michael estanich

Language And Motion: An Elegant Relationship

February 26, 2015 by 4dancers

re|dance — RE|Dance Group, photo by Cole Witter

by Michael Estanich

As a dance artist I strive to build connections—between viewer and dancer, between music and action, between image and feeling. For me, moving is the purest way to do that, though its purity needn’t be exclusive. At RE|Dance Group, I develop work that explores the limitless range of human feeling. In order to accomplish this, I stack a variety of images atop each other in the hopes of crafting a multi-sensational experience for the audience. Because all of my senses so beautifully intertwine allowing me to feel deeply and experience life, I welcome all sensorial images into my work. I rely on the audience’s willingness to dispel tradition and embrace curiosity.

Text and visual design collide with movement in all of RE|Dance Group’s work. I create fully realized worlds where every action, sound, and visual carries important information in understanding the whole. I find that these multiple entry points invite the viewer to lean forward and feel.

I enjoy memories and remembering. There is visceral pleasure in retelling something from the past. To me, words and action are undeniably linked. I enjoy how memories translate in my body—through action and in words. I enjoy the process of connecting what I hear to what I see. It is remarkable how willingly the mind catches on and constructs truth and understanding when we engage with all of our senses.

There is comfort in language. We rely on it to let others know how we feel and what we need. To use language to share a part of myself seems so natural. To juxtapose language with motion excites me. Both together enrich the possibility to understand and to feel. This notion is important to me. I want the audience to know that we are complex, that we are moving, hearing, speaking, smelling, tasting, feeling beings and that they can recognize a part of themselves in a singular, special moment inside my work.

With that goal in my mind, I use whatever medium most potently communicates the idea—be it a sly, organic dancing trio, a cacophony of sound, a massive large-scale visual sculpture, or a simple connection through language. Each on their own is powerful art, but combined they produce a complex aural and visual landscape where, as an artist, I get lost in the beauty of my imagination.

See RE|Dance Group perform “It’s About Love Again This Year” at Links Hall, March 6-8 2015. Learn more about the company on the website.

Michael Estanich (Artistic Director, RE|Dance Group) is an Associate Professor of Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He teaches modern dance, composition, dance pedagogy, movement analysis and dance history. He earned his MFA from The Ohio State University and his BFA from Denison University. His creative research currently examines ideas of space, architecture, landscape and habitation often resulting in dances supported by sculptural environments. He and Lucy formed RE|Dance Group in 2009 as a means to explore long distance collaboration. Michael’s performance credits include Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak, Cerulean Dance Theatre, Rebecca Rosen, Melanie Bales, Bebe Miller and a reconstruction of Mark Morris’ acclaimed choreography All Fours. He teaches annually at the Trollwood Performing Arts School in Moorhead, MN and at the American College Dance Association (ACDA). He is the North Central Regional Director of ACDA.

Absence Makes The Dance Grow Stronger

July 28, 2014 by 4dancers

by Catherine L. Tully

Photo by William Frederking. — Michael Estanich and Lucy Vurusic-Riner

Mutual respect.

These are two words that form the cornerstone of any healthy long-term relationship—personal or professional. Even so, it’s often hard to check the ‘ol ego at the door for the greater good of the partnership. But take two people from the dance world that have known each other for 16 years, give them a shared vision and complementary skill sets…and wonderful things can happen.

It’s immediately obvious that there’s a deep rapport between Lucy Vurusic-Riner and Michael Estanich, and it is in every sense the foundation that their dance company is built upon. RE|Dance is a collaborative effort between these two long-time friends, and their respective titles provide all the information needed to dig a little deeper and see why they work so well together.

Vurusic-Riner is the Executive Director and handles the majority of the business aspects of RE|Dance. Estanich runs point on the creative arena as the Artistic Director. He choreographs and selects costumes. She writes grants and markets the performances.

Estanich lives in Wisconsin and teaches at University of Wisconsin/Stevens Point. Vurusic-Riner resides in Chicago and is a high school dance program instructor. They do the majority of the work for the company separately, coming together only for short spurts of time where they work together intensely, then return to their respective towns.

This makes for a challenging situation, but the two have learned to embrace it, and even thrive on it. Estanich explains saying, “Our time apart provides privacy to consider the ideas, movements, research etc., on our own (this includes the dancers too). When we are together it is RE|Dance Group nearly 24 hours a day. We are constantly together and with the company and feel a bit of pressure to generate a lot of material during those intensive rehearsals. The time apart gives me the chance to consider what the company and I have generated and see how it influences the direction of a project.”

Daily communication is important to this process, and Estanich believes this enriches the creative ideas that have been generated. “It is rare to have the opportunity to discuss the choreographic ideas so deeply before moving again,” he says, adding, “I think this builds indelible trust in each other, personally, creatively, administratively, and inspirationally.”

So how do the two artists make this arrangement work while teaching full time? They multi-task. Most projects begin with Estanich working with his students to create an initial jumping off point. Vurusic-Riner says, “We then take what they have put together, which is typically a smaller version of the piece, and we expand it to become an evening-length work.”

In the past this has meant learning from video, but for their upcoming project, The Long and Forgotten Winter, the pair used a different approach. “This is an idea that Michael developed for the company specifically and we have had full investment and ownership in it since day one,” says Vurusic-Riner, who took a more direct role in the movement development this time around.

The most interesting area of crossover is the company’s rehearsal time, directed, surprisingly, by Vurusic-Riner. Since home base is Chicago, she is responsible for keeping Estanich’s vision alive in the dancers and putting them through their paces. This creates unique challenges in its execution, but again, the respect for one another provides a through-line. “We trust each other to do what’s best for the company,” says Vurusic-Riner, adding, “We don’t always like the same things and our movement preferences are not always the same, but we do have the same vision when it comes to our artistic philosophy.”

Vurusic-Riner knows Estanich’s style so well that she is often able to “guesstimate” a movement pattern or linking step if it isn’t clear. But even so, the dancers must remain flexible in terms of learning the choreography as it can change in a moment once Estanich appears back on the scene.

RE|Dance has enjoyed steady growth throughout the five years it has been in existence, but The Long And Forgotten Winter is more than just another choreographic vision coming to life. It also represents how dedication, mutual respect and love for one’s art can triumph over distance and time. It may not be the easiest way to work, but for these two artists, it is the only way they can do what they love with the other person at their side.

Even if it’s only some of the time.

_______________________________

The Long And Forgotten Winter will be at the Ruth Page Center for the Performing Arts August 1st and 2nd at 7:30 pm and August 3rd at 3 pm. Tickets are $20.

Read more about this production on Art Intercepts.

*Lucy Vurusic-Riner is a contributing writer to 4dancers.org.

Feeling Generous? A Giving Opportunity for You!

June 11, 2010 by 4dancers

RE|Dance is an artistic partnership between Lucy Riner, one of 4dancers contributing writers, and Michael Estanich. They are looking to expand their efforts, and I’m hoping that readers here will either pitch in–or help spread the word. If you can’t afford to donate, please consider re-posting this on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else that it might get a little exposure–and thanks!

You might have read a bit about us in my last blog, “You Gotta Get A Gimmick” and our long distance collaboration efforts. Michael and I just completed our first west coast performance where we teamed up with Robin Anderson to perform The Mysterious Disappearance of the Second Youngest Sister. Our houses were full and the feedback was great! So what’s the next logical step? Keep dancing!

RE|Dance is ready to present it’s newest work, The Lonely Visitors at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Our cast has tripled with 7 dancers and a stage manager! In The Lonely Visitors, dancers share stories—with the voice and body. Non-linear in nature, the stories take shape using the dancers in simple, honest, and profound ways to lead the audience on a journey through the imagination. The messy landscape of the heart is reflected in the environment created by 7 chairs that are constantly being rearranged by the dancers. Shifting focus and defining space, the chairs aid in revealing vulnerable images and fragile relationships. The chairs can be perceived as ‘home’—a place to return, to rest, to give in before the dancers embark on a new tenuous experience.

So where is this giving opportunity I’m speaking of? RE|Dance has launched a fund raising campaign that will get us all to Minneapolis on August 5^th! In return, our donors have a series of rewards they can receive related to their giving amount. You could donate as little as $10 and get a lovely love note on personalized stationary or you could donate as much as $250 and receive free tickets to a show and our short documentary film of the road trip. The support of dance audiences and lovers of the arts is necessary for us to get through our growing pains!!! For more information on how to contribute to RE|Dance, go to this page. Any support you could offer would be much appreciated!

We hope to see some of you in Minneapolis August 6-10. Find more info about RE|Dance on the Minnesota Fringe Festival website as well as on our Facebook page.

Thanks for reading!!!

Lucy Riner

The “R” in RE|Dance

You Gotta Get A Gimmick

May 20, 2010 by 4dancers

by Lucy Vurisic Riner

In the United States today, it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to keep dance companies, especially contemporary modern dance companies, afloat. I started my dance career in grass roots companies that couldn’t promise me a set amount of cash for my performances, let alone rehearsals. It never bothered me, I did it for the experience and the networking. Eventually, I found myself working for a mid-level company in Chicago that could pay me for some rehearsals, always paid me for shows and even gave us per diem when we toured. I think I can safely say that I have run the gamut when it comes to the types of performances I have done and the money it has (or has not) gotten me.

When my good friend Michael asked me about starting our own company (or artistic partnership as we like to call it) I was excited but anxious about where this could lead. We had both served on boards for other dance companies, had both planned our fair share of fundraisers and produced more than just a spattering of our own shows. It seemed that this be the natural step. But how were we going to make this company different? How were we going to set a foundation that had the potential to prosper? In the words of one of the cheesiest musicals ever, “You Got A Get A Gimmick.”

And so RE|Dance was formed (that is Riner/Estanich Dance in long hand for the curious) in 2009. We are still a fledgling company that is working on it’s not for profit status and considering what our board of directors might look like, but we do know one thing for sure: We are creative partners dedicated to the presentation of dance theatre works that explore personal, intimate human relationships through long distance collaboration. Yup. That’s our claim to hopeful fame. Michael is a professor of dance at the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point. I am the dance program director of Oak Park and River Forest High School in Illinois and the dancers that we have working for us now live in Chicago, San Francisco, Madison and the Twin Cities. We come together for intensive rehearsal processes that last about a week or two and then we all go back to our home bases and reflect on that process. This same cycle occurs several times within the creation phase of a work until it’s time to be performed.

It’s definitely an unconventional way of working but it has its merits. No, we do not see each other on a regular basis for class and rehearsals, so we have to really stay connected via video, internet, and phone to talk about the work, ask questions and plan. We have found that working in this manner has opened pathways to making dances that have developed characters and rich emotional content. We spend anywhere from 40 to 50 hours immersed in the learning of movement phrases, partnering and identifying the themes and motifs that are part of the work and then we are able to step away from each other, sometimes for a few weeks or months only to come back with a deeper understanding of what we were creating. We have found that our process works much in the same way as a writer’s might; to step away from his or her work and come back to it later to reread and reevaluate the words on the page.

Yes, there are challenges in determining when everyone is available for our intensives and yes we have to be committed to staying in contact with each other in our times apart to discuss video footage, journaling and any other production aspects that might come up for the work. But long distance collaboration also has many benefits, especially for our fledgling company, in that it is generally more cost effective (no, we still aren’t at a place to pay for rehearsal time) because our time is so condensed. Dancers do not have the same time commitments as other companies might ask of them. When we do come together, it can feel very much like a travel adventure for the dancers in the group that are coming to a city they are not yet familiar with. At these early stages of our development we can pay our dancers for their performances and offer them other perks of the job (free lodging, food, and other amenities) when we are together. But the idea is that in collaborating across state lines, we build an audience base that is not dependent on any one city we visit, but that builds upon itself with each city we perform in. Where most companies work towards building a budget that allows them to tour, we are dependent on our touring to build a budget.

Michael and I knew we could work successfully with each other based on our history, so making dances while he was in Stevens Point and I was in Chicago did not feel very risky. We also realized that through both of our combined dance experiences, we had dance friends in about 12 different states. Creating a company that could collaborate and share shows with some of our cross country connections has made for more performance opportunities as well as allowing us to curb our production costs when we can share a show. We get to bring our art to other places in the US and those cities are exposed to what contemporary modern dance looks like in other parts of the country. So far, it’s been a win/win for all.

So that is how RE|Dance has become another chapter in my life. Is our long distance collaboration gimmick a ground-breaking idea? Hardly. But it has provided RE|Dance with a successful first year as a tiny dance company trying to make it’s mark. It all starts with an idea…..

If you are interested in knowing (and seeing) RE|Dance when we come to a theater near you, here is our summer touring schedule and become our fan on Facebook as well!

June 4, 5 and 6 in San Francisco at the Dance Mission Theater

August 6-10 in Minneapolis as part of the Fringe Festival (Southern Theater)

Sept. 3-5 in Chicago as part of the Fringe Festival (theater TBA)

And later this fall in Madison and Stevens Point Wisconsin

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