Wait--what are they doing?

Yesterday was the world premier for Renegade Dance Architects--a new company that my friend Ginger Jensen formed in the process of working on the piece that we performed, "Forgiveness, Not Permission." Ginger would probably say this better, but the company's mission is to bring dance back to the people. This piece literally eliminates the "fourth wall." We make direct eye contact with the audience, we are humans and dancers in our movement styles, we even have direct physical contact with the audience--when it's performed "Renegade"-style.

Yep--we performed in public spaces, with plenty of passersby (come see our show next week to understand that pun!).

Friday morning, 8 am. We met at the Bean/Cloud Gate in Millennium Park. Directly under the Bean, we did some plies and stretches with our reflections at every angle. On a grassy patch between the Bean and the Pritzker Pavilion, we held our first performance. Apparently, no one really goes to Millennium Park on a Friday morning! The security guards/park rangers and a few tourists who did not want to waste the day got a pretty good show.

With our entourage of 4 people following us, we walked a few blocks to Daley Plaza and set up in front of the Picasso. This location worked so magically for the piece.

I don't want to give away too many details--except that you can watch the dance on Facebook!--but we start as pedestrians. Just simple walking, all in different styles, in different paths. Other real pedestrians, on their way to work, had no idea that they were in the middle of a dance performance. Until we started moving our arms, torsos, pointing our toes, breaking into a grand jete...The sounds of the city were all around us, people sitting on benches were speechless, business types were very confused. It was impossible NOT to connect with our audience: they were a part of the dance.

This experience was a wonderful source of inspiration as a dancer and a choreographer. I'm reminded that we are not only dancing for ourselves, we are even more so dancing for an audience. For people. I have been discussing the lack of support for dance, how arts patrons would rather go to a play or a musical or even an art gallery. Audiences like what they can relate to. I'm starting to notice that most people just don't "get" dance. They either don't relate to moving your body as artistic expression, or they can't see what the choreographer was trying to express, or they just get tired of seeing the same thing over and over.

Sometimes you just have to shake things up a bit to get them to pay attention.
I think our public performance made people open their eyes. And hopefully they talked about it all day.

Sometimes you really do get what you wish for

I'm dancing constantly now, it's a part of my daily life. It consumes my thoughts, my energy. I'm always looking at what's next, where can I go next, what can I do next, who can I work with next.

I have to stop myself all the time and really appreciate what I have right now. It's pretty amazing: I am currently a member of two dance companies and working on material outside of that with two other choreographers. I have performed in more individual events and concerts this year so far than I ever have in my life.

It's still not always enough, I don't feel like I'm doing enough. I think it must be all of that early ballet training that has instilled in me a drive to push myself further, that you are never quite good enough, that you have to keep training and learning and improving. Not such a bad urge, I suppose.

I wanted to really kick drive, fast-track my training this summer my attending two intensives--with the Seldoms and Thodos Dance Chicago. I planned on taking off of work for two weeks, and just dancing as much as my body can handle. In the last few weeks, I kept reminding myself that I needed to send in my registration for the Seldoms intensive, but I put it off over and over. Finally, I made a truly adult decision: not to do it. The program isn't expensive (comparatively speaking), but taking a week off of work would make it cost three times the amount--something I really can't afford right now. I am still a bit heartbroken that I won't be training with such a cool company, but I'll make the most of my time. Don't be sad for me!

In other news, we started working with our guest choreographer for IDC's show...all I can say is that the piece is pretty amazing. You won't want to miss the concert, at least for this section alone!

Short update, but hopefully it'll tide you over for a bit. Keep checking back for the latest.

No fear. Just do it. And other slogans.

You have to stop thinking and just do it.
That's been a very useful phrase to me this week. Both in class and rehearsal--sometimes you just need to get out of your head. Any fear, just let it go. No hesitations. No excuses. I can't say that I follow this advice 100% of the time, but I'm working on it. I become a little more free all the time.

In circus class this week, we worked for half the class on more advanced tumbling (handsprings!) and half the class on a circuit of all the aerial apparatuses. I have some acrobatic ability, including what I thought was a front handspring, so I generally have no reason to freak out before doing a trick. I'm not scared! Usually. Once our teacher took out the foam ramp and the crash pad...I actually got nervous! Part of me wonders if I was dramatically commiserating with some of my other classmates, but I must have even fooled myself with the act.

We were to run to the ramp, hurdle (or "skip" for some of you) into a handstand, and then push off our hands to fall flat on our backs onto the crash pad. When my turn came, I had a little false start...then just went for it. Not perfect, but not bad. Turns out--I have always been doing handsprings incorrectly. For over half of my life! At any rate, I quickly applied corrections and am on my way to a really nice handspring.

During the aerial circuit, we were to do a routine on a silk knot that included the option for a drop. Basically, you get all tied up in a very complicated way and fall. It's a trick for people with more than, oh, the 30 minutes of experience that I have. So here I am, trying all the new positions that our teacher threw as us, and have some pretty good luck with a cool "look Mom, no hands! And I'm sideways!" move, and I expected to just unravel and hop on down to the plush sprung floor. I follow all of my teachers directions as he walks me through where to put my legs and arms. Then I realize, I'm all set up--legs in a straddle, completely and tightly wrapped on all sides by strong silk--with no way out but to fall. Teacher says "Okay, drop!" Yeah, right! But, I followed my rules from cliff-jumping. Don't think about it, just GO. Okay, my teacher said it too. And I did! And it was awesome! Nothing hurt at all, it was a pretty perfect first drop.

I can't wait to try it again.

A perfect day

It's July and it's hot.
The beautiful weather is plenty excuse not to go to the studio or gym, just stay in the A/C or keep playing with the dog in the park. I hope I don't succumb to those urges too frequently, because I definitely have in the past couple of weeks.

Today is inspiring me to continue on, to keep improving myself, to try new things.

I had the option to go to work today, get a few hours in and maybe earn about $30. Instead, I chose to sleep in. I have a very busy month ahead of me, and soon I won't even have the option of sleeping in. I woke up at a decent hour, made my coffee (even though Ed makes is best, I am learning to enjoy the coffee that I make myself), and sat at my computer to write.

I've always used writing or storytelling in my creation process, so it's not very different to be doing it now for a new choreography project. For those of you who don't know already, I was asked to write a little something for a project that I am working on. Not sure if the writing will end up on stage or not, but I am really enjoying it.

Writing for performance is so special. You have to consider your audience. You have to consider how self-indulgent you are or are not. You also have to consider stage directions, facial expressions, tone of voice. It makes me want to act. Just a little bit.

After writing a draft of...something, I went to ballet class at Lou Conte's. It was Intermediate/Advanced, and I normally take Intermediate. I have known for a while that Int. ballet was comfortable for me, that the teacher liked me, and that I wasn't necessarily making myself work harder, just hard. It was a nice challenge, and I didn't feel like I stuck out in a bad way.

Now, all I have to do is go to rehearsal tonight for IDC.
I might go to the gym, I might do chores. But I don't have to.

I want every day to be like this--my focus on class, rehearsal, creation.
I love it. The sweat clinging to my skin, muscles aching, being the music.
And then doing it all over again.