Alan Sims speaks with DancerMusic about how Tai Ji and the other Internal and Martial Arts understand movement, and how dancers can understand that. Here's what he told us:
We asked the five participating choreographers one question each about their works in Red Clay Dance Company's La Femme Dance Festival. Here's what L. Graciella Maiolatesi, Brittany C. Winters, Jasmin Williams, Marceia Scruggs and Linsday Renea Benton told us:
From his hometown Pescara, Italy to Chicago to New York City, Riccardo Battaglia has experienced a successful career as a professional dancer, which most recently landed him a company position with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. We asked Riccardo to tell us about his journey to Ailey, which celebrates its 60th Anniversary this year. Here is what he told us:
...what happens when you are at the helm of an artistic operation for decades? How do you stay inspired, motivated and fight the burnout? If you happen to be the Artistic Director of a dance company, your responsibilities are monumental and seemingly endless. Those responsibilities are centered around the all-important preservation and growth of the company’s artistic vision, which can mean lending your own choreographic voice to the repertoire. This is in addition to finding other dance makers, both seasoned and up-and-coming, to keep the season’s programming diverse while still functioning in support of the original vision. Then comes curating
Teaching is everything, it's the future and the past. Each moment is a pivot in time, where what has been experienced becomes a guiding light for experiences not yet encountered. Teaching is more than just an important part of Dance, it's part of every process in Dance, and it's an art that Ethan Kirschbaum has studied carefully. We asked Ethan about why he loves teaching, how he understands the art of teaching, what he hopes for in teaching, and what he's learned about teaching dance. Here's what he told us:
When you think of "Gaga," the first thing to come to mind probably isn't dance. In fact, it probably reminds you more of a sound that you made when you were an infant and less of the movement language that has become a phenomenon in the concert dance world. Originally developed by choreographic phenomenon Ohad Naharin for his works with Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, Israel, this form of movement discovery and exploration has taken the dance world by storm. For many dancers, it's reminiscent of Isadora Duncan discovering modern dance. There was something so pure, so human about
Darryl Joseph is an independent producer with an intricately careful sense of how to put beats together. Originally from New York and now living in Chicago, his solo tracks are often sparse and electronic, and always elegantly designed. He's found himself more and more in demand as more and more people have heard his work, not only as a sought-after collaborator for vocalists, but also for choreographers. His gift for enthusiastic collaboration as much as for composition has led to recent projects with Stephanie Martinez, Christopher Huggins, Nick Pupillo, and now with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Choreographic Fellow Rena Butler. We asked Darryl about a lot of different things --- composing for dance, working with Rena Butler, what's up next for him, and more -- and here's what he told us.
"Who looks out from my eyes? What is the soul? I cannot stop asking." This is an excerpt from 13th century Islamic scholar and poet, Rumi. These words put a whole new spin on soul searching by asking us to look deeper into ourselves and examine what the soul is truly made of. It's also a line of poetry included in the sound design for the upcoming world premiere of Al Nafs, choreographed by hip hop artist extraordinaire Amirah Sackett for the diverse, athletic, and ever-enticing dancers of Chicago Dance Crash. Leading up to its premiere at Moraine Valley Community College on November 17, Amirah and Dance Crash spent months in the studio creating, crafting, and contemplating the ways in which emotions like anger and sadness can be transcended to reach a place of love. DancerMusic Dance Editor and Chicago Dance Crash company artist Kristi Licera spent time with Amirah outside of the studio to learn more and share this journey of creation and self-discovery. Here's what Amirah told us:
Dance can be intimidating for a new audience member. The abstract nature of the art can cause confusion, ambiance in the theater can be stiflingly formal, and if that were not enough, there is the inconvenience of leaving your ever-so-comfortable home to get there in the first place. So why is it worth it to become a firsthand consumer of dance? What makes it all worth it? If you speak to dance audience regulars, they will each have their own answer, and that's the beauty of it. An audience may see the same performance, but each person has the opportunity to
"Under the direction of Ashley Deran and Emily Loar, Project Bound is a tri-focal dance collaboration aiming to foster community engagement, dance/technology experimentation, and socially conscious performance." There's no better proof of their statement than to see the artists of Project Bound Dance in Separate Thoughts, Shared Space. Fostering community engagement? Bound is directly engaging the dance community by splitting the performance with Esoteric Dance Project. Furthermore, the split bill encourages the audiences of each respective company to come together, giving many the opportunity to see artists and works they may not have been exposed to otherwise. Dance/technology experimentation? The evening's program features the culmination of this year's One Hour Project, where Bound brings together dancer, choreographer, and videographer for 60 minutes to create a 60 second dance film. Socially conscious performance? You'll have to read on get the answer to this one, especially since DancerMusic's Kristi Licera got the answer to that question and more when she caught up with Project Bound Co-Artistic Directors Ashley Deran and Emily Loar. Here's what they told us: