Reworking Work

We had a premier but certainly not a finish. Sometimes reaching a deadline is impossible, but there is no choice. After the first showing 'of Bones & Bridges' major rework has ensued. We started by altering the first section so we can introduce three major large pieces of pipe (which later are put together to form a bridge) and still have movement and text that enhances one another to explain the content of the work. These last few rehearsals are getting us closer to where I would like to go, and I am looking forward to the performances at Woolly Mammoth in April. After the concert at Source, which on many levels was a disaster, I look forward to actually going somewhere and feeling good about the outcome.
The group of older dancers, Forty + has continued to feel successful. We are now conducting workshops to explain/enhance and just bring forward issues that older people face. "Upstairs in the Attic" is about clearing out an attic, either in a home where you have lived for a long time, or a parents home. But the other part of it is just the joy of moving that come to anyone at any age. Age certainly can be a restriction. But everyone - and I mean everyone - must constantly adapt to all the changes the body has to offer.

dance and words

We are coming up to our performance at Source theatre, and at least a first showing of a new work, of Bones & Bridges. The idea behind the work attaches us to Four Mile Run Drive as a place where we rehearse, but also ties us to the ignored/mainly unrecognized potential of Four Mile Run. The dance contains references to the urbanization of the stream, the underground pipes, paving and covering over with buildings. The stream has changed from a natural stream to a widened and straightened drainage ditch (rapid response storm drain system). The small footbridge connecting Shirlington restaurant area to Nelson St/Four Mile Run Drive serves to link two very different communities. The bridge is important as a symbol of the meaningful connections that can be forged between people and to the land.
I find the piece to be a challenge but yet I know the project could continue. It is a taste of history. But as far as nuts and bolts, in the piece, it is sometimes hard to match what needs to be said in words, with dance, which is mostly an art form that expresses what is beyond words. This is the challenge, the simple pure content of the dance, versus the finding movement, sound, and references that can come alive.

Not enough time

We are preparing for our Woolly Mammoth Concert by bringing back some text based works (from the 2005-06 project 'Dancing the Page") and several others from before that time. Some of the older ones - like long time friend Kim Roberts' "The Floor is Sticky" - is really a new creation.
since it is holiday time, we'll have to make that all wrap together somehow, the time off that is greatly needed to spend with family and friends, and the getting the stuff completed. It always gets done somehow, or should I say there is really no end. Unlike a writer that meets the deadline and the work is published, there is always that temptation and need to keep altering dance pieces because the cast changes, and dance is just so of the moment that it seems necessary.
We are offering cheap ticket until the end of the month, so please go to the web site. We don't want to cancel a show because of low advance sales, so please let us know you are coming!
Happy Thanksgiving! and I'm enjoying "Across the Universe" (Julie Taymor) as I write...it the film that turned the Beatles songs into an anti-war type opera. It's a good one.

New Look

We have launched a new web look. Thanks to Liz Hutcheson of Liz Hutcheson Fast Snail Creative Greetings & Design, we have some unique art work. It is going to serve us well in the coming months. You can now subscribe, and otherwise navigate around. We've dropped some of the repetitive pages and trimmed things down to be much more manageable for both the web administrator and for our visitors.
So do take a look.
We also have wonderful new company members and some exciting projects ahead this year. Next concert up: Nov 7 at 8 pm and Nov 8 at 2 pm at Gunston Theatre One in Arlington. We'll have performances by Young Dancers Project and by Forty +, a newly formed group of older adults committed to the joys of movement past the age of 40. We have some recent works as well as a couple of pieces that have not been shown for five or more years. Time does fly! Please come catch us at Gunston or try some of our community dance classes in October and November.

2009-10 Season

We are looking forward to a good year of interesting performance venues and partners. I'm excited about a work we'll show on Oct 21 at Greater Reston Arts Center in collaboration with a visual artist Rebecca Kamen. Rebecca has created these terrific fragile sculptures that echo the construction of the elements in the periodic table. These 80+ pieces will be navigated using bodies and the unique setting of Greater Reston Arts Center which is circular/spiral. Later in the year, we plan to show a theatrical version with Bryan Leister doing a virtual rendering of the sculptures.
We are putting out information now about getting a Season Subscription which is a great deal on ticket prices. I'll supply several links:
SEASON SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM

In preparation for our Of Bones & Bridges project, we've been out on the Four Mile Run Footbridge.

June 14 Travel Tales at Woolly Mammoth

It came. and went but was wonderful fun to put together several older works. Woolly Mammoth is a comfortable space for us. Video works well on the concrete walls of the rehearsal hall. We got a nice mention in the Sentinel Newspaper.

Finished the first edition of Adult Dance Camp on Friday. There were a couple of new people who joined in and we danced every day....5 whole days in a row! We also experimented with some repertory and it was good fun with really nice people. I'll be planning more work for adult dancers and I've been thinking of doing an Adult Dance and Video project in August that would take us across the footbridge of Four Mile Run near the Shirlington dog park. Check the web site soon. There is nothing written up as yet, but I am excited about the possibilities of using this time to experiment with an upcoming project: "Of Bones and Bridges."

Videos from Holmes Run Park

In May, six dancers and I went about an outdoor exploration of Holmes Run Park in Alexandria. We worked in several very different locations/environments/ecosystems/habitats within a short distance starting with "Edge" and "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Water" which were done near the bridge overpass of the creek from Van Dorn Street. Further along the bike path going towards Duke Street we taped "Head Over Heels" in an open expanse of greenery on the Beatley Library side of the footbridge and "LOOK" done in a foresty expanse that connects S Pickett Street to the bike path.
It was a great day for us to move and to video these unique locations. Please take a few minutes to see the results on YouTube.
thanks again to the Alexandria Commission for the Arts Special Opportunity Award 2009 and to dancers Wayles Haynes, Andrea Ligon, Cait Moler, Mike Nadolski, Peg Schaefer, and Ji Shin.
Here's the link:
TAKE A LOOK

Alexandria Commission for the Arts Special Opportunity Award 2009 -

Four Short Videos from Holmes Run

Edge

Rock Paper Scissors Water

Head Over Heels

LOOK