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Choreographer’s Guide to Chicago by Jonathan Meyer

Dance Resources in Chicago

(August 2008)

by Jonathan Meyer, Artistic Director of Khecari Dance Theater

www.linkshall.org
This is a long-standing home for independent & experimental dance & movement
arts in chicago. Good to have on the radar for shows, rehearsal space
possibilities, etc. Really good people over there, also good residency
programs, etc. They have an e-weekly that has performance announcements &
the like; also they’ll list requests for temporary housing for out-of-town
artists, etc. I think jennifer thornton is the one to talk to about
e-weekly related stuff.

www.chicagoartistsresource.org
This is an on-line resource for artists of all types in chicago. There’s
listings for studio & performance spaces, show announcements, stories on
local artists, information about arts-related financial assistance
workshops, that kind of thing. Also a community bulletin type thing where
you can post stuff (like “hey, I’m looking for a place to stay for a year”).
I think you have to create an account, but it’s free.

Other good dance resources while in chicago (these are probably largely
self-evident but I’ll list some anyway):

  1. www.cityofchicago.org/Tourism/CulturalCenter (downtown; free music, dance, etc.
  2. www.hubbardstreetdance.com (sort of the main place for classes in chicago,though mainly jazz & ballet; chicago’s rather hurting for places for open-to-the-public dance classes)
  3. www.colum.edu/dancecenter (columbia college; main place for contemporary training in the city; some shows, good folks down there. Classes can be dropped in on; I’m not entirely sure how that works. Probably contact larry (at the front desk) to find out about this.)

There are also some dance festivals to be aware of.

  • There’s Dance Chicago in november (I think) at the athanaeum; pretty hairy over there -some decent stuff mixed in with hours of miss betty’s suburban dance academy for tots & teens (and the like).
  • The other dance festival (that’s actually the name, “the other dance festival”) happens at hamlin park fieldhouse, I think september or october. (www.chicagomovingcompany.org/otherfest.html)
  • And some big downtown stuff – looptopia, I think – I’m not very tuned into that stuff, but it can be found on the chicago artists resource I mentioned above.

Also for checking out companies & performances & festival:

www.seechicagodance.com.

CheersJonathan Meyer

Jonathan

Jonathan Meyer began dancing at Oberlin College in 1990 and graduated with a BA in dance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1996. In addition to modern and post-modern techniques, he has studied ballet, capoeira, butoh, and other movement forms. All find their way into an eclectic choreography unified by an understanding of chaos as the primal creative font, reflected by the name “khecari,” a Sanskrit word for creation that translates “moving in the void” or “dancing in the abyss.” Meyer has danced professionally in the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America. He founded Khecari Dance Theatre in January 2002 and serves as Artistic Director.

Note from the Editor: it’s worth checking out some of the work Jonathan has been making with Khecari. You can see some video clips here.

Caught in the Net: Blogging on Dance by Stephanie Yezek

As a writer, perhaps it is a crime not to have a full understanding of “blogs” and “blogging”; not to fully participate in its function as a disseminator of information both personal and informational. Blogs are a part of an ever-deepening pool of ‘new media’, and dance, like the rest of the world, is quickly diving in.

To learn about dance locally, one can look at the constantly expanding number of local dance blogs. By my last count there are at least 14 local dance blogs. A dance blog – by definition – is a blog that is dedicated to the discussion of dance. As with all blogs, the division between the human and the professional – the dancer and the dance – is frequently thin.

According to blogworldexpo.com, which claims to be the “first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media”, more than 57 million Americans read blogs; 12 million American adults sustain a blog; nine percent of internet users claim to have created a blog; and over 120 thousand new blogs are created daily. The growth of dance blogging in DC is an expression of a national trend.

The first step of my virtual journey through DC dance took me to the aptly titled, “DCDanceBlog”, an amalgam of opinions, information on upcoming events and reviews of local dance companies. Created and maintained by local dance enthusiasts Amanda Abrams and Lotta Lundgren, the dc dance blog ideally functions as a “place in this city where more subtle, and maybe more experimental, ideas about dance could be aired”. Interestingly, and perhaps because the site is temporarily “in hibernation”, I found more insight into the larger dance world – both virtual and real – through posted links that transformed me into an audience member of “SMOKE”, choreographed by Mats Ek and performed by Sylvie Guillem and Niklas Ek (and yes I agree that modern dancers need ballet technique) and transported me out of DC into Minneapolis, Minnesota, specifically to Zenon Dance Company and Walker Art Center. The site does pose that ever-present question of all questions, “if you are trying to make it as some kind of artist, how do you do it?” Great question.

One answer came on another dance blog: the blog of Daniel Burkholder. A dancer, choreographer and improviser, Burkholder is co-director of Improv Arts, Inc. and director of The PlayGround, an improvisation-based dance ensemble. He is also in the business of commissions; his work has been supported and presented by The John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, CrossCurrents Dance Company, Montgomery College and Dance Place. Burkholder’s blog reflects his experiences as both artist and teacher. It is informative, giving teachers ideas on how to build a class; inclusive, posting his dancers reflections on their performance experiences; and insightful, citing “doing one thing” as a potential improv exercise. He does exactly that in his blog: he cultivates a clear, unified picture of a successful DC dance artist and allows the blogger to participate in his unique world. The truth is, in this business – in DC and anywhere – dancers really must be multi-faceted.

It is always a treat to read good writing, and Lisa Traiger’s, danceviewtimes blog, “D.C. DanceWatcher” is the real thing. Traiger’s blog quenches the thirst for a good read and gives insight into the history of DC’s dance tradition. Traiger’s entries dive into the DC dance scene, including reviews of local groups and other potpourri, like “What’s Wrong with Modern Dance?” For the dance student, dance writer or dance history enthusiast, Traiger’s “D.C. DanceWatcher” blog exposes current dance trends in the Metropolitan dance community and far beyond. Her links are also good: a quick click connects you to other danceviewtimes blogs (George Jackson, Alexandra Tomalonis and Paul Parish, among others), and to online dance journals (ArtsJournal, Article 19, and the Village Voice dance page are especially worth checking out.)

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange Artistic Director Peter DiMuro’s blog sums up the initiatives of DC dance blogs, I think, when it states its mission:

“This blog is an experimental initiative to explore new and different ways to share, communicate and collaborate with audiences prior to, during and after performances…”

In some form or another, each of the blogs I explored aimed at communication. Whether through words or video, or by airing frustrations or sharing positive experiences, DC dance artists seem to be honing their voices for audiences prior to, during and after performances they participated in, attended or heard of.

I don’t think then it is really a question of how Washington, DC blogs compare to the rest of the nation’s – as it stands, the Metropolitan area’s blogs demonstrate their capability of reaching those national connections; rather, I think the import lies with the local connections. It becomes a mission of not only reaching those 57-million-plus Americans through dynamic, colorful words, but getting them in the seats. Perhaps that is the next step for these blogs – really going to the source. Communication is after all a two-way street.

Ms. Yezek received her MA in English Literature and Language from Oxford University in 2006, where she researched the figure of the music hall dancing girl in the short stories of fin-de-siècle author, George Egerton. She continues to explore the milieu between dance and language as a contributing writer for Dancer Magazine. While abroad, she worked with Argentine choreographer, Florencia Lopez-Boo and helped to found Oxford’s contemporary dance ensemble, Freefall, performing and presenting choreography with both in Oxford, Cambridge and London. Her own choreography has been commissioned and presented by Oxford University, Cambridge University, Bucknell University, BosmaDance, Dragonfly Dance Experiment, and Dance Place. She made her New York City debut July 2007 with obKNOXious dance and was happily surprised to be a 2008 “So You Think You Can Dance?” DC finalist. Ms. Yezek is certified in BASI Pilates and her teaching credits include American University, thewashingtonballet@THEARC, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Sitar Arts Center, and Trinity University.

State of the Art: Middle Eastern Dance by Lori Clark

The Middle Eastern Dance community has always held a unique position in the DC area. On one hand, Middle Eastern dance is one of the few commercially-viable forms of world dance: there are a substantial number of dancers who make their living from performing and/or teaching without subsidy. On the other hand, it has not been integrated into the mainstream modern dance and ballet community, although in recent times, there has been movement in that direction

There is a lot of popular interest in Middle Eastern dance, and the dance community has responded with the development of offshoots that fulfill the needs of its followers. Tribal, Gothic, various exercise systems based on Bellydance, in addition to the traditional forms of Oriental Dance based on Egyptian, Turkish, and Gypsy styles, are all represented by teachers and performers in the DC metro area. In the past, hobbyists formed clubs that organized shows within their communities, like the WAMEDA Hafla events, while professional dancers performed for Arab and mixed audiences in the numerous nightclubs and restaurants that form a network for this extensive sub-culture. Increased acceptance of the genre as a participatory event, which can be enjoyed by the whole family, has followed the increasing numbers of Arab Americans who have made their homes in the area. Along with this change, or perhaps because of it, there have been other developments within Middle Eastern Dance, both positive and negative.

(picture of the Bellydance Superstars from their website)

Middle Eastern dance has traditionally been a solo dance form performed in cabaret or folkloric styles. The trend in recent times is toward group choreography for the proscenium stage that can also be adapted for a less formal setting. This is partially the influence of Western dance idioms. Another trend that goes hand in hand with this development is the rise of Bellydance as a corporate entity. There was already a large circuit of workshops, newsletters, and the popular touring company Bellydance Superstars. In the DC area now, one finds the phenomenon of the large ‘Middle Eastern Dance’ school run on the business model established by private, for-profit ballet schools. Where the children’s ballet schools manage to extract the maximum number of dollars from parents through recitals, costumes, competitions, extraneous registration fees, and generally playing upon tutu-swan-princess fantasies, the new Middle Eastern dance schools play upon harem-mother-goddess fantasies of adult students.

One has to give credit for business savvy, but what is being sacrificed in terms of art and ethics? In a bid to take over the local market, unskilled student dancers have been sent out on behalf of the studio to perform for fees that are either shockingly below the going rate or, which is worse, free. More often than not, these students are not up to professional standards in technique or experience. In many cases, they have only studied for six months to a year. Often, these unqualified dancers are also teaching in the studio themselves. This encourages amateurism and undercuts the fees of professional performers, while it damages the artistic integrity of the dance form. The studio will often also attempt to make an exclusive agreement with a venue so that only its own selected dancers and students are presented. In return, the venue is promised that students of the school will attend as customers. The studio is fulfilling the desire for group presentations, but at the expense of the students, and with a concomitant loss of performance quality. The students are also obligated to perform strictly under the auspices of the studio. The school can afford to sell its performances cheaply because it is raking in the money with classes and is organized as a corporate entity. This might be a great business for the owners who are making a handsome profit, but what does it do to the dance form? It might be legal, but is it ethical?

A large studio presenting unskilled dancers and teachers as professionals does more damage than an individual artist who is unqualified. The individuals represent only themselves, while the studio has the look of legitimacy to the outsider because of advertising and name recognition. If the studio only presented competent and skilled performers and compensated them at professional rates, nobody would have the right to complain. Who judges skill and qualification among dancers is another question, but other dance forms seem to be more successful in policing themselves.

The problem of a standard fee has largely been overcome in the Flamenco and Ballet communities. In Ballet, unionization by the Washington Ballet and the Washington Opera has helped immensely. The Flamenco dancers are either proud enough or wise enough to realize that undercutting will eventually come back to haunt a performer, and will alienate the rest of the community. The Indian dance community has also, over the years, maintained a good standard of classical performance and professionalism. Every group has its disagreements and a certain amount of infighting. Certainly the compensation dancers are paid leaves a lot to be desired in every dance form, but the problem is particularly evident in the Middle Eastern Dance world.
Artistically speaking, there are a lot of competent and knowledgeable performers working in the area, but they are being over-run by the over-confident amateur who is anxious to perform in public. Middle Eastern Dance seems to attract more than its fair share of this, as does Flamenco to a lesser degree. The dance form will not be respected by audiences, the owners of venues who hire dancers, those who hand out grants, nor the wider dance world unless its level of professionalism – including unity in pricing, technique, and artistry – is elevated. Middle Eastern dance does not need to be trapped in a stagnant corporate mold. We must challenge practitioners to think ahead to the future, and beyond their own vanity.

Lori Clark performs Arabic dance in numerous venues in the Washington, DC area under the professional name Yasmina. She holds a Master’s Degree in Dance from American University. Lori also performs Flamenco dance for the WPAS Concerts in Schools program, and is frequently seen as a member of the corps de ballet of the Washington Opera.

originally published in Bourgeon Vol. 2 #3

The Dance of Isadora Duncan by Valerie Durham

The dance of Isadora Duncan is a crafted study and artistic rendering of the human soul. The technique is based on the free flow and organic movements of humanity’s universal activities: walking, running, kneeling, reclining, skipping, and leaping. For Isadora, presenting the general locomotive movements of humanity allowed for representation of the oneness of humanity.

The simplicity of locomotive movements provides a steady rhythm for the lower body that is then combined with more lyrical expression of the melody in the upper body. Isadora said that her legs expressed the rhythm, and her upper body the melody. In Duncan technique everyday motions are stripped of all artifice – every kink, and every stiffness, every habitual tick are trained out of the dancer’s body. The result is that what the audience sees can appear easy, even though years of rigorous study are required to achieve the effect!

The imagery in Duncan’s choreography was informed by her study of Greek and Renaissance art. Isadora worked to achieve the natural, weighted, strong movements of the Greek figure. She considered the Greek ideal to be the most beautiful because it represented a perfection of the human form. Her dancing was not Greek, but because she felt the Greeks ‘had it right’, she embodied the forms that their art displays.

Isadora found in the solar plexus the “internal motor” of movement. She spent long hours in the studio, hands folded over her solar plexus, waiting for the inspiration for movement. She used the focus of the eyes and the flow in the solar plexus to initiate movement. In performance she would look, breathe, and then move, creating the impression that she had just had the idea to move in a particular direction. Duncan instructors often urge dancers to hear the music and then move. This technique contributes to the illusion of improvisation that exists in Duncan’s choreography. Duncan grandly insisted that she was a visual manifestation of the entire orchestra. From all reports, Isadora was a marvel on stage. Part of the power of her dancing came from her ability to bring a sense of improvisation to the performance of choreography.

Although some of Duncan’s choreographies contain repeated elements from her technique vocabulary (the sway or skip jump, for example), these were executed differently to reflect the music of the choreographed piece. In addition, Duncan used social dances – such as the waltz, polka, and mazurka – in her choreography. For example, the waltz is employed in the tiny jewel dances like the Brahms Waltzes or magnificent showcases like Strauss’s Blue Danube. Even when she used social dance forms, Duncan insisted that dancers move from the solar plexus. She demanded that the dance was a personal expression, even when some motions came from existing social forms.

Preserving Duncan’s Legacy

Isadora died unexpectedly at the age of 49 in 1927. At that time, she was distant from her six adopted daughters (who had formed the troupe of dancers she performed with – the “Isadorables.”) Some of Isadora’s choreographies died with her, but many of the dances have been preserved. Around 200 choreographies by Duncan are still known and performed today.

Isadora and the IsadorablesThree Isadorables in particular – Irma, Anna, Lisa, and Maria Theresa – took up the call to continue Isadora’s work, and honorably worked to ensure that choreographies, technique, and exercises were preserved and passed down.

Today, Duncan Dancers who initially worked just to preserve Isadora’s choreographies are now experimenting with new choreographies in the Duncan style. There is a healing beauty in the pure expression presented in Duncan Dance that is particularly relevant to today’s modern world. The themes of nature and universal humanity that permeate each gesture of the Duncan technique counterbalance the hard lines, rigid expression, and abstract (often negative) concepts so frequently presented in contemporary dance and art.

Much of the world believes that there is no technique to Duncan Dance. They see images of women skipping around gardens, and think “that is not difficult.” This falsity is compounded by the tendency of some Duncan devotees to ignore the discipline required to accurately perform Duncan’s dances. Isadora crafted very specific movements to express the music of her chosen dance pieces and required that the dancer perform them with deeply personal expression.

The Duncan technique is now rather rare in the dance world, especially if you are looking to train with a high quality teacher. While there are several teacher certification programs available through some of the established Duncan foundations, working with a “certified” teacher does not necessarily indicate you are working with a “Duncan Dancer.” In picking a teacher it is advisable to find one who with several specific traits. Your teacher should have:

  • years of training with a variety of well-established Duncan Masters.
  • be able to trace their lineage directly back to Isadora through the Isadorables.
  • be able to speak intelligently about Isadora’s life and philosophy as well as her technique
  • have extensive knowledge of Duncan repertory, vocabulary and classwork

The Life of Isadora Duncan

Isadora was born in Oakland, California, on May 26, 1877. She was first and foremost a Californian – she loved the ocean, tall trees, mountains and free spaces of 19th century California. Isadora’s relationship with America was always love-hate. American audiences, except for a brief period in the mid – 1910’s, basically rejected her. It was Europeans who validated her work not just as great Dance, but as great Art.

When money was scarce in Europe after World War I, Duncan moved to Russia. At that time, Russia was in the midst of post-revolutionary efforts to build a utopia of artistry, and there was some promise that Duncan would be assisted in efforts to establish the school of dance she longed for. Funding for the Moscow school was pulled less than six months after she arrived to establish it, however. She lived long enough to see the crumbling of the communal promise. Had she lived longer, Isadora may have rejected the communist philosophy altogether.

Isadora’s support of the Bolshevik Revolution and Soviet Russia seems to stemmed from a romantic notion of Marxist philosophy, and some bitter feelings of rejection from America. Isadora’s communist leanings had little to do with actual adherence to the politics of communism. But her communist statements contributed to an overall notoriety in Western nations.

Isadora was a revolutionary beyond the world of dance. She adopted a style of dress different than most women of her class, rejecting the binding corsets and high-topped shoes of the Victorian/Edwardian era. Her attitudes about motherhood were also counter-culture: she had three children out of wedlock and repudiated marriage. She was known to drink and party as was only common for men of the day. Combined with her Bolshevik statements, Isadora’s reputation was decidedly wild.

Even today, many people are aware of Duncan’s tragic and bizarre manner of death. Isadora passed away after being strangled and dragged when her scarf caught in the spokes of a moving convertible sports care in Nice, France, in 1927.
Isadora Duncan’s Influence

What Isadora can rightfully be credited with is taking modern dance from a notion, to a place of respect amongst the fine art forms. More than any other artist she brought dance to a place of respect beside literature, painting, music, poetry, and sculpture. Her visit to Russia in 1904 had a catalyzing effect on the formation of the Ballet Russes, and Isadora’s use of music, movement flow, staging and costuming inspired Fokine’s ideas as he began that great company.

She managed the realignment of dance in the art world through several methods. She choreographed and performed to concert music by acknowledged masters, including Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Brahms, and Wagner. The relationship of her choreography to ancient Greek and Renaissance art validated the images that she created, and capitalized on the popularity of that art at the time. Isadora also wrote and lectured extensively about dance. Her greatest work, “The Art of Dance”, is a wonderful resource for all dancers, and a fine introduction to all artists as it discusses the theories, impulses, and importance of dance.

After Isadora, dancers were free to dance to the music of their choice, to dance about the condition of the human spirit, and to express themselves, not just a storyline. Isadora was a muse and peer to numerous notable artists of her day, including Rodin, Cocteau, Walkowitz, Stanislavsky, Esenin, and others. She was the subject of countless paintings, sketches, photographs, sculpture, and poems. But her greatest contribution was to the art of dance.

One of the glories of Duncan Dance is that there is no “perfect” body type. No dancer is rejected for being to tall, too short, too long-torsoed, too bony, or too fat. It’s how you dance that mattered to Isadora. In this respect, as in many other respects, Duncan is the mother of today’s modern dance. Though she has been gone for almost a hundred years, the technique, theory, and inspiration that she brought continue to influence generation after generation of artists.

Valerie Durham is a 4th generation Duncan Dancer, and the Artistic Director of The Duncan Dancers. She offers classes in the Duncan technique locally at the DC Dance Collective. Visit www.duncandancers.com for more information.

(image of Valerie Durham performing the work of Isadora Duncan)

Michael Bjerknes: What is Dance?

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Dance allows one to express what cannot be expressed otherwise. Either do to the lack of words or the need to combine physicality with music to create emotional, intellectual and/or passionate statements. Dance is the one discipline that combines the mind, body and spirit in total harmony at all times.

-Michael Bjerknes

[Editor’s note: To see Michael’s article on Ballet Technique, published in Bourgeon Vol. 2 #3, click here.]

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