choreographer – Page 4

WORLDING – The Moving Architects Welcome Choreographer Joanie Audet

March 6, 2013 by 4dancers

The Moving Architects is a Chicago-based dance company that has been around since 2007. This month, they are presenting WORLDING at the Fasseas White Box Theater in Chicago. An evening of global dance works, the performance will consist of work by Artistic Director Erin Carlisle Norton and new works by guest artists Noa Zuk of Israel and Joanie Audet of Quebec.

We sent some questions to Ms. Audet about her piece in WORLDING and she gave us an inside look at her process and her work with the company. Here’s what she shared…

Tell us a bit about your background as a choreographer.

The work I am presenting in WORLDING is based on the first work I ever choreographed that was presented in 2011 as part of my training at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Through a course called “Choreographic Workshop”, the assignment was that each third year student was to create a 5 to 10 minute piece mentored by Julia Sasso, while the second year students self-produced the show.

My first class, I was terrified by the idea and at our first showing I had decided that it was not going to happen, I would not do the work. However, after I talked with friends and teachers who tried to get me to change my mind, I stopped refusing and began to create inch by inch. It was two weeks before opening and I booked all the studio space available – every second I had would go into the piece until the last presentation.

the moving architects dance company — “WORLDING” by The Moving Architects, Photo by Nick Francher

What was your process like as you created this new dance for WORLDING?

For this version of the work, I created the solos separately in Montréal and Toronto, which made it difficult but interesting to me at the same time. The method that we used was to create small phrases and then play. It allowed us to form memories in the studio and to use the material as part of our history bank during a run. We gave names to movement sequences and called them in different orders. We aimed for nearly impossible tasks to achieve using our imagination coloured with a good sense of humour.

What music did you select for this piece and how did you choose it?

There is no music. I am talking on stage throughout the piece and that connection is very important. I am a strong believer that movement can exist without music although they can complement each other beautifully. Rhythm is a big question for me – I love to see movement infused with clear rhythm without music. I didn’t necessarily use this idea in this piece but I look for it when I watch other performances.

choreographer — Joanie Audet, Photo by Jeremy D. Carlisle

How would you describe the choreography in this piece?

The work is two different solos for two contrasting bodies.

There is a pre-set movement vocabulary to anchor the piece and its arc. My role as the choreographer has been to create this vocabulary, but I am also involved in every performance. I direct the dancers with my voice amplified by a microphone orchestrating the intensity and the spacing and informing changes.

Choreography is a practice that wants to challenge both mind and body. There is no fixed final result; each time we perform it has the potential to be completely singular.

We will be putting both solos together for the first time during the dress rehearsal. The work is inspired by instant performances and adapting to one’s ever-changing environment.

What was it like to work with The Moving Architects?

I met Erin Carlisle Norton in Morocco last September, we were both teaching and performing at Festival Action Danse 5. She is clear-minded and well focused.

Having similar interests, we got to know each other very quickly just by the nature of things. The fact that we spent time in the studio and on stage makes bonding happen with no question. In a similar way, so did travelling together. It was a very unique experience.

What is your favorite thing about choreography?

Being an outside eye.

WORLDING takes place Saturday, March 9th at 8pm and Sunday, March 10that 7pm. Tickets may be purchased in advance at TheMovingArchitects.org.

BIO: Joanie Audet / Performer and Choreographer (Canada) was born in Laval, Québec, Canada and attended the Professional Training Program at Le Conservatoire de Danse de Montréal. Ms. Audet is also a graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theater where she has worked as an assistant teacher in the Young Dancers’ Program at the school since January 2009. She had the pleasure of studying with Benoit Lachambre and Jennifer Mascall in Vancouver, David Zambrano in Celrà (Spain) and Ruth Zaporah in Santa Fe, NM (US). More Recently, Audet was recently part of Project Engagement Féminin, an initiative of Compagnie Auguste-Bienvenue, to foster women in dance in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Book Review: Frederick Ashton’s Ballets: Style, Performance, Choreography

March 6, 2013 by 4dancers

by Emily Kate Long

My most recent paper-bound treasure is Geraldine Morris’s Frederick Ashton’s Ballets: Style, Performance, Choreography, an analysis and discussion of six of Ashton’s works. Having limited exposure to Ashton’s ballets, I approached it as a primer on his work—characteristics, influences, and their place in the repertories of companies today. I came away with much more information and many more questions than I had bargained for. Morris professes one of her goals to be “to promote greater understanding of both dance movement style and choreographic style, so that the book is not only interesting and useful for performers but also for dance academics and committed dance audiences.” I consider myself belonging to all three categories, and though I haven’t reached understanding yet, Ashton’s Ballets has provoked my interest intensely.

The ballets themselves Morris considers in pairs: A Wedding Bouquet (1937) and Illuminations (1950), two ballets featuring spoken words; Birthday Offering (1956) and Jazz Calendar (1968), non-narrative works; and Daphnis and Chloe (1951) and A Month in the Country (1976), two narrative ballets. By comparing works made on dancers of different backgrounds and at points throughout Ashton’s career, Morris determines that some of the defining characteristics of Ashton’s style are the use of what are typically transition or minor steps as major motifs, complex epaulement including the invisible pathways drawn by the limbs in space, unexpected changes of direction and dynamic, and different rhythms occurring simultaneously in the upper and lower body.

In addition to providing detailed descriptions and comparisons of the six ballets, Morris offers background concerning Ashton’s influences: Petipa, Duncan, Nijinska, Pavlova, the stage dancing of the 1920s and ‘30s, and the dancers of his ballets. In other words, he made use of what came before him, what was in front of him, and what was within him. (Morris states that Ashton was “concerned to understand temperament and sensibility.”)

Tracing chains of influence through time and changes in the treatment of a static entity (in this case, codified ballet technique) over time are central to Morris’s arguments. Repeatedly, she emphasizes the extent to which much of today’s dancing favors line and shape over motion. She maintains that such emphasis is stylistically detrimental to Ashton’s works, which depend on movement and dynamic over shape or position.

Morris’s discussion of influences on Ashton extends both inward to the analysis of each ballet she addresses and outward, beyond Ashton’s work. For example, in her breakdown of Daphnis and Chloe, Ashton’s, Ravel’s, and Fokine’s treatment of the Greek myth are acknowledged. Where Jazz Calendar is analyzed, Morris highlights the contrast between Balanchine’s and Ashton’s treatment of similar influences: stage dancing and African-American movement. Similarly, each of these two choreographers were strongly influenced by Petipa, yet each paid tribute in decidedly different ways. I find this quality of her book tantalizing—it invites endless exploration of the interconnected web of dance history and the present day. As an audience member, to be conscious of references and allusions in choreography enriches my viewing experience. As a performer, knowledge of influences and stylistic traits enhances my ability to interpret style with more integrity, in turn allowing the audience to view work as the choreographer intended it.

At its heart, this book poses questions of relevance, reverence and preservation. To what extent must ballets evolve to stay relevant? To what extent must dancers adapt their own movement style to suit choreography? Ballet is a live art whose present is better understood and enjoyed by examining its past, and whose future is being shaped by past and present. Morris sums herself up best:

“To survive, past works need to respond to the changing world and this is particularly difficult in dance: both aesthetic values and dancers’ bodies alter and sources for reviving past works are limited…So how can movement, which was made during an earlier era and was embodied by dancers with very different training, be revived or even reconstructed, whilst keeping faith with the spirit of the work? …My suggestions will inevitably be challenged and contested but I hope they will add to that debate which centres on choreographic style and its survival.”

Useful links:

The Ballets of Frederick Ashton

“Celebrating Ashton”

A Month in the Country full version

A Month in the Country pas de deux

Step-by-step guide to dance: Frederick Ashton

Another discussion of Ashton’s Ballets on DanceTabs

Finis: Working Women at The Joyce Theater

February 28, 2013 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

The Joyce Theater’s Working Women performances were so cool, because I know all the talented women involved. I’ve worked with them all before at The Joyce or Gotham Arts or at Jacob’s Pillow. I have histories with them, and working at this dance performance was just like photographing my friends. It was wonderful to see some new work by these inspiring artists and also fun to be around them. What can be better than that?

It was particularly interesting seeing such a variety of work all in one evening. And it was great to see an entire program dedicated to work by female choreographers, since they have historically gone under-represented in the dance world. These women are fierce and their is work cutting edge.

For more photos from the Working Women series, check out my Facebook album from the shows.

Christopher Duggan bio — Christopher Duggan, Photo by Julia Newman

Contributor Christopher Duggan is the founder and principal photographer of Christopher Duggan Photography, a New York City-based wedding and dance photography studio. 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 has created studio shots of Gallim Dance, Skybetter + Associates and Zvidance, among others, and in 2011 alone, he has photographed WestFest at Cunningham Studios, Dance From the Heart for Dancers Responding to Aids, The Gotham Dance Festival at The Joyce Theater, and assisted Nel Shelby Productions in filming Vail International Dance Festival.

Duggan often teams up with his talented wife and Pillow videographer Nel Shelby (http://nelshelby.com). A New York City-based husband and wife dance documentation team, they are equipped to document performances, create and edit marketing videos and choreography reels, and much more.

Christopher Duggan Photography also covers Manhattan’s finest wedding venues, the Metropolitan and Tri-State areas, and frequently travels to destination weddings. The company’s mission is straightforward and heartfelt – create timeless, memorable images of brides, grooms, their families and friends, and capture special moments of shared love, laughter and joy.

His photographs appear in The New York Times, Destination I Do, Photo District News, Boston Globe, Financial Times, Dance Magazine, Munaluchi Bridal, and Bride & Bloom, among other esteemed publications and popular wedding blogs. One of his images of Bruce Springsteen was added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s celebrated photography collection in 2010. His company has been selected for inclusion in “The Listings” in New York Weddings magazine.

Using Video Dance To Develop Choreographic Skills

December 12, 2012 by 4dancers

by Janet Neidhardt

As a dance educator I am constantly working to find new ways of engaging my students to learn about dance and making dances. Video dance has become more popular with the growth of YouTube and the ever present flash mobs popping up all around the world. It seems everyone has the ability to capture a video on some device and even the technology to edit it has become more mainstream. I have recently heard choreographers say they might start making video dances simply because they think they will get more exposure on YouTube than they will with a performance on a stage.

Last school year I decided to try and teach my high school students how to make a video dance. Together we researched many video dances on YouTube and discussed the site specific use of the environment and the various camera positions and types of framing. With this simple basic information I sent my students off to create their video dances and when they came back I was very impressed with the clear form their videos had taken. I could see how their skills in choreography from class had transferred into the video camera choreography. Their choreographic eye used in the studio was transferred to the camera lens. I was amazed that with such little instruction my students created great works and thought if I was really able to teach them more solid video dance content how much better their projects could be.

I still felt that I needed to learn more about this growing art form of mediated dance in order to better educate my students in the future. As luck would have it I was able to attend the Bates Dance Festival in July 2012, and there I took Media and Performance with Rachel Boggia, Shawn Hove, and Peter Richards. I gained practical experience in making my own video dance as well as a wealth of knowledge from these educators on how to teach students about making compelling video dances.

This Fall I returned to school with a new group of students and assigned a more specific video dance project. I created a clear worksheet with specific “Framing”, “Camera Positions”, and “Camera Movements” vocabulary which we discussed a length while watching and critiquing various video dances online. Through discussion and analyzing the students were able to identify their aesthetic for video dance choreography with the camera lens. I then asked them to pick a location and create movement based on their location for their film shoot. I told them that the environment is another dancer in the work, movement must be in response to the space the dancing is in, use the space like a prop, go over, under, through, around, and above it. I also asked them to shoot for “continuity”, something I learned from the Bates Festival teachers. Shooting for continuity means that a movement is continued from shot to shot. It is important to shoot the same movement sequence several times from several angles to have a variety of choices. Students were more prepared this time around before they went out the film their dances. Because of this preparedness they went out to shoot their dances with more precision and ideas than the group from last year. They added music and edited their footage on their own then presented well thought out, impressive, video dance studies. They all had a clear beginning, middle, and end, and clear motifs.

Since then I have noticed that these students create more successful choreographic works in the studio. They have a sharper eye for details within movement they are performing and movement they are watching. I think that their experience with viewing movement through the camera lens changed how they see movement in a stage space. I plan to keep evolving this video dance project each year.

Some video dances we looked at in class are listed below-

Aroma 2006 by Doug Rosenberg:

Drive 2008 by Jane Osborne:

Horse:

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

Helen Pickett: Atlanta Ballet’s New Resident Choreographer

November 19, 2012 by 4dancers

Helen Pickett started dancing at the age of eight after her mother called in and won tickets to see Nutcracker in a contest on the radio. Now, she will be taking on the title of resident choreographer at Atlanta Ballet–a three-year commitment that includes new works and an annual workshop. In-between, her life has been quite a journey.

Helen performed with William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt for more than a decade and she has choreographed for companies such as Boston Ballet, Ballet X, Ballet West, Dance Theatre of Harlem and Smuin Ballet. These are just a few of the accomplishments she has garnered over the course of her career thus far.

4dancers.org asked Helen some questions via e-mail to learn more about her background and what her thoughts are in terms of signing on with Atlanta Ballet…

What is your background in dance?

At 14 started training with San Francisco Ballet School. At 19, I met William Forsythe while he was creating New Sleep for SFB. I flew to Frankfurt to see the company and take class. I started Ballett Frankfurt the next season. I moved to NYC in 1999 to start acting with the theater company, Wooster Group, director, Elizabeth LeCompte. Also in 1999, I started teaching at The Ailey School, under the direction of Denise Jefferson.

How did your dance career wind up evolving into choreography?

In 2005 I received a call from Mikko Nissinen, director at Boston Ballet, asking me if I would like to choreograph for the company. I said yes. The wind up was urgent. Meaning I knew I must say yes now. Prior to this call, I had choreographed solos for students at The Ailey School, Purchase College and Julliard. I need to be in a dance studio.

Did your time with William Forsythe have an impact on your choreographic style? Why or why not?

Bill sees/saw/will always see possibility in life. Tapping into one’s curiosity creates possibility. Forsythe and many others, inside and outside of dance, have influenced my lifestyle. The sum of our lives impacts all decisions we come to.

How would you describe your style and process? [Read more…]

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