making dances – Page 4

Choreography & Creative Movement For Kids

February 17, 2014 by 4dancers

by Maria Hanley

I wholeheartedly believe in creative movement for young children. It’s about educating the whole child, giving them the power of choice, boosting confidence–I could go on and on. I teach children 6 and under and this is what I love to do. Do they need to know the positions, sure! Do they need to know how to build a dance, yes! Give them variety, and you will produce well rounded little people!

A few years ago, I wanted to challenge myself to put on a performance for my young students–but not in the traditional way. I was confused in my beliefs that teaching 3 year olds to stand in a line and follow my movement was not what I wanted to do in my class. But after a while, I could see the value in learning a song, and repeating choreography week after week and then performing it on stage for everyone to see.

So I created a way to do both, choreography and creative movement in the same dance. Standing in a line, plus having the freedom to move around the stage. Here are some tips that I have learned over the years that help me put on a show for the 6 and under crowd! [Read more…]

Winifred Haun – Creating Something Out Of Nothing

February 10, 2014 by 4dancers

Next in line for our series on choreographers is Winifred Haun–a Chicago-area dance maker who has been around a long time…

How did you wind up as a choreographer?

I started choreographing when I was about 7 years old. My 3 year old sister and I made up dances to my parents Beatles albums. Since I was the older one, I mostly told my sister what to do (in the dance and in life) and we made up a series of what we thought were cool moves and called it a dance. Once we had enough dances, we would put on “shows” for family and friends. A lot of people do this type of thing when they’re young, but most grow out of it. I guess I never did.

What do you love about choreographing dances?

Choreographers really create something out of nothing. We use the bare minimum of resources; we really only need a body and space to generate art. For me, this is one of the things that makes dance so universal and so accessible. And there are many things that I love about choreographing. I love finding out what’s possible with movement or movement phrases. I love seeing what happens to a whole dance when you make small changes to parts of it. I love being in the studio with dancers. I love learning more about my dancers through the process of making dances with them. I love working with lighting and costume designers. And I love sitting in the audience watching a dance that started out as nothing and has become meaningful to others.

What is your process like for creating a dance?

The inspiration for my dances come from many places: books, visual art, architecture, random movements people make, current events and sometimes music. My process usually starts when an idea, an image, or a movement resonates with me. I’ll get a rush or a feeling that there’s something needs to be expressed. (and this might sound odd, but it always feels to me like the idea comes from outside of me…) The image or idea or movement will swirl around in my head for a while (sometimes for six months or so, one time it was about 3 years). I’ll start some basic research into the idea or create some movement phrases and if the idea keeps presenting itself to me or won’t leave me alone, then I know I have to create a dance.

After that, it becomes about finding the right dancers to work with and developing my ideas in the studio.

How involved do you get the dancers? Do you let them participate in the process or do you prefer to teach the dance and have them perform it? Or somewhere in-between?

Somewhere in between. When I was younger, I used to walk into the first rehearsal for a new dance with the music completely mapped out and all of my ideas in place for how the dance was going to be made and how it would look in the end. Nothing is more terrifying than standing in a studio with one or more dancers looking at you expectantly. So, I felt I had to be choreographically “ready.”

As I matured, I found that some of the best ideas came from the dancers or from things that couldn’t be found or developed outside the studio. (Improvisations in the studio can be extremely productive.) Now when I begin rehearsals, I have a few plans and ideas and 1 or 2 movement phrases but, I let the process unfold more intuitively. The dancers I work with are intelligent, creative, and talented individuals who contribute enormously to the process of making a new dance. I love who my dancers are as people and I love to let their humanity and their individuality show.

How do you select the music you will use?

I like a huge range of different music styles and artists. And I enjoy putting seemingly disparate music choices into one sound design. I also like working with composers and commissioning original sound designs for my dances. (I’d do it all the time, if I could afford it!)

As I mentioned above, when I first began choreographing, the music always came first. The music was my frame and often my inspiration for a dance. In my 20’s, I began to see the work of many different choreographers, and I read essays and books by choreographers like Merce Cunningham, William Forsythe and others. Their intellectual ideas for how to make a dance intrigued and inspired me and I began to realize how limiting it can be to let the music decide how long your dance will be, when breaks in the movement should come, etc.

Now, when I make a work, I begin with the theme or idea or movement and I develop movement phrases, then I’ll structure it, and frame it and then finally I’ll look for music (or a composer) that will express the dance, rather than the other way around.

What would you say the biggest challenge is in choreography?

You mean besides having enough money and time?

The biggest challenge for me is to not rush through the process of creating a dance. I could probably create enough movement for an entire 50 minute dance in about a week. But, to make something that’s significant and worth people’s time and money, its important for me to really fully explore my movement choices and themes and ideas. And its impossible for me to do that honestly in only a week.

What have you been working on lately?

I just finished Vision, Faith, & Desire II: Dancemakers Inspired by Martha Graham, February 6 thru 8 at the Pritzker Pavilion (on the stage, indoors). Audiences got the chance to see artists who’ve been influenced the choreography and technique developed by the 20th century’s most iconic dancemaker. It included an excerpt from my first full length dance, Promise, which has a cast of 18 (9 professional dancers and 9 community dancers of all ages). The opening of the dance includes a series of walks, inspired by Graham walks and the idea of 19th century community.

If you missed it–Vision, Faith, & Desire III: Dancemakers Inspired by Martha Graham will be shown again in Oak Park, IL on Saturday, April 12 at 7:30pm and Sunday, April 13 at 4:30pm.

Choreographer Brock Clawson – In The “Right Place”

February 5, 2014 by 4dancers

Choreographer Brock Clawson

Brock Clawson is an interesting mix–both a choreographer and a landscape designer. His work with dancers can be seen in the Joffrey’s upcoming Contemporary Choreographers series, running February 12th-February 23 at Chicago’s Auditorium Theater. We asked Brock some questions about his process and his current work, which we’re pleased to share with you today…

What is your background in dance?

I started my dance training when I was about 12. I am trained in ballet, modern, and jazz. I moved to Chicago immediately after graduating high school and continued studying dance at Columbia College Chicago as well as taking classes with various studios like Lou Conte, Ruth Page and through the scholarship program at Giordano Dance Chicago.

How did you wind up choreographing?

I was dancing with Thodos Dance Chicago and began choreographing through their New Dances program which provides company members with a budget and gives them the opportunity to create their own works on professional dancers. It really made sense to me and I saw a level of dedication and passion in myself that had been lacking in performing. The company recognized my talents and began providing me with regular choreography opportunities as well as a promotion in the company to become their Artistic Associate. It all sort of snow balled from there and bigger and better jobs started coming my way.

What is your process like when you make a dance?

When I am working on a new creation, I generally come up with a concept first, and then start the difficult task of finding music that I want to create to. That generally leads to me moving around a lot at home (in my kitchen) to come up with some thematic movement that I can take to the dancers. I tend to draw out a lot of patterns and have partnering ideas and movement phrases all put together before I even start working with the dancers. I like to be as prepared as possible in order to keep things interesting and moving once I am in rehearsal.

Joffrey is performing one of your pieces, Crossing Ashland, as part of their Contemporary Choreographers series this month. Can you describe how the idea for this piece came about?

This isn’t a short and easy answer, but I will do my best. It’s more of a series of events that lead into the idea.

I recently finished a 3 year program at the Regenstein School of the Chicago Botanic Gardens studying Landscape Design and horticulture. I wanted to study another form of design that would further my choreography. In horticulture school there is a common phrase that you hear all the time, “Right Plant, Right Place” – which basically means that a plant can survive in it’s non ideal environment but it will never really be at its best unless it is given the proper elements it requires to help it truly thrive.

I started to relate it to humans and began thinking about how many of us go through our lives in either the wrong relationship, job, location, etc., and what happens if we actually challenge ourselves to find our “right place”.

My partner and I live in a neighborhood that is split by Ashland Avenue. While walking our dogs we would often say to one another, “Do you want to cross Ashland?” Most of the time we would choose not to, but every once in a while, when we were up for something different and feeling like going somewhere new and unfamiliar we would cross. It sort of became a metaphor for change.

Crossing Ashland, photo by Christopher Duggan — Crossing Ashland, Ricardo Santos and Lucas Segovia, photo by Christopher Duggan,

How did you select the music for Crossing Ashland?

I listened to so much music that I thought I was going to go crazy. I knew that I wanted to be able to have multiple pieces of music that would help the piece move but they all needed to fit together in order to create a through line for the work. It’s not easy to do if you aren’t going with classical music which I knew I didn’t want to do.

What is a typical day like when you are working on teaching the choreography to the dancers?

I tend to work pretty quickly because I always have this terrifying fear that I am going to not finish something. It has never actually happened but I always want to make sure that I have more time at the end of a process than at the beginning.

Generally the first week is just teaching the dancers the movement and working on the style. It’s different than what a lot of them are used to but because they are such gifted athletes and dancers they have been welcoming the challenge and doing a fantastic job adapting. What’s the day really like? Move, move, move! Go, go, go!

It barely stops until you go home.

How long will it take to set Crossing Ashland on the company from start to finish?

Well, that’s the magic question.

I am only one week into the process and I have 2 more to go. I am hoping that It will be completely finished at the end of week two so that my final week can be all about really digging in to the cleaning and the style and talking about the emotion behind the piece. I love coaching dancers through the emotional ride that works should carry from section to section. That’s where it gets really fun for me.

What do you enjoy most about the process of making dances?

I love being in a room with talented people that share the same passion. I love relaying my vision to the dancers and feeding off of the energies of the dancers in the room that are really clicking with me and that are on board with what I am doing.

The creative process is always full of ups and downs for me…that’s just how it has always been. I have my great days and I have my days where I wonder why I am even doing this…but it is always incredibly rewarding in the end. Nothing else in life challenges me to grow as much as choreography has.

Do you have any advice for aspiring choreographers?

This is always a difficult question for me to answer, but ultimately I would say…make yourself vulnerable, and never lose sight of the fact that you are creating for a paying audience.

What is coming up next for you?

Hawaii to relax for two weeks after the Joffrey ends. My favorite place on earth. After that…more choreography and landscape design jobs.

5 Choreography Resolutions For The New Year

February 3, 2014 by 4dancers

by Lucy Vurusic-Riner

Over the past 15 years, I have choreographed over 30 high school dances. Everything ranging from the 3 minute, pas de bourree heavy jazz dance to the Basement Jaxx (most of us high school teachers have been there) to the epic (meaning long) 10-minute modern piece about feminism. How do we keep it fresh?

So I have compiled some thoughts on what has helped me keep things fresh as I embark on making dance 37 this month.

Resolution #1:

Find a classic. This is my own advice that I have never taken. I have never re-staged the same dance twice.

I’m not saying that this is smart. After all, if you really feel you have made a “classic” than allow it to grow into that! But as each new school year starts, and I begin to think about what I could possibly try to come up with next, I still can’t bring myself to recycle dances. It’s not that I don’t think it’s a great idea. It’s more that I just don’t have the memory to recall old work. I hate trying to remember movement from video and although I’m sure I have students that can video learn circles around me I hate to ask them to do that. I really enjoy the process of teaching them a dance and seeing what they bring to it. Sometimes we lose that bit of magic when they have to learn someone else’s part. Nevertheless, we all have that one dance that we look back on and say, “Dang, that was a high school masterpiece.” So one of this year’s choreography resolutions is that I will go back and dig through the good stuff!

Resolution #2:

Allow my students to shape the work more! It’s no secret to my students (and husband) that I am a control freak. I’m always amazed when I’m in a process where the choreographer gives the dancers a large amount of artistic freedom. I teeter back and forth on this point. If I give them too much material to make on their own they’ll think I’m lazy or don’t know what I’m doing; but if I don’t give them any artistic license they don’t feel any ownership over the final product….plus, I get crazy trying to do everything myself.

The latter is what generally happens to me. I just can’t let go of what I want to see and how I want to see it. The problem with this is that I sometimes end up not satisfied because the end product doesn’t look like I thought it would. So this year my students will get to put themselves into my work in some way (let’s hope it’s not in the form of a toe touch to the splits)!

Resolution #3: [Read more…]

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.

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