Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance

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We are so excited to have Crease screened at Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance at the Miller Outdoor Theater in Hermann Park on September 24-25, 8pm. Come see us on the big screen. BIG screen. This event is run by Dance Source Houston, and they have set up profiles for each company presenting work in the show. Here’s ours.

Frame’s Profile for WTCD

It’s a fantastic event, it’s free, and the weather should be really wonderful.  Bring a picnic, see some dance, and watch Frame on the  big screen!

Drop Cloth search: Success…I think

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You may have noticed that I’ve been writing about using a drop cloth for one of the sections of Points and Coordinates (the CAMH piece), but I’ve been playing around with butcher paper. Very different. I wanted something a bit more substantial than butcher paper. The only challenge I’m facing now is how to make it taut while we’re moving on it. I have a couple of thoughts: create a frame (wood, maybe) like stretching it over a canvas, or create the piece so that at least two sides are anchored by people while one dancer is moving in the center of it…Your thoughts are GREATLY accepted. This is what I’ve found.
I may end up getting a larger size, but that will depend on the space at the CAM. I’m not sure yet where work will be installed in the museum and how the space will be divided. I love that it’s washable, that we can use it in rehearsals and wash it clean for the next. But I may not want to…I’m also considering just layering more graphite on it with each rehearsal.

One thing hasn’t changed, my cat is still a connoisseur of art.

Score 1 without coordinates–to be modified, and how I learned to spell, “occurrence”

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Section 1:
Dancer 1: perimeter, avoid, attract, ignore
Dancer 2: center, avoid, attract, ignore
Dancer 3: center, avoid, attract, ignore

Section 2:
Occurrence 1 with phrase 1
walking/locomotion
gesture in clump space
occurrence 2 with phrase 2
weight shifting
locomotion and change of coordinates
individual manipulation of phrase 1 and 2
occurrence 3 with phrase 2
clump in 4th with sequential body circles
occurrence 2 with a section of phrase 1
occurrence 1 with a section of phrase 2
occurrence 3 with a section of phrase 1
phrase 1 with crescendo in deliberation

In each “occurrence” each dancer has a predetermined role (quality, dynamic, variation on the theme) and relationship to the group

So now after I’ve typed this (it’s been hand-written until now) I realize how lofty the word “occurrence” appears. I just couldn’t use “incident”–far too haphazard for my admittance. I’ve designed this score to take from and eliminate from. It’s a rough, rough draft of flow. And I won’t know how far off or how close to the mark I am with this until we’ve been in the studio as a group. A few weeks ago I wrote about how the environment will be completely unpredictable because the “performance space” is also the “audience space.” So what I’m doing here is creating a score of relationships to each other in space to then manipulate the phrases in the moment, allowing for the space to inform our choices. Because we will be rehearsing for 6 weeks, we will be able to become comfortable with the phrases, take liberties as we improvise within the relational directives, so that we can explore the directives enough to create something completely new each time, including at the CAM. It’s called Points and Coordinates.

Frame Promo!

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Frame’s promotional video below includes work created by Director Lydia Hance. The works includes Dancing Diana, performed at the Frenetic Fringe Festival in Houston, TX; At First, Delights, a dance-for-camera work shot in Galveston, TX; This Skin, These Bones performed at Roanoke Ballet Theater, Virginia and premiered at the Alvin Ailey School in New York City; and Crease, the latest dance-for-camera work shot in Houston, TX.

Unfortunately, your browser does not support this video. Please visit <a href=”https://www.framedance.org” mce_href=”https://www.framedance.org”>www.framedance.org</a> to view our promo video.

butterflies are starting to flutter

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And we have a little more than a week until we begin the quick and intense rehearsals for the CAM piece, now named Points and Coordinates.  I’m going back over my notes from the residency–I had left them alone since returning to Houston.  Needed to find some space.  But I’m looking over them, starting to craft a score, and getting oh-so-excited to get this movement into the dancers’ bodies and start putting it together.

The music is done–I think.  The sound score is about 14 minutes long.  Still to do: find an appropriate drop cloth for the floor work with graphite, create the film (but that can’t be done until we’ve been rehearsing), costumes–including finding the best shoes to wear–I’m leaning towards tennis shoes, purchase some more graphite…okay this is getting a little overwhelming.  I think I’ll take it a little at a time.

On a completely separate note, I recently had a birthday.  Perhaps that can explain the hiatus from blogging…I had to have some major reflection and soothing of the “what am I doing with my life” and “what have I accomplished this year” questions ringing my birthday in and out.  All that to say, I have a new iPod and I love it.  I’ve been organizing my music, making sure they all have titles, artists and album names before I start teaching like a mad woman this fall. Now I have my eye on this little beauty:

Here’s a math problem for you:  How many dance classes does it take to pay for one of these?  A girl can dream!

Schedule!!

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I now have a rehearsal schedule for the new CAM piece.  Now I need to find some drop cloths.  Big ones.  And buy some more graphite.

Do you know Busby Berkeley?  He was a filmmaker and musical choreographer in Hollywood who first accomplished filming from a pure bird’s eye point of view.  He used large casts of showgirls and created stunning geometric kaleidoscope shapes and images.  I’m not going the showgirl direction, but I like the viewpoint.  We don’t think about it, but it’s very hard to get that camera viewpoint without obstruction.  That is what I’m trying to do for the film component of this piece.  It may need to morph into something else, but that’s my vision.

SpeakEasy

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Hi Friends!

Just wanted to tell you that there will be a change of plans.  I will not be speaking at the July 21st Spacetaker SPEAKEasy.  I will most likely be presenting on August 18, but will make sure to verify and report back to you.

Guess I have a little more time to prepare and won’t have to be working on it on my birthday.  Yikes, I can’t believe I will turn a new age in one week from today.  I’m sure I’ll have more on that later…

Ciao!

Making a promo

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So I have hundreds of hours of footage just in the past year’s worth of dance filming.  And now I’m paring it down to 3 minutes.  Difficult.  And I keep wondering if 3 minutes is too long for a promo video.  Weekend of Contemporary Dance will be posting pages for the companies that will be presenting and have asked for a promo, no longer than 3 minutes.  I have it down to 3 minutes and I need to keep stepping away and coming back to trim, trim, trim, and cut, cut, cut.  It’s hard because I feel so connected to each clip, and love them all (now that it’s down to the beloved 3 minutes worth), so I need to separate myself every so often and come back with a fresher perspective.  I wish I could whip it out faster, but I think I need to take some more time on it.