contemporary dance

London Contemporary Dance School’s EDge

September 11, 2012 by Ashley David

by Jessica Wilson

EDge12 - Group performing Tony Adigun's Unleashed — EDge12 – Group performing Tony Adigun’s Unleashed

EDge, the postgraduate performance company of London Contemporary Dance School founded in 2000, completed its annual spring tour earlier this year, coming to a close on 12 July 2012. Under the direction of Artistic Director Jeanne Yasko, the company’s 12 exceptional dancers visited 21 venues nationally and internationally, travelling to places such as Denmark, Austria and Portugal, in addition to performing at their home, The Place’s Robin Howard Theatre in London.

The varied programme was populated by highly stimulating and thought-provoking contemporary dance pieces, choreographed by esteemed dance artists such as leading dance makers Matthias Sperling and James Wilton (winner of the Sadler’s Wells Global Dance Contest in 2010), choreographing Dances With Purpose and Through Shards respectively. In addition to these two new pieces, The Place and Dance Umbrella co-commissioned Rachel Lopez de La Nieta and Tony Adigun’s own version of Richard Alston’s iconic Wildlife (1983) reinterpreted with the choreographers’ own individual artistic voices; both pieces were first seen at The Place in Autumn 2011. Completing the programme, dancer and choreographer Delphine Gaborit restaged The Quartet, a powerful piece set to György Ligeti’s String Quartet Nr.1 by world famous German choreographer Sasha Waltz. Delphine, who has danced in Waltz’s company, was given permission to restage the iconic piece for EDge’s Spring tour, marking the first time a piece of repertoire by Waltz has been re-staged for a postgraduate performance company. [Read more…]

Neville Dance Theatre — Contemporary Ballet Infused With World Dance

May 29, 2012 by Ashley David

Today we have an interview with Brenda Neville from Neville Dance Theatre…

Copyrighted Leah Brizard Photography — Photo by: Leah Brizard

1. How did the idea for Neville Dance Theatre come about?

Over the course of my own professional dance career, I had the privilege of studying and performing a wide range of dance styles – from classical and contemporary ballet to musical theatre productions, Argentine Tango, Flamenco, Irish Step dance and many more. I started off in the Milwaukee Ballet School and went on to dance classical roles, modern works, musical theatre roles, and a variety of world/ethnic dances, performing internationally for over 10 years.

I quickly found, however, that when I would be with a company performing, say, world dance, I would begin to long for and miss elements of ballet, or the spectacle and narratives of theatre, and vice versa, etc. So, the longing for a company that could present and bring together all these different styles and elements in theatrical ways was secretly germinating in me for many years before I established Neville Dance Theatre. Eventually, in 2005, the company I was then performing with suddenly closed, and so I felt the time was right to start NDT. Since then, NDT has been creating and presenting a wide array of works drawing from a variety of dance styles in both traditional and innovative ways!

2. How would you describe the company to someone who has never seen them perform?

Theatrical, contemporary ballet with world dance infusions.

3. There is a definite cross-cultural aspect to the company—can you expand on why you decided to focus in on that?

By fostering an artistic exchange of styles, outlooks and attitudes, we gain a deeper appreciation for the similarities and differences of one another’s cultures, nationalities and expressions, as well as for the world in which we live and the beauty, value and significance of dance as a living art form. Who wouldn’t want that?

4. What do the dancers themselves bring to the company?

Copyrighted Dale Langdon photography — Photo by: Dale Langdon

Every dancer has their own unique story, background and especially nowadays, versatility. While all my dancers must have an exceptionally strong, ballet background, I am just as interested in what else they can bring to the company regarding other areas of specialty, whether it be Middle Eastern dance, hip-hop, flamenco or even Capoiera. And then it gets really interesting, cause as we all begin to learn from each other, a very real appreciation begins to take hold, not just for the varying styles of dance, but for each other individually as well as culturally, and THAT is really the heart of it all!

5. What is on the immediate horizon for Neville Dance Theatre?

Right now we are preparing for a ‘sneak preview’ performance & reception fundraiser of some of our newest works at the Manhattan Movement Arts Center in New York City on Saturday, June 2nd.

Copyrighted Rachael Neville photography — Photo by Rachael Neville

6. Where do you see the company five years from now?

Continuing to create and present works in the New York area and in theatres and festivals across the country and beyond!

Musings: Metamorphosis – Changing the Form

September 23, 2011 by Kimberly Peterson

by Kimberly Peterson

The act of change can be frightening at times. What will this change bring? Will it be accepted? Where will it lead? Is it the right decision?

But with art, change is a natural progression. Very few things remain unchanged and still retain cultural relevance. There is a struggle between holding to tradition and fighting for relevance that can be seen in such classical forms as Ballet – where the art strives to move beyond the classical structure, forms and story; but where companies still do a full production of Nutcracker every season…

However, this idea of metamorphosis – change, growth – is not solely a struggle between classical forms and modernity. Contemporary dance also struggles with the concept of what “dance” really is. Is it simply movement? All movement or just certain kinds? Pedestrian movement or stylized gestures?

For some, this line of question has begun to include the body and whether or not a body needs to be physically present to be considered dance. This concept is beautifully illustrated in the short film Thought of You utilizing The Weepies’ song “The World Spins Madly On”. Watch for yourself.

This award winning short film is the product of hours of animation, hand drawn by artist Ryan Woodward who spent countless hours during the creation process and rehearsals studying the movement, and the dancers themselves. Over 25,000 hand drawn images went into this stunning work which translates the qualities of movement as well as their physicality, into his creative vision which was influenced by the music.

For those, like me, who desperately needed to know how this came about, there is a making of video where Woodward delves into the process he took in creating this work as well as his artistic intentions.

The question of whether this is, in fact, dance is one I leave you with to discuss. I encourage you to leave comments with your answers, as well as your reasoning. It is/is not dance because _______ .

So what so you think – Dance or No?

Contributor Kimberly Peterson, a transplant to Minneapolis from the Dallas area, received her BA and MA from Texas Woman’s University’s prestigious dance program.

Drawing on her experience with producing dance works, Kimberly has served as lighting designer, stage manager, event coordinator, volunteer and an advisor in various roles. She has taught in various capacities and her choreography featured at ACDFA, TCC South Campus and Zenon Dance Studios. Her recent internships with Theater Space Project and the Minnesota Children’s Museum have served to expand her skills in arts administration and development.

Her graduate research explored the parallels between the independent music industry and current methods of dancer representation. Fascinated with how art is represented and presented in society, she continues to develop this research while delving further into this complicated subject through her dance writing.

No Audience Left Behind

August 17, 2011 by 4dancers

Recently 4dancers Contributor Lizzie Leopold said something that made me think….she talked about including program notes for the audience in effort to help them understand more about what was going on through the dance performance.

Brilliant. I wish more people would do this.

Back when I was growing up, ballet had this air of mystery surrounding it. It was almost as if the audience shouldn’t be allowed up close and personal. As if the magic would somehow be lost. I’m not the first person to point this out–but it was definitely a different atmosphere, and a very closed one. Still, it was set against a backdrop of story ballets, making it comfortable for the audience in terms of watching the dance performances and understanding the story.

These days, with Modern dance and other Contemporary dance performances, it is easy to leave the audience in the dark–but is it necessary–or even wise to do so? [Read more…]

10 Questions With…Arsene Hodali

January 13, 2010 by 4dancers

I love the Internet. Through the magic of Twitter I found a style of dance I never knew anything about. It’s called krumping. I watched some of the videos on YouTube and it got me really excited…you see, I could feel the emotion coming out of these dancers. It was the most moving thing I have seen in a long time, and I’m really happy to be able to share it with you here today by talking with Arsene Hodali in our next installment of the series, “10 Questions With…”

Can I have your name, location and age?

My name is Arsene Hodali, I live in Toronto, Ontario CA and I’m 19 years old.

Tell me a little bit about yourself and how you became involved with dance.

The easiest way to see what else I do is by visiting my blog at http://www.danceproof.com/. I became involved with dance when I was 16-17 years old. I went and signed up for a hip-hop class on a whim. I loved it. I got over my shyness though dance, I learned to be carefree through dance, and I learned how to laugh at myself though dance.

1. For those who don’t know what krumping is, can you describe it?

The best way I can describe krumping is “the hard-core rock version of hip-hop mixed with contemporary dancing”. It has the same roots as break dancing, as it did come from the streets, was used as an alternate to violence, and incorporates many of the same moves. It also has some roots in old-old school native american/african tribal dance.

2. How did you get into krumping?

I got into krumping, again by accident. When I turned 17 problems at home caused me to drop out of the hip-hop dance program due to me not being emotionally attached to all the “happiness”. I saw “RIZE” (a documentary on krumping and clowning) later on in the summer and was immediately captured by it’s message of dancing out your sorrow and anger.

I searched Youtube, saw some instructional videos, and learned from them for a while. But they didn’t really help. I then sought out some more experienced krumpers in my city, and eventually finding them, they agreed to teach me. We grew into NORTHBUCK Ent. (best krumpers in Canada) and the rest is history I suppose.

3. How is krumping different from other dance styles?

Krumping is different from other dance styles because it incorporates emotion and attitude into it as a necessasity. For example you could be an amazing “technique” krumper and do amazing things, such as b-boys do. But you would easily lose a battle against someone without these fancy moves if they show heart, emotion, anger, happiness, cockiness, etc. in their dancing. There’s even times when people don’t actually move and it’s amazing. The closest dance style I see it resembling are breakdancing, and contemporary.

4. How easy is it to learn krumping?

Krumping is easy to pick up, hard to perfect.

The basics are simple. Chest pumps, arm swings, arm jabs, travels, buck hops, army moves, etc. and can be taught in one day.

However, learning how to properly arm swing, arm jab, buck hop while timing to the music, telling a story, and entertaining the audience is extremely hard, complicated, and is an art in it’s self.

5. What has being involved in dance done for you?

Being involved with dance has opened me up as a human being. I’m more social, more carefree, and more understanding in life. One has to learn how to not really care what other people think in order to krump (one of the least understood dance styles).

Krumping has also given me a sense of family. I’ve never really been close to my family, and thus never really had a sense of family in my life. But, through krumping I became closer to the people i krumped with. We became family. When I say NORTHBUCK is my family. I literary mean, they are my family. I would fight for any of them, any time.

6. I understand you are going to be involved in an instructional DVD project. Can you tell readers a bit about that?

The DVD is one of those things we want to make and don’t want to make. We want to make it because so many people asked us to make one so we can teach them from afar (we can’t personally teach people in Italy, Russia, Argentina, etc.). But, we also know that the founder of krumping (Tight Eyez) has instructional DVDs out that teach people these basics. They are classics and a staple in a die-hard krumpers library of DVDs.

We are in the process of making a instructional DVD not to replace the DVDs the founder made, but as an add-on. The DVDs were made over 6-8 years ago, and A LOT of things have changed in krump since then. New basics have been added, new moves, etc. And we want to cover these new areas.

7. How often do you dance?

I, and a lot of krumpers, dance everyday.

When I hear a new krump song, you’ll usually find me engrossed in krumping for the next 2-8 hours after. It’s that addicting. Krumping, as we see it, is not just a dance, it’s a lifestyle.

What ballerina can tell you that when they lost their mom, they danced out their emotion? What jazz dancer can say that? I literally krump anywhere that music exists, if I hear it, I krump…. it’s addicting.

8. Can you describe how you feel when you are dancing?

When I krump I am at my happiest. It’s a feeling of opening up my heart to the world, whether angry, happy, or sad.

btw- Krumping is also used for praising God. It’s actually a key part of it that I forgot to mention. In fact Krump is actually spelled K.R.U.M.P. and stands for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise. It was started as a way to praise God (on top of the release anger, and stop violence aspects of it).

9. What type of music is used for krumping?

You can krump to anything with “soul”. But if I had to put it into a category I would say you can find yourself mostly krumping to jazz, hip-hop, rap, funk, soul, etc. Rap being the dominant one.

10. Do you have any other experience with dance besides krumping, or was it your first exposure?

As I said I used to hip-hop dance for a while before krumping.

And speaking of www.NORTHBUCK.com, you should check out our videos there. There are videos on our performances, battles, sessions, etc.

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