Editorial – Page 14

The Arts – A Positive Effect On Bullying- Part 2

January 10, 2014 by 4dancers

by Janet Neidhardt

In March, 2013 I wrote a blog about working on a piece with my high school dance students based on bullying. We titled the piece: “I’m Taking It Seriously”. I wanted to give an update and provide a video that we created about the making of the dance as well as the finished product.

Since the performance of “I’m Taking It Seriously”, students who saw the dance still talk about it. When we discuss making a dance about something with social relevance it’s usually the first example they come up with now. I also have students who want to continue to make dances about bullying. They have started to look at it from a deeper perspective like expressing the inner emotions someone has when they get bullied.

As a dance educator I feel a responsibility to my students and community to serve them through dance and show that dance can be so much more than beautiful technique, it can communicate ideas and messages that might shift how we treat one another. It’s clear that the conversation about bullying is an ongoing one and that dance, being an art form in which we can express ourselves, is a wonderful means to spur conversation–and possibly make changes.

Loyola Academy Intermediate Dance Class from Loyola Academy on Vimeo.

dancer posing upside down — Janet Neidhardt

Contributor Janet Neidhardt has been a dance educator for 10 years. She has taught modern, ballet, and jazz at various studios and schools on Chicago’s North Shore. She received her MA in Dance with an emphasis in Choreography from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and her BA in Communications with a Dance Minor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout her time in graduate school, Janet performed with Sidelong Dance Company based in Winston-Salem, NC.

Currently, Janet teaches dance at Loyola Academy High School in Wilmette, IL. She is the Director of Loyola Academy Dance Company B and the Brother Small Arts Guild, and choreographs for the Spring Dance Concert and school musical each year. Janet is very active within the Loyola Academy community leading student retreats and summer service trips. She regularly seeks out professional development opportunities to continue her own artistic growth. Recently, Janet performed with Keigwin and Company in the Chicago Dancing Festival 2012 and attended the Bates Dance Festival.

When she isn’t dancing, Janet enjoys teaching Pilates, practicing yoga, and running races around the city of Chicago.

Finding Balance: Transitions In A Dance Career

January 5, 2014 by 4dancers

by Emily Kate Long

A career in dance is full of transitions of all kinds…the exhilarating first leap from student to professional, the lapse between seasons, and the final (or in some cases, not so final) move from dance to another career. Some of these emotional transitions happen smoothly and with grace, some are rocky and uncertain.

Hearing my older friends’ stories of professional life when I was still a student put stars in my eyes, but it also made me wonder if I would be tough enough to handle a professional career. Since landing a job, I’ve seen friends transition from the stage to take on other pursuits. I’ve also been lucky enough to see some of my students enter the field and give it everything they’ve got. All that inspires me to make the most of every moment I’m given to dance. In this first Finding Balance post of 2014, change is the focus: in life, in habits, in attitude. Happy New Year!

Let’s start with a big one: landing that first job. The amazing thing about an occupation that flies by so quickly is that there’s no reason not to get the most out of every single second of it. That’s an incredible opportunity, and a huge challenge. Every moment wasted is a moment that you—or someone else—could be getting closer to the job or role you want. Five short years into my career, I sometimes catch myself forgetting that competitive hunger. It’s one thing that helped get me from wanting a job to having one, and I never want that to change about my dancing. What has changed now that I’m out of the scramble of trainee-ships and endless auditions is the extent to which the responsibility to stay eager falls on the individual. The more experience and freedom I gain, the more I realize there is to explore inside myself as an artist, and in movement and performance in the broader sense, if I’m willing to go for it.

Another thing the past five years have taught me is how and when to back off, something that’s hard for most dancers to do. Work—especially work that feels like play—is easy to get lost in. Both in my professional dance life and here on 4dancers, I’ve had the privilege to do work I love. I’ve also had to make the tough choice to put on the brakes sometimes, whether it’s staying out of the studio and resting my body, or posting less frequently to give my ideas time to take shape. Bodies don’t last forever, but I hope not to wear mine out for a long time yet.

Wendy Whelan, Photo by Christopher Duggan

The expenditure of one’s body, emotions, and nerves, or simply the decision to change one’s focus in life, are all reasons dancers choose to retire. It seems such a personal and difficult choice, whether a dancer stops at age twenty-five or age forty-five. Some dancers retire from full-time work but still perform occasionally; some leave the field altogether; still others bring up the next generation of artists as directors, teachers, or coaches. Wendy Whelan is one great example of an older dancer continuing to explore performance in ways other than classical ballet.

This article on Career Transition for Dancers makes an interesting point about second careers: they may not—in fact, probably won’t—provide the same degree of fulfillment as dancing, and that’s ok. That’s why dance was the first choice.

“And here, in essence, was the pill that many retiring dancers find hardest to swallow, and that Career Transition is nearly alone in dispensing: the sober recognition that, at least momentarily, a dancer might need to stop expecting a new line of work to match the deep fulfillment of professional dance.”

This line captures the feeling that hits me big time whenever I’m on a break from rehearsals and performance. There is just nothing that gets me going like dancing does, so it’s hard to take a rest even though I know it’s good for me. I guess some things really don’t change over the course of a dancer’s career, even after retirement!

dancer doing arabesque — Emily Kate Long, Photo by Avory Pierce

Assistant Editor Emily Kate Long began her dance education in South Bend, Indiana, with Kimmary Williams and Jacob Rice, and graduated in 2007 from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s Schenley Program. She has spent summers studying at Ballet Chicago, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Miami City Ballet, and Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive/Vail Valley Dance Intensive, where she served as Program Assistant. Ms Long attended Milwaukee Ballet School’s Summer Intensive on scholarship before being invited to join Milwaukee Ballet II in 2007.

Ms Long has been a member of Ballet Quad Cities since 2009. She has danced featured roles in Deanna Carter’s Ash to Glass and Dracula, participated in the company’s 2010 tour to New York City, and most recently performed principal roles in Courtney Lyon’s Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Cinderella. She is also on the faculty of Ballet Quad Cities School of Dance, where she teaches ballet, pointe, and repertoire classes.

Finis: Dance Heginbotham

December 31, 2013 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

I first met John Heginbotham at Jacob’s Pillow, and Nel was an intern with Adrian, his company manager, so it’s nice having that Pillow connection. John came and did some really fun out of the box portraits with me in my Natural Light Studio in 2012, but his dance company’s performance at BAM Fisher was my first opportunity to photograph his work in New York.

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Contributor Christopher Duggan is a wedding and dance photographer in New York City, the Berkshires and beyond. Duggan has been the Festival Photographer for Jacob’s Pillow Dance since 2006. In this capacity, and as a respected New York-based dance photographer, he has worked with renowned choreographers and performers of international acclaim as well as upstarts in the city’s diverse performance scene.

He photographs dancers in the studio and in performance, for promotional materials, portraits and press, and he often collaborates with his wife, Nel Shelby, and her Manhattan-based dance film and video editing company Nel Shelby Productions (nelshelby.com). Together, they have documented dance at performances from New York City to Vail International Dance Festival.

Christopher Duggan Photography also covers the finest wedding venues in the Metropolitan and Tri-State areas, in Massachusetts and the Berkshires, and frequently travels to destination weddings.

His photographs appear in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Knot, Destination I Do, Photo District News, Boston Globe, Financial Times, Dance Magazine, and Munaluchi Bridal, among other esteemed publications and popular dance and wedding blogs. One of his images of Bruce Springsteen was added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and his dance photography has been exhibited at The National Museum of Dance and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

His Natural Light Studio (http://www.christopherduggan.com/portfolio/natural-light-studio-jacobs-pillow-photography/) at Jacob’s Pillow is his most ambitious photography project to date – check out his blog to see more portraits of dance artists in his pop-up photo studio on the Pillow grounds.

Making “Mr. Gaga” – A Film About Choreographer Ohad Naharin

December 11, 2013 by 4dancers

a1555e_403d2bf009239d4bc6042048367c18df.jpg_srz_p_220_270_75_22_0.50_1.20_0 — Tomer Heymann, Director

Today we are pleased to share with readers an interview with Tomer Heymann – the man behind countless hours of footage of the well-known dance figure Ohad Naharin. Heymann is working to create a film about the choreographer (Titled, “Mr. Gaga”), and it has been a project to which he has truly devoted himself.

1. How did you first meet Ohad Naharin?

I met Ohad Naharin more than twenty years ago on one of my vacations from military service. My aunt was a director of the Batsheva Dance Company at the time and I got a ticket to see Naharin’s piece “Kir” (“Wall”). This was the first piece he staged in Israel after his return from the U.S. I had never seen any dance before in my life, so I didn’t know what to expect.

But from the moment I saw the dancers move, the movement, their bodies, I just couldn’t take my eyes off it. By the end of the show, my eyes were sore from staring. It was phenomenal. Since then I haven’t missed one of Ohad’s productions: I have seen 25 of Ohad’s pieces, and more than once. A few years later, I also fell in love with a dancer from Batsheva.

One time, when I was working as a waiter in a coffee shop, I found the courage to introduce myself to Naharin.

2. What made you decide to do this film?

Even before I’d become a filmmaker, I felt I had to be close to this man. I had to understand how he creates something that magnificent, that inspiring. As we became friends I never abandoned the idea of making a film about Ohad Naharin. But only after I had made a few films, did I feel able to approach him and ask. This turned into an obsession, I stalked him. And only 7 years ago did he finally agree to let me bring a camera to the studio.

3. Did you find that filming dance was a challenge? Why or why not?

Before agreeing to participate in “Mr. Gaga” Ohad had many times told me that he forbids the filming of dance, as it goes against the momentary and fleeting nature of dance. This is why it was very challenging for me to shoot and edit this film. Where do you cut when you are editing a wholesome creation, a dance piece? I hope that I have managed to capture these moments, to make a collection of these moments that evolves into something larger than just the sum of its parts and also tells a story.

4. Where has the filming taken you in terms of following Ohad and Batsheva?

I have followed the company to seven different countries and spent countless hours in the studio in Tel Aviv. I’ve witnessed some dancers “grow up” with the company and Naharin, starting in the ensemble as kids 18-19 years old and then coming to the company to become extraordinary dancers–and then move on to other places. For example Sharon Eyal, once a prodigy of the company, and present a lot in our footage, now is one of the leading choreographers in Israel and Europe. Danielle Agami, another talented dancer now has her own successful company in L.A.

Being with Batsheva and Ohad Naharin really became a part of my life. It is safe to say that I spent 1 to 2 days of every week in the past seven years with them, not counting the hours I spend in the editing room.

“Mr. Gaga” is a film that took me one step further as a filmmaker, as a director – in terms of the responsibility it demanded from me, the amount of people involved, the volume of materials to be processed, and in terms of the time and resources I am investing. Ohad is such an influential figure in his field, and this puts a lot responsibility on me to deliver a film that will match his stature.

5. In your view, what stands out about this man and this company?

What is so interesting about Ohad Naharin is that he is one of the rare choreographers who appeals to a very wide range of audiences; not just regular dance fans who are familiar with classical ballet. His language and art are universal; it goes deep into something primal in our emotional selves–to our bodily awareness of ourselves. And he also does this without becoming “pop” or compromising his art. On the contrary, Naharin always finds new ways to recreate, to redefine his language.

6. What has been the biggest challenge in this process so far?

There was a lot of resistance. It may seem like a very rosy picture from the outside: We are friends, we are intimate and I am making a film about Ohad Naharin over seven years. But the opposite is true. Ohad is a difficult and complicated man and he gave me a hard time. There was a lot of resistance. Sometimes he would just say “cut” – as if he were the director – he would just “cut” the communication, stop cooperating with me, exclude me from his space. But in these moments I knew we were only spiraling deeper in our relationship, reaching yet another new level of intimacy.

7. Can you talk about a special moment you experienced while filming?

One example–I knew that Ohad had a TREASURE chest in his home: An enormous collection of still images, recordings, rehearsals, performances, family footage; his work in New York with Martha Graham, work with Maurice Béjart, his first wife – the legendary Alvin Ailey dancer, Mari Kajiwara, many many things. I was obsessed with these materials for years; I knew that I had to get them into the film somehow.

And suddenly this year I felt that we had reached the point where I could ask for it. I just told Ohad: “Give me this!” And he just gave it to me, all of it, just like that. He just handed over his past into my hands.

8. What do you think people might be surprised to learn about Ohad Naharin?

Ohad harbors a very sensitive nature under his tough appearance. People might also be very surprised to discover Ohad’s sense of humor and the relationships he builds with the dancers.

9. What does the next phase of this project look like, and when are you hoping to finish it?

Right now we are processing the footage shot over the past year and adding it to the rough cut. It includes Ohad Naharin working on his latest creation “The Hole” with the Batsheva Dance Company. Interesting footage because there was a special octagon stage created for this piece in one of the studios of the Suzan Dallal center in Tel Aviv, with dancers also standing right behind the audience and even under the very ceiling. It’s really a 360 degrees experience for the audience; something very special. We also filmed Ohad working on his repertoire in Finland and we travelled with him to New York.

At the same time there is a team of 5 very experienced researchers that are looking for any piece of archival material there can be found about Ohad Naharin or the company. We are finding unbelievable footage and all of that needs to be incorporated into the film as well.

Should we succeed with our Kickstarter campaign we will be able to acquire this footage and to proceed with the post-production. We are planning to release the film in spring 2014, in conjunction with the celebrations of the 50^th anniversary of the Batsheva Dance Company in Israel and in the U.S.A.

A Closer Look at So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD)

December 3, 2013 by 4dancers

by Gigi Berardi

The week before the SYTYCD 2013 Seattle performance, I had the opportunity to interview the competition’s winners: Fik-Shun Stegall and Amy Yakima. Equally exciting was an interview, too, with Tucker Knox.

I must admit that my questions were a little more personal perhaps than most – I had seen all the shows throughout the summer, from the regional auditions through to the televised finale. This helped mightily in my appreciation for virtually every aspect of the show (with the exception of the “judging,” and the whipping-off the stage of runners-up Aaron Turner and Jasmine Harper (were those really bouncers on Stage?)).

At any rate, the interviews were quite stimulating and the performance itself (November 19), fascinating. However, I must admit, there’s something about the up-front-and-personal camera angle (for the televised shows) that allows you to see every drop of sweat, every expression, which is oddly interesting.

Tucker Knox

tuckersd_19-tucker-p#583EF8 — Tucker Knox, Photo courtesy of SYTYCD

Tucker Knox was virtually a professional dancer before auditioning for SYTYCD. He worked with River North Chicago Dance Company, leaving Nashville when he was 16 (before that he had trained as both gymnast and dancer). During his tenure in Chicago, he had pieces set on him as the artistic director (Mauro Astolfi) of Spellbound (from Rome, Italy), and many other choreographers were in residence in Chicago.

The 23-year old has had more than his fair share of catastrophes and personal triumphs, but nothing harder than a life-threatening automobile accident (he was not driving), which fractured his spine and broke his sternum and ribs. Says Knox, “I was 20 at the time and I had to remain in a body cast with full bed rest for months and months.”

That experience though, resulted in Travis Wall choreographing a duet, Medicine, for Knox and for former SYTYCD all-star Robert Roldan, who himself had suffered a near-catastrophic accident earlier). The fact that they were both still dancing was remarkable, and Wall profiled that will and skill in Medicine. Says Knox, “This was the hardest dance to dance, by far. It required total honesty. It just was very hard emotionally to let everyone see me that vulnerable – I wasn’t portraying a character, it was all about me and I felt very exposed.”

Mr. Knox aspires to work in a contemporary ballet company, such as the Nederlands Dans Theater — which, for my money, would be a perfect home for this exceptionally lithe, flexible, and emotive dancer. However acting, commercials, movies, television, also are part of his dreams, all that, as well as working as a back-up dancer for any recording artist.

Mr. Knox excels in the contemporary pieces, more than any other single dancer on the show “I just create and feel the story with my partner, and then we live it on stage”), yet finds dance forms a little foreign to him the most fun. Says Knox, “Hip hop is maybe not my best style, but it is the most fun — I just crank it out and it’s fun up there whatever we do. Also, ballroom for me feels surprisingly natural. Even though I may not perform it that well, it comes more easily than I thought it would.”

The modest Knox needs only look at a video or two to see how impressive his command of any style is.

Du-Shaunt “Fik-Shun” Stegall

Interviewing Fik-Shun Stegall, male winner of the SYTYCD 2013 competition, is an exercise in facing idealism head-on. Today, Fik-Shun looks forward to work in commercials and movies, and plenty of auditions in the coming year.

Every step of the way, from regional try-outs to the television grand finale, Fik-Shun has had an exceptionally positive attitude and outlook. Says Fik-Shun: “You just have to give it your all. You need to be aware of your body and what it can and can’t do, and be happy with that.”

Fik-Shun was injured only once on the show –- a twisted ankle, but he soldiered on. The pay-offs were too inviting to the 18-year old dancer –- a duet with tWitch (“an awesome person, everything comes so natural to him”), a bell-hop routine (Let’s Get It On, choreographed by Christopher Scott) with his season partner, Amy Yakima, that took top accolades.

For Fik-Shun, the show has been an amazing success, “more people know who I am now, and I think they appreciate that I just gave it my all.” The choreography, especially ballroom, was especially demanding each week (“I don’t do choreography”). Nevertheless, Fik-Shun mastered the effortlessness of ballroom and the emotional grittiness of contemporary, easily becoming America’s favorite dancer.

Amy Yakima

To see Amy Yakima dance is to see both a highly technical dancer, as well as a strikingly emotional one. Besides being America’s favorite female dancer, she might also be the most humble. Next year, she plans to audition, but also is very committed to starting a dance school and teaching children.

Really, this from the competition’s winner? A dance school at the age of 19? Says Yakima: “I guess I just want to do everything because my body wont keep up forever, a dance school makes sense.”

Being on the show was a life-changing event for the young dancer. Says Yakima: “Being on the show changed the way I dance, it opened me up to what I wanted to become.”

Whatever that is, it looks like she’s almost there – a powerful gymnast, a courageous hip hop artist, a melt-your-heart contemporary wonder, as in the duet, “Wicked Game,” choreographed and danced by the matchless Travis Wall, she is both workhorse and powerhouse. A stunningly beautiful dancer, with amazing capacity, her work remains one of the strongest memories of SYTYCD Season 10.

Her parents are physicians, as well as her staunchest supporters (her dad even danced on stage when she was first auditioning on SYTYCD), it’s no wonder Yakima remains injury-free, “I know how to take care of myself.”

Moral support also is strong, although Yakima admits that the voting was very stressful, “Really, we are all so driven. But the favoritism, the voting is so difficult – it comes down to our different personalities, to a certain look, what people like, and don’t. How different we look. Then we realize we are all on TV, and this is the way reality TV works.”

Right, but the dancer is still interminably cheerful.

“I know I’m cheery,” says Yakima. “But it’s the way I was brought up. In dance, you just have to get used to rejection, and not take it personally. It’s the only way you can dance.”

Gigi Berardi holds a MA in dance from UCLA. Her academic background and performing experience allow her to combine her interests in the natural and social sciences with her passion for dance, as both critic and writer. Over 150 articles and reviews by Ms. Berardi have appeared in Dance Magazine, Dance International, the Los Angeles Times, the Anchorage Daily News, The Olympian, The Bellingham Herald, and scientific journals such as BioScience, Human Organization, and Ethics, Place, and Environment. Her total work numbers over 400 print and media pieces.

Her public radio features (for KSKA, Anchorage) have been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Dance Critics Association, and is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, as well as Book Review editor for The Journal of Dance Medicine & Science. A professor at Western Washington University, she received the university’s Diversity Achievement Award in 2004. Her fifth book, Finding Balance: Fitness and Training for a Lifetime in Dance, is in its second printing. Her current book project is titled A Cultivated Life.

Email: Gigi.Berardi@wwu.ed<mailto:Gigi.Berardi@wwu.edu>u

Website: http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/~gberardi and http://www.gigiberardi.com/

Blogs: http://blog.gigiberardi.com/ and http://resilientfarmsnourishingfoods.blogspot.com/

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