and extremely democratic. There are pieces that we have come up with separately and others that have arisen out of experimentation and discussion. As I was watching the film of yesterday’s rehearsal (we’ve begun filming every rehearsal so we can see what we’re doing and what might need fine-tuning) I realized that the piece is such a cooperative effort that I can no longer even remember who contributed what. And the beautiful thing is, it doesn’t matter! We are dancing purely for pleasure and we are both old enough and experienced enough to have left ego out of the equation altogether.
Trails and Vistas is happening on September 17th and 18th,. We’ve finished choreographing (mostly) except for a few minor adjustments. We have placed our costume order. For now, we continue to work. Luckily we have plenty of time for polishing our first piece, giving it every chance to be the best it can possibly be.
In the meantime, we’re working on our promotional materials (more on that soon) and looking ahead. We hope that our dance company will grow over time and that we will be able to share our love of dance with varied audiences, particularly school children.
Starting Terpsichore D’Amour is one of the more wonderfully terrifying things I’ve done.
Trails and Vistas 2009:
Sylvie Guillem: Rebel Ballerina
Rebel ballerinas. The two words may at first sound like the world’s greatest oxymoron. In tribute to the celebration of our country’s independence, this month’s posts will feature dancers and choreographers that are the living embodiments of independent artistry.
Sylvie Guillem may well be the greatest ballerina ever- but she is known just as well for her unexpected departure from the ballet world to pursue Modern dance. A rebel at heart, her non-conformist approach meant that after leaving the Royal Ballet, she refused to be aligned with any particular company as she moved into contemporary dance.
Guillem became an étoile dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet when she was 19, and now at the age of 46, she continues to create and perform new works… her way… at an age when most other dancers have long since retired.
She was blessed with every gift a dancer could possibly hope for: perfectly arched feet, long, lithe legs that are so flexible they brush her ears at the peak of her extensions, a well-proportioned strong physique, flawless technique. But it is her energy and passion, her artistry and intelligence that define her as the dancer that choreographers still yearn to work with. Choreographer Mats Ek says simply, ‘She has a blue flame within her.’
She gained the nickname Mademoiselle Non during her years in the Royal Ballet when an argument with Kenneth MacMillan was accidentally broadcast over the opera house speakers for all to hear. Although her tenure with the company was far from short (1988-2000), she left when she realized what she ‘could not take there she would do somewhere else.’
But does she ever think of stopping? ‘Mais, oui,’ she says, looking astonished. ‘All the time, and for many, many years. And sometimes you think, why do I do all of this? Because you feel a little bit lost, a bit tired. But then you wake up a bit more and you go and you are excited by what you do.’ She pauses to consider how to describe what drives her on. ‘It’s because when finally you achieve something, then you are alive and you did something that only you can do.
She performs this week through July 9th at Sadler’s Wells in London. For more information, click here.
Becoming a Professional Dancer: The Fine Points
Becoming a professional dancer requires one to have certain characteristics and abilities. How do you know if you’ve got what it takes? According to the U.S. Department of Labor, they are:
• self-discipline, patience, perseverance, and a devotion to dance
• good problem-solving skills
• an ability to work well with others and function as part of a team
• good health and physical stamina
• flexibility, agility, coordination, and grace
• a sense of rhythm and feeling for music
• creative ability to express themselves through movement
• finally, be highly motivated and prepared to face the anxiety of intermittent employment and rejections when looking for work.
It can be argued that this list is incomplete because it fails to mention one last key ingredient: body type.
In 2001, eight-year-old Fredrika Keefer auditioned for the San Francisco Ballet School and was told she did not have the “physical attributes that the school looks for”, namely “a well-proportioned, slender body.” Fredrika’s mother filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging size-biased discrimination. The lawsuit created a heated debate among feminists and advocates of affirmative action, as well as professional dancers. Toni Bentley, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet, asked rhetorically, “Should music students be admitted to the Juilliard School who are tone deaf and to medical schools with C and D grade averages? Should short guys be hired by the NBA? Should round little girls be admitted to professional ballet schools, thereby being subjected to a competitive discipline for which they are at a disadvantage?”
Ballet companies are particularly notorious for being particular about issues of weight and size, particularly after the introduction of the Balanchine ballerina, a willowy, long-limbed, long-necked creature that has become the industry standard in the decades. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of dancers fit the bill.
The professional dance world looks for slender dancers and there is no escaping that reality. As dance students mature and look for employment in dance companies, the demand for perfection and physical prowess becomes all the more intense. Weight management is expected – and discussed any time a dancer’s weight fluctuates enough to tip the scale of disapproval.
In other words, weight is a constant issue for dancers. In essence, the San Francisco Ballet School did Fredrika Keefer a favor by preventing her from entering an arena where she could not hope to compete. If an eight-year-old dance student already has weight issues, chances are there will never be a place for her in the professional ballet world.
Why not examine other options? If a child loves ballet, then she can take classes at a different ballet school that is not so highly competitive. Ballet classes hold obvious merits for all types of dancers and athletes, and learning to move gracefully is a lifelong gift for anyone. A firm foundation in ballet technique will serve any dancer well as they pursue other forms of dance that may not be quite so strict about body type. Modern dance, theatrical dance and traditional or folkloric dance companies are a few examples to consider.
In the end, dancers choose to dance because of their love for it. While an individual may not be cut out for a spot in a leading professional dance company, there are countless other stages and opportunities available if one is willing to look for them.
For info about a dancer’s diet, click here.
Dancers Are Different: DNA Study Confirms
Dancers really are different than the average human. In a study published in the American Journal, Public Library of Science Genetics, Psychology Prof. Richard P. Ebstein, head of the Hebrew University Psychology Department’s Scheinfeld Center for Human Genetics in the Social Sciences and his research associates have shown, through DNA examination, that dancers show consistent differences in two key genes from the general population.
Consistent differences were noted in these two key genes: genes that provide the code for the serotonin transporter and arginine vasopressin receptor 1a. Both genes are involved in the transmission of information between nerve cells. The serotonin transporter regulates the level of serotonin, a brain transmitter that contributes to spiritual experience and feelings of well-being, among other behavioral traits. The vasopressin receptor has been shown in many animal studies to modulate social communication and bonding behaviors.
Dancers were compared with athletes as well as those who were both non-dancers and non-athletes. (Athletes were chosen for comparison since they require a good deal of physical stamina like dancers.)
When the results were combined and analyzed, it was clearly shown that the dancers exhibited particular genetic and personality characteristics that were not found in the other two groups. The dancer ‘type’, says Ebstein, clearly demonstrates qualities that are not necessarily lacking but are not expressed as strongly in other people: a heightened sense of communication, often of a symbolic and ceremonial nature, and a strong spiritual personality trait.
The obvious question remains: will science soon prove that dance makes humans happier and more cooperative? If so, it might just be America’s next big thing. Which might not be such a bad thing, after all.
More about DNA:
Ballerina Fantasy? Not For Me!
Ironically, even though I became a professional ballerina, I wasn’t ever one of those little girls who dreamt about ballet with stars in my eyes. I didn’t prance around in tutus and tiaras fantasizing about a glamorous life on stage. Just the opposite. When the hour of ballet class rolled around, I’d find somewhere to hide, hoping that my mom would forget about me. The old out-of-sight, out-of-mind trick. I’d pick an outside hiding spot, at the furthest corner of our property, and pray that the whole idea of bringing me to ballet class would slip out of her mind, unnoticed.
It never did work.
Not even the time when Michelle Roscoe spilled an entire can of fuchsia paint in my hair that just wouldn’t come out no matter how hard my mom scrubbed away and willed things to be otherwise. No. She still made me go to class. I had endure a roomful of stares while practicing plies with a screaming neon-pink hairdo. On that day, even run-run-jump, which was my favorite thing to do in ballet class (split legged jumps, pretending to fly over puddles) failed to be fun.
So how did the girl who spent so much time trying to avoid ballet class end up choosing ballet as a career, you may ask. While I’m the first to admit that my career decision was a complete 180 from where I began, it obviously didn’t happen overnight. Quite the opposite.
I endured ballet for the first few years, but by the time I reached third grade I’d had enough. Swimming was all I could think about. I’d been winning ribbons at competitive swim meets and collecting all sorts of cool patches to iron onto the back of my warmup jacket. Ballet certainly didn’t offer any tangible rewards like these, so swimming won out. I quit ballet and devoted myself to swimming.
A year later I went back to ballet class and picked up where I left off. However, I don’t think my ballet teacher ever did completely forgive me for my traitorous behavior. Every so often she’d slip in a snide remark when giving me a correction in class like, “Your arm position is all wrong there. This isn’t swimming, you know.”
But I kept going to class. It was predictable when so many other parts of my life were not. The music made my heart grow wings and my body want to fly. Eventually, I realized that if I stuck with it long enough my future held the promise of pointe shoes. The allure of spinning on the pink satin tips of my toes was exciting to the point of twitterpation. Whenever my mind flew off into that daydream, the vision was lined with glittery-edged fervor like none I had ever experienced.
I could hardly wait.
From then on, ballet class took on a whole new shiny magic in my eager little mind.
I was hooked.
