February 10, 2011 you have a very important date with us.

Every Thursday, Spacetaker and Boheme host a different local arts group. At this special happy hour, get up close and personal with Frame Dance Productions. Even better, a portion of the proceeds from the event benefits the company. Join us at Boheme located at 301 Fairview in Houston from 5-10 p.m. on Feb. 10.  And that’s not all….

Several lucky attendees/drinkers will win free tickets to the premiere of Satin Stitch, our next dance-for-camera work screened at Spacetaker on March 12, 2011.

A gesture phrase in 7, a boot dance, a hand dance, pull, lean, lift.  Cheek to cheek, confined becomes ecstatic and some solo time. I took mental note today during rehearsal about how I communicate or rather, don’t communicate, what I’m thinking.  I spend so much time in preparation for film rehearsal and I have to see big  picture before working out details that I spend a lot of time thinking and imagining without communicating.  So the first time I ever put my directions into words–other than some conceptual journaling– is when I’m communicating directives to the dancers.  Hmmmm.  Maybe I need to rehearse the rehearsal.

They did great.  Really great.  Can’t wait to shoot and edit.  I think I was just noticing something about myself: I don’t imagine in words.  I imagine in pictures and moods and colors.  So it makes sense that I am a filmmaker and not a writer, I suppose.   Back to today.  Today we rehearsed for the upcoming film….drum roll please…Satin Stitch.  I did it, I named it.  And I’m happy with it.  Since artists are inevitably asked to describe their work as well as explain their titles, I’ll just wait until forced–eh–asked to explain it.  Maybe I will…and maybe I won’t… Nah, I’d like to have something substantial to serve as the descriptive undercurrent of the piece and the title. You’ll get the thoughts along the way, I promise.  But for the nutshell, two sentence synopsis, it’ll be March 12.  Have I mentioned Satin Stitch is premiering March 12? 😉

Tomorrow is officially our first rehearsal as part of the Hope Werks residency.  This rehearsal is devoted solely to the film we are shooting later this month.  I’m working on titles…I think I’ve decided on one but need to sleep on it one more night before I declare it in front of the world.  This one was a challenge.  With Crease, the title actually came first.  Points and Coordinates came early in the creative process.  But I don’t have the luxury of a lot of time to come up with this title because it is going to be a fast one.  Fast shoot, fast edit, and fast promotion.  It feels like a lot to juggle the creation of a live show that includes film as well as a totally separate dance-for-camera work.   They are different works, but I think there are some tangled concepts in there.  Don’t forget, you’ll get to see it March 12 at Spacetaker.

I’ll let you know the title tomorrow…

I love beginnings.  Sometimes I wonder if I love the middle and the end too little.  But we’re at a new beginning, 2011, so I’ll just enjoy the moment.  We have taken a bit of a breather at Frame during December, hibernating to come back with gusto in the new year.  And I can’t stay away any longer.  Technology director Jonathon Hance and I have just returned from prepping on location for our next dance-for-camera work.  We shoot in about two weeks.  Costumes are about 80% complete. We rehearse on Tuesday, tweaking movement, narrowing in on the scope of the shoot and a million other details.   I am organizing this shoot a little bit differently because we aren’t filming in Houston like we did for “Crease” and “Points and Coordinates.”  So I’ll try and get you, dear readers, some backstage pictures of the weekend Frame went to ______ to shoot a film…

So, when will you get to see this fabulous new dance-for-camera work?  Mark your calendars Houstonians, it’s premiering Saturday, March 12.  Tickets coming soon.