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10 Questions with Eldon Johnson

April 17, 2018 by Rachel Hellwig

Eldon Johnson. Photo by Christopher Peddecord.

1. How did you first become involved in dance?

I first became involved with dance through the Polynesian side of my family. My mother was a hula dancer, along with her brothers and sisters growing up, and as they all began to have kids, they started the next generation of performers.

It was also part of our culture to pass on these traditional dances to your family. I did not start my formal dance training until I was basically 17. Hip hop was originally what I intended to train in, but after taking jazz, tap, and ballet, per the requirements of the studio I trained at, I fell in love with more classical forms of dance.

2. When/how did you realize you wanted to become a professional dancer?

I knew I wanted to be a professional dancer after seeing a Janet Jackson music video. “If” and “Together Again” were the ones that really sparked my interest to start taking dance classes. My goal was to be a backup dancer for her.

3. Was there ever a time when you thought of quitting dance or second-guessed your decision to pursue a professional career? If so, what helped you through that time?

Through my 20 year career, there have been many times where I questioned whether dance was a sustainable way to make a living. I never questioned whether dance was right for me, but I often question whether I am good enough for dance.

Dance has always been a way for me to express myself, my passion for movement, and my desire to inspire emotion in those who may be watching me dance.

Many times, still to this day, however, I wonder if I am enough. I question if what I have to offer, as a dancer, artist, and performer, is good enough, meaningful enough, thoughtful enough, or will be enough to please an audience. It is the bane of being a dancer, or artist for that matter.

Making a living through dance, that is fulfilling, and not just repetitious, will always elicit those questions as well.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: 10 Questions With..., 4dancers Tagged With: 10 questions with, contemporary dance, Contemporary Dance Choreography, Dance in Salt Lake City, Dance in Utah, Eldon Johnson, SALT Contemporary Dance

Dancing While You’re Pregnant

March 11, 2018 by 4dancers

Aloha and Happy Spring!  
I know it’s spring performance season, but I hope you can take a moment to read our new post from Ann. F Cowlin – a long time dance colleague of mine in New England. Ann has worked at Yale University for many years, and has a medical background. She founded “Dancing Thru Pregnancy” in 1979 – I learned about this program in the 1990’s, and how valuable this information can be – and am so glad we now have the opportunity to share it with you.
And on a brief personal note — you won’t be hearing “Aloha” from me after this, as I have just moved back to CO (Denver / Boulder) after 6 years on Kauai. Glad to be back and integrating again into the
wonderfully diverse metro dance community. If you’re ever in this part of the country – would love to hear from you!
Aloha (for the last time!) and Happy Spring performances! – Jan, Editor/Dance Wellness


“When a normal, healthy child is born, usually in the father’s compound, the women perform the nkwa to rejoice. Then…they sing and dance their way to the compounds of the mother’s kin to inform them of the joyous event through the dance-play, gathering additional dancers as it moves from compound to compound. In this nkwa, in which only married women who have given birth perform, the dancers highlight procreative body parts, birth exercises and child care gestures.” – page 164, Hanna JL, To Dance is Human: a theory of non-verbal communication, 1979. Rev. ed. 1987.

About Dancing Thru Pregnancy®

by Ann F. Cowlin MA, CSM, CCE, Founder/Director, DTP

From its inception in 1979, Dancing Thru Pregnancy® (DTP) has been inspired by this passage from Judith Lynne Hanna’s amazing text, in which she describes how the Ubakala of Nigeria “announce” the birth of a child. The dance serves a dual purpose – it tells of the birth, while it teaches the uninitiated how pregnancy and birth occur.

As a professional dancer, I long ago recognized the transformative power of dance to make experiences accessible. Through Hanna’s writing we see how dance is itself one of the earliest and most profound ways in which common human experiences are taught and learned. Contemporary culture often removes this type of learning from our environment.

Employing dance to help women approach birth has always struck me as an obvious first choice in preparing women for the physical, emotional, identity-forming and joyful process of birth. From its start – under the auspices of the West Virginia State Health Department’s Improved Pregnancy Outcome Project and the WVU Medical School Ob/Gyn Department – through its ongoing development at Yale University, DTP has undergone a perpetual choreographic process toward the most beneficial way to help women cope with this major life event.

In the intervening years, science and technology have reinforced our understanding of how non-verbal
learning happens. In the process, DTP has trained thousands of movement teachers and trainers about pregnancy and postpartum fitness, bringing activity to millions of moms-to-be worldwide. Our own programs, based at Yale, have a 14% cesarean rate over 35 years.

Mirror neurons are key to how empathy and understanding of experience are produced when people view and learn movement and gesture. The mere perception of an action sets off a low level firing of the neural pathway that executes the actions we are seeing. A most excellent discussion of mirror neurons appears in Acharya and Shukla’s article, Mirror Neurons: Enigma of the metaphysical modular brain, J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2012 Jul-Dec; 3(2): 118–124. The authors provide a thorough grounding in the history of how we have come to recognize that mirror neurons exist and how they work.

There are more arenas in which dance also shines as a preparation.

Appropriately choreographed, dance enables excellent physical fitness and includes all the elements of physical activity that research demonstrates are effective for optimal health in pregnancy and coping with the rigors of birth. From the perspective of exercise physiology, labor is an ultra-distance endurance event, followed by a strength test (birth), a physical recovery period, and 18 years or more of sleep deprivation.

What fitness elements contribute to a healthy pregnancy, powerful birth, and short- and long-term health for mom and baby?

Cardiovascular Fitness

Achieving cardiovascular endurance (aerobic fitness) is essential. There are so many benefits of aerobic fitness that a full recitation and hundreds of citations will not fit in this blog. Check DTP’s website Research pages and our Facebook page for references. But, to summarize: cardiovascular fitness improves implantation, enhances nutrient and oxygen delivery, reduces the incidence or severity of some pregnancy disorders, reduces the risk of fetal distress, reduces stress on maternal cardiac reserve while pushing, reduces the risk of cesarean, hastens recovery, helps maintain a healthy weight, alleviates anxiety, builds body-image confidence and enhances long term maternal and fetal health. The two forms of cardio or aerobic activity most often cited for effectiveness are running and aerobic dancing.

Strength & Flexibility

Two other elements of dance that are useful for pregnant, birthing and parenting moms are strength and flexibility. There are many movement actions derived from numerous dance forms that promote both power and elasticity in the muscles, connective tissue and skeletal structure. Some effective positions, movements and skills are shared with other disciplines: Traditional childbirth preparation, weight training, gymnastics, physical therapy, yoga, t’ai chi, pilates, boot camp, plyometrics, proprioceptor neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) techniques, Feldenkrais, Alexander, somatic therapies, posture training, etc.

Mind/Body Skills

An arena in which dance shines is building mind-body skills. Dancing relies on centering – aligning with gravity to produce the greatest efficiency for movement (balance) – along with breathing as a component of movement.

Align
Breathe
Focus on the breath
Sense the movement within

Then, allow the body to dance…

Centering also reduces the load on the nervous system and allows the brain to modulate into the parasympathetic nervous system state, also known as the relaxation response (autogenic training, hypnosis, meditation, progressive relaxation), the zone (athletes’ term), mindfulness (big in research presently), the trophotropic response (the scientific term), or the alpha state (the current fad term). Dancers sometimes refer to this as tuning in to the unconscious or flow. The actual coordination of motions, such as pushing, is primarily unconscious. The conscious piece is keeping a clear image of the goal, while allowing the body to work. This is the skill that allows the birthing mother to follow her body’s urges, flowing with the labor rather than trying to control what is going on. It gives her access to the cathartic and euphoric nature of birth as a dance.

Muscle Bonding

A part of the dance experience I truly enjoy is a phenomenon known as muscle bonding. When a group does vigorous physical activity together – dancing together, a sports team, a dance company – a special kind of bond forms. Part of the euphoria is this muscle bonding experience. The wonder of it is what the Ubakala women experience moving together to announce the birth of a child.

When I am dancing with my pregnant ladies and we are in the grove with our modified hip hop
routine, we are smiling at each other and feeling completely alive. We are breathing hard and working hard, but we are strong. My hope is always that when she senses that labor and birth are starting, a mom-to-be can get in that groove with the baby and support personnel. Birth becomes a dance.

A Caveat

No blog on pregnancy or birth is complete without a caveat. Every pregnancy and birth is unique. Sometimes things go wrong. But, mostly they go right! And, moms can optimize the experience. One of the greatest dangers to pregnancy and birth is sedentary behavior. Regular, vigorous, strength-inducing, flexibility gaining, mindfulness, relaxing, muscle bonding fun is available. Take advantage of it.

In future posts, we will discuss specific items that help the body and mind prepare for birth and motherhood.


Ann F. Cowlin
Ann F. Cowlin

Ann F. Cowlin is a movement specialist and dance instructor in the Yale University Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation; coordinator of the Childbirth Education Program at the Yale Health Center; and former Assistant Clinical Professor in the Yale University School of Nursing. She founded Dancing Thru Pregnancy®, Inc. in 1979, and is the author of Women’s Fitness Program Development, and chapters in Varney’s Midwifery (3rd, 4th & 5th ed.) and Sports Nutrition (4th ed.). A former professional ballet and modern dancer who received her MA in Dance from UCLA, she is a member of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) and the Society for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD).

 

Filed Under: Dance Wellness Tagged With: Ann F. Cowlin, Dancing Thru Pregnancy, Judith Hanna, mirror neurons, pregant dancers, pregnant dancing, professional dancer, relaxation response, Yale University

Dancing ‘Glass Pieces’ And Finding Flow

February 6, 2018 by 4dancers

Joffrey dancers
Valeriia Chaykina and Luis Eduardo Gonzalez rehearse Body of Your Dreams
Choreographer: Myles Thatcher © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2018

by Luis Eduardo Gonzalez

“Dance is low on the totem pole of the arts, because you’re not left with a painting…a book that will stay there, a score you can read.” ~Jerome Robbins

Jerome Robbins (born Rabinowitz) was a visionary whose energetic and comprehensively eclectic approach to dance lead him to conceive a body of work which has proven to be as poignant and invigorating today as it was upon its creation. The quote above is one of my favorites of his because it sheds light on the parallels between dance and the course of life. A dance performance, for the performer as well as for the audience, is an experience that is shared in that specific way only once. As every moment passes by; every connection, and every expression that takes place on stage, is gone forever. All that is left are the memories that are burned into the minds of all who took part in that exchange.

Glass Pieces is one of the 61 ballets that Robbins choreographed and I was exited to hear that it is one of the four works included in The Joffrey Ballet’s winter program. Having read much about his life and accomplishments, as well as being an admirer of works like West Side Story and Fancy Free, I wanted to know what the experience of dancing one of his works is like.

We learned the choreography from stager Jean-Pierre (JP) Frohlich, whose talent in choreographic memory was discovered and encouraged by Robbins himself. JP’s soft spoken but direct demeanor, combined with his irrefutable mastery of the ballet, gave the dancers a palpable sense that we were in good hands. The steps are complex in musicality and after running certain sections it was evident that stamina was going to be a factor. Every piece has its challenges, but the difficulty in this choreography felt dramatically overshadowed by the energy that comes with the steps and with the stimulating Philip Glass score. We could feel the energy in the room after the first run though, an energy that any dancer can relate to as being “in the zone.” The complex musicality and technique required for the choreography demanded a state of heightened focus that lead to a sense of ecstasy and a sense of clarity. We felt exactly what to do from one moment to the other and sense of time disappeared. We forgot ourselves and felt a part of something larger.

Luis Eduardo Gonzalez
© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2018

Moments like these are the reason most of us do what we do, but unfortunately for a lot of us, “in the zone” is not where we spend most of our dance careers. In a perfect world, we would wake up every day free of pain, be on our leg for every turn, politics and favoritism would not play a role in the work we are given, and going on stage or into a new spot in rehearsal to expand experiences and push our limitations would never be a source of anxiety; however, we all know that such a situation is either very rare or does not exist. Dancers have a million things to consider at any given moment, yet at the same time it is that attempt at omnipotent consideration that deprives us of truly living in every precious moment. In doing some research on the subject, I came across an article that psychologically broke down the concept of “in the zone”, more simply defined as “flow” by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He claimed the secret to “flow” is his Goldilocks principle: “not too hot, not too cold…just right.” In other words, feeling inspired, but not overwhelmed.

Csikszentmihalyi’s concept got me thinking about the definition of luck that my teacher gave me as a student which is simply – when preparation meets opportunity. I realized that we enter “flow” by striking a balance between skill and challenge. In the case of a professional dancer or an advanced student, most of the technical skill has already developed and what needs to be allowed to grow is the artistic development that each new experience can provide. The truth is that growth is available to us only if we strip down our need for control and perfectionism and surrender to what we can learn from the present moment. After diving deep into the history of Robbins’ work and the concepts that some of his quotes suggested, I found myself slowly letting go of my own criticism while I was dancing his steps. Perfection is always something to strive for, but it became obvious that attempting analysis over my work while it was taking place, not only altered the outcome, but defeated the purpose of why the steps were made, as well as why I was getting the chance to dance them.

In the end, I think it is important to keep in mind the simple fact that life is short and that our careers as dancers are even shorter. The impermanence of every moment, situation, and sensation is what makes them so beautiful and precious, in dance as well as in life. In the words of Robbins, “Dance is like life. It exists as you are flitting through it, and when it’s over, it’s done”. Although I understand the concept theoretically, I cannot say I’ve mastered it in practice. There are days when working for yourself and your craft feels easier than others. It is however, through experiences like the one I’ve shared, that one can find moments of “flow”. A life spent chasing these moments, be it through dance or otherwise, in my book, and I think in Robbins’, is one well spent.


The Joffrey Ballet’s Modern Masters program opens February 7th and runs through the 18th at The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.


Luis Eduardo Gonzalez
Joffrey’s Luis Eduardo Gonzalez, Photo by Cheryl Mann

Contributor Luis Eduardo Gonzalez joined The Joffrey Ballet in July 2015.

Mr. Gonzalez, is originally from Bogota, Colombia, where he grew up before moving to Atlanta, Georgia. His training came primarily from the continued direction of Maniya Barredo, former prima ballerina of Atlanta Ballet, and current director of Metropolitan Ballet Theatre. Mr. Gonzalez has received the Star Student award at Regional Dance America’s SERBA, been awarded 3rd place at the Regional Youth American Grand Prix competition in 2008, given first place pas de deux at the American Ballet Competition in 2013, and selected to compete as the only representative of Colombia in the 2014 Jackson International Ballet Competition.

Mr. Gonzalez began his professional career with The Houston Ballet II, where he had the opportunity to dance works by Stanton Welch, among other renowned choreographers, as well as tour both nationally and internationally. At 18, he joined Orlando Ballet where he danced for three years and performed roles such as the Jester in Swan Lake, Peter in Peter and the Wolf, Ghoul’s trio in Vampire’s Ball, Franz’s friend in Coppelia, and Cavalier in the Sugar Plum Pas de deux in The Nutcracker.

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: choreography, Fancy Free, Flow, Glass Pieces, Jean-Pierre Frohlich, jerome robbins, joffrey ballet, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, philip glass, West Side Story

Interview: Bobbi Jo Hart, Director of “Rebels on Pointe”

December 16, 2017 by Rachel Hellwig

Director Bobbi Jo Hart. Image courtesy of Icarus Films

How/when did you first become acquainted with the work of the Trocks?

I first discovered the Trocks several years ago when they came to Montreal to perform at Place des Arts. I saw an ad in the newspaper and was immediately intrigued by the photo of these men in ballet drag.

I did a bit of online research and couldn’t believe that I’d never heard of the company, who have been touring the world since 1974!

Then I was even more surprised than no one had ever done a behind-the-scenes documentary about them.

This is your first documentary on a dance subject. How was making this film different (or not) from your past work?

This is indeed my first film in the dance world, and, in fact, my first film with male main characters as well!

This year is my 20th anniversary as a documentary filmmaker, so I have spent some time this year reflecting on my filmmaking choices…asking myself why I am drawn to certain people and environments to follow and film.

It is now clear to me that my passion is observational documentary filmmaking.

I love to immerse myself in worlds and with people that I am often unfamiliar with, to build deep trust so I can follow in an intimate way, and then find the common human threads that connect these unique individuals and realities to a wider audience.

I am also a big fan of the underdogs in life…and love stories of determination and resilience.

My university degree is International Relations, so I also realize that with each film I am looking to bridge bridges of understanding to ultimately celebrate our shared humanity.

So the Trocks appealed to me because it was a world I knew so little about, and I wanted to learn more…and subsequently share what I learned with the public.

I also love uncovering untold stories that I feel the public should know more about, and the Trocks is definitely an example of this.

Dancers (left to right) Robert Carter, Philip Martin-Nielson, Chase Johnsey, Laszlo Major and Chris Ouellette. Image courtesy of Icarus Films

Tell us a little about the documentary’s style/format and how it tells the story of the company…

I am a cinema verite, observational filmmaker. In other words, I like to let life happen and hopefully catch narrative lightning in a bottle, so to speak.

I also had a wonderful editor to work with — Catherine Legault — who was instrumental in helping me structure the film in the editing room. Catherine was a dancer herself in the past, which was very helpful, and her timing and flow really added so much to the film.

I knew I wanted to juxtapose the company’s fascinating history with life on the road today, including some personal stories of a few of the dancers.

I have gravitated, over the years, to filming a lot of footage by myself, without any crew.

Although this is exhausting at times, it does allow for a deeper intimacy with the characters, not to mention quick mobility to follow the natural movements of characters at a moment’s notice.

Of course this can result in some technical challenges that my post production team help me correct as best they can (ie: colour, sound, etc.), but it also offers audiences a connection to the characters that is on a much deeper human level.

How long did it take to create this documentary? Were there any particular challenges with featuring a dance company on camera? Did you have concerns about losing certain elements of live performance?

From the moment I first discovered the Trocks, it took about 4 years to create the final film.

Some of the biggest challenges were trying to literally stay out of the way of the dancers, be it in rehearsal or during a live performance. They are professionals through and through, as are their incredible, skeleton staff who are the wind beneath their wings. I often had two cameras at live performances. I would shoot by myself backstage and a second cameraperson would be set up on a tripod out in the auditorium to film the performance itself.

I admit that there were a few times when the Associate Director and Production Manager Isabelle Martinez had to literally grab me by the collar and yank me in another direction so I wouldn’t get run into by a dancer zooming off stage into the wings, or to prevent me from wandering out on stage accidentally because I was so enraptured by filming what was going on.

But I think, overall, things went very well filming with the Trocks, and I developed such a deep respect for how hard they work on a daily basis to be such incredible dancers.

Where can audiences find “Rebels on Pointe”?

Audiences can check on our film website at www.rebelsonpointe.com to find the latest screening information, and we also post updates on the film Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RebelsonPointe/

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: Bobbi Jo Hart, dance documentary, dance film, Dance Filmmaking, interview, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Rebels on Pointe, Trocks

Pushing Your Own Boundaries As A Dancer

December 1, 2017 by 4dancers

The Joffrey Ballet performs the snow scene from Christopher Wheeldon’s Nutcracker – photo by Cheryl Mann

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Eduardo Gonzalez, a company member from The Joffrey Ballet who will be writing for us here! Naturally, his first post for us will have a Nutcracker theme, since it is that time of year. We look forward to hearing more from him throughout the season!


by Luis Eduardo Gonzalez

The annual occurrence of Nutcracker, for most dancers in the United States, has become as inevitable as Christmas or winter. Just like the holidays and the weather, people have different ways of approaching the seasonal change. Some dread the cold and feel lonely around the intensely marketed time of the year, while others start playing Christmas music and whip out a Christmas tree the day after Halloween. We all know the music, the story, the process; it is easy to give in to the monotony and start to dread your 27th show of Waltz of the Flowers before you’ve even opened. We’ve all felt this way at one point or another, and maybe not even just with Nutcracker. Getting caught up with the potential stagnancy that routine can bring is a difficulty that we are all susceptible to at any point in a dance career, or in any career. There are, however, moments that if approached in with the right perspective, and with enough attention, can remind us to live in the now, and bring us back to appreciating how lucky we are to do what we do. It is too easy to forget that we have a career, or rather a medium, through which we use our gifts to provide special moments, and feelings to other people.

The casting journey

Christopher Wheeldon choreographed a completely new version of The Nutcracker at The Joffrey Ballet last season, after almost thirty years of the Company performing Robert Joffrey’s version of the production. The project was high stakes, and an ambitious undertaking for him, for us, and for everyone involved. To make sure that we had enough time to bring his vision to life, the snow music was waiting for us as soon as we got back from summer break in August. There are four male soloists in his version of snow, and because the dancer I was learning got injured, I was now one of them, and for my second season in the Company it felt like a great opportunity. We rehearsed for a little over a month. Day in and day out, altering steps, repeating sequences over and over, and trying to make sure we were doing the steps the way Chris imagined they would look. Casting came out a few weeks before the performances, and my name was not on it. I was confused, disappointed, embarrassed, and maybe a bit angry. No one had talked to me, no one had given me notes on how I could have improved on the work; it was as if my work for the last month meant nothing, like it had just been erased. Looking back, it seems silly to get upset over one role. In the large scheme of things this was definitely not a matter of life or death, but being a professional dancer means that you are the product your selling. Attaching your self-worth to the roles that you do or don’t get happens almost naturally.

After a night with a little Malbec, and a call with my family, I realized that at I had a decision to make. I could give into righteous resignation, make myself a martyr in my own head, and give up or I could fight for an opportunity to grow through this. One very helpful thing that came up in my memory was my teacher telling me that when you fall, making excuses stops the process for figuring out what lead to the fall. Defending yourself from something that might hurt you in a way stops you from growing. If the situation was hurting me, then there must be something to learn. This made me think of all the opportunities that we as dancers sometimes don’t take full advantage of. The truth is that we love what we do, passionately. We know this because the career is too difficult and requires too much sacrifice to do it without love, and it is that passion that hypersensitizes a fear of not being allowed to do it. With that in mind it’s easy to see how it’s silly to let changes in circumstance (the ballet, the choreographer, who is teaching class, the role you’re dancing) affect how much joy you get out of doing something that has such a significant place in our hearts.

Luis Eduardo Gonzalez photo by Michael Cairns

I remember the day that Chris came in to talk to the Company about the changes to the traditional story he wanted to see in his new version. The plot would now circle around the 1893 construction of the Chicago World’s Fair. The Land of the Sweets was re-envisioned as a still magical, but somehow more relatable and true wonderland of pavilions where the Waltz of the Flowers, was now the Fair Visitors, and Candy Cane, changed to Buffalo Bill. The best change he made, in my opinion was making Marie a humble immigrant girl in Chicago, raised by a single mother. Although the traditional story is beloved, and still heart warming the opulence of it was really not true to “the spirit of Christmas” but more importantly Chris’s nature. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: christmas ballet, christopher Wheeldon, joffrey, Luis Eduardo Gonzalez, Michael Cairns, nutcracker, snow scene, the joffrey ballet, the nutcracker

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