an open forum for dance in slc
you have more than 48 hours to submit your mudson application by the end of may 1st
cut and paste the link below. write what you’d like to do. your name/address. and a hyperlink for your video (think youtube or vimeo)
then pop it in the mail asap OR drop it in the mailbox at the house OR if you e-mail me to get confirmation i can even accept via e-mail on may 1.
it’s easy. you’ll get a dvd of your work and even make some $ if your project is presented.
just watch this over and over and it will be spring again before you know it
http://www.inthisweek.com/view.php?id=2467883
the link above shows in this week’s take on what’s on the dance/theater horizon
remember a lot of these projects are from large organizations or are just a sampling of what smaller groups might take on over the rest of 2011. NWTM for example lists they hope to have more alternative productions and many popular dance groups (think Raw Moves or even Odyssey) that don’t necessarily get mention even if they have projects coming up.
click this link for info on
MUDSON APPLICATIONS – due MAY 1
they are easy to do, only require a work sample online
e-mail any questions to lovedancemore@gmail.com
learning to loveDANCEmore volume 3: Everyone’s a Critic
submissions not due til mid-July
e-mail any questions to lovedancemore@gmail.com
With the school-year drawing to a close lots of things in SLC slow down. The seasons of the larger companies end and smaller projects pop-up on a shorter time frame. But this doesn’t mean there is necessarily less to blog about as May turns into summer seasons and the beginnings of new projects.
When I search for links to share I try to get a fair geographical span. But unfortunately I have a hard time finding major reviews that aren’t of larger (mostly ballet) companies rather than projects more parallel to what younger artists in SLC are developing. So if you know a nice blog or journal or listserv that you’d like to share go ahead and e-mail to lovedancemore.org
In other news. DTW’s last show happened right? The New York Live Arts transition is complete. I know, I know it’s in NY so how much interest is that to people here? Well it’s of interest because it was a major dance organization that no longer has dance in the name. And I can imagine it being part of a larger trend as organizations consolidate to save cash or increase audiences or whatever. But I worry about dance. And why we want to take the name “dance” out of our projects. Especially when the following review, of one of DTW’s last shows, is so clear that the dance community (while with issues) is a real community of people working together.
The second link (below) explains something that I often find hard to articulate after seeing a show where the dancing was excellent but I felt unmoved by the performance overall.
Below is a review by Emily Haygeman of “What Type are You” at the Rose Establishment. Here is a link to a review of the Nikolais Centennial at the Rose by Kathy Adams from the SLTrib… http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment/51677962-81/nikolais-dancers-ririe-company.html.csp. Feel free to add your own feedback using the comments section.
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“WHAT TYPE ARE YOU?” brought together talented local choreographers Juan Aldape and Sofia Gorder at the Rose Establishment in downtown SLC. Each choreographer created a work, with a 10-minute intermission in between to absorb the material and grab a cup of coffee. The two works have in common a thread of social commentary, and the evening’s name is aptly presented in the form of a question, as each piece begs of the audience a certain degree of introspection about their own role in the surrounding society and culture.
A Comic Hero of Two Cultures by Juan M Aldape/DANZAFUERZA examined the relationship between México and the United States as seen through the lens of one individual straddling the two worlds. Juan integrated text and movement, a difficult thing to do successfully in a performance. The text, both live and recorded, was one of the strongest aspects of this piece. The opening text was recorded, and sounded mechanical, detached, as it asked intimate questions about marriage, in the form of a naturalization interview. As an audience member it was impossible not to begin to examine one’s own relationships with a lens as wide as Big Brother’s. “What do you like most about her? What do you like least about her? If you had cancer, do you think she’d stay with you?”
Comic Hero illuminated the experience of an individual oscillating between marginalization and thriving, living in a place in which the surrounding culture makes up only one-half of his cultural identity. Emotionality and empathy were elicited in the last section, in which the recorded voice impassively described what was clearly a very charged experience for Juan, an experience described as a “racial bike drive-by.” Juan’s clever wording of the material and earnest execution of the movement helped the piece to not feel too heavy, while still maintaining its integrity. The text provided poignant messages about identity, self-realization, culture and love over a backdrop of piñatas, Lucha Libre masks and more. Perhaps a lot to pack in to one evening’s work, but it felt cohesive.
At one point, Reggaeton-inspired movements gave way to more traditional modern dance-inspired cadences as the music transitioned to a droning rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. The metaphor here was most likely clear to the dancers in the audience, but I found myself wondering if there was another way to express this thought in a more accessible way.
When She Becomes Un-Easy by Sofia Gorder opened with three women wearing cutoff jean shorts, printed aprons and colorful tops. The three created a mosaic of bright plastic smiles to a soundtrack of an old record talking about how to “gain an appreciation of your role as a homemaker.” The soundtrack provided a humorous backdrop to the frenzied movement of the dancers as they baked, pressed, cleaned and prepared. Their smiling exteriors and increasingly anxious actions conjured images of the Stepford Wives. True to this form, the three collapsed by the end, apparently overtaken by their efforts to maintain the perfect household.
Following the collapse, the rest of the dancers entered the performance area as a crew, efficiently maneuvering those that had “failed” off the stage. The remaining six took turns dancing out of a line, and being helped and adjusted by the other women. Eventually, each dancer was painted with permanent marker, in a clear allusion to plastic surgery. The zombie-like expressions of the performers indicated acquiescence, if anything.
The most intriguing section was actually the most difficult for me to watch as an audience member. All nine women huddled close to the middle of the performance space, and began to dance when one yelled out “yes!” A Brittany Spears song then played while the women took turns dancing in the middle of the stage, in a way much like “Brittany” probably would. The others yelled, in fierce support or defensiveness of what was taking place. Eventually they all collapsed. The through-line became clear here, and the point that even though we as women may feel liberated from the “stifling” past in which we were expected to cook and clean and please “our men,” overt societal expectations still abound, which we actively endorse.
Gorder proved to be an effective communicator regarding women’s perceived role in society, and was able to raise significant questions regarding whether certain expectations remain relevant, or even more so, in the current social context. Her movement vocabulary was succinct and well-executed by the talented cast of women involved. While the issues raised here by Gorder are important to consider in any social context, the piece at times seemed quick to revisit already familiar territory, rather than to consider the material in an innovative way.
About halfway through A Comic Hero of Two Cultures, Juan spoke the words, “All writers only ever write one story- their own.” This is true of all art, and was well-reflected in “WHAT TYPE ARE YOU?” Both Sofia and Juan drew on their personal stories to create their art; Sofia’s, of being a woman, a mother, and a provider for her family, and Juan’s, of being a man who identifies with two cultures, in two places nearby in geographical proximity but perhaps worlds away in reality. I much appreciated being able to listen to these stories.
Emily Haygeman is a graduate of the University of Utah dance department and a graduate student in psychology. She regularly choreographs and performs in SLC.
click on this link for another article by kathy adams on bonnie story and the upcoming “expressions” concert.
for proof of how awesome bonnie is i’ve attached the smooth criminal music video where she is a dancer.
read this tribune preview and check back tomorrow for a review of “what type are you”
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment/51621023-81/dance-gorder-aldape-lake.html.csp
if you have thoughts on the nikolais show or what type are you or anything else you may see, send them to lovedancemore@gmail.com
there is no formal process for the solicitation of reviews. so feel free.
there are a number of options of showings and concerts….
you can go see sofia gorder and juan aldape’s shared program at the rose establishment (the new coffee shop on pierpont?) on friday and saturday evenings. (here’s hoping juan comments on this post with more precise details)
also the nikolais centennial is going on at (you guessed it) the rose. they perform for schools today and then as per usual they will have concerts thurs-fri
it’s caine’s last performance with rw and i think lehua is back as a guest. it’s like a nikolais reunion.
loveDANCEmore 