Features

Musings about the process of creating dance.

ROOTS AND BRANCHES

A Reflection on Historic Performances 

by Nancy Evans Doede 

HISTORY INFORMS US.  If we pay attention to it, we can learn from it. If we study it, we can perceive its value in our present time.  If we embrace it, we can transform it. What has come before invariably affects where we are now.  How we view history can determine how we act, what we believe, and how we will use that history to our benefit or detriment.

Throughout the centuries, the arts have been an integral part of history. Sometimes the arts reflect what’s going on in our cultures and perhaps even our world; other times the arts usher in major changes, breaking patterns of human behavior and decorum that allow movement forward resulting in growth taking the lead.  The first time that Stravinsky’s “Sacre du Printemps” was performed by Ballets Russes to Nijinsky’s choreography in Paris in 1913, the composer had to be quickly escorted out the back door because the audience became a mob and a riot ensued.  The audience found the work obscene and vulgar and wanted both Stravinsky’s and Nijinsky’s heads for having made it. When it was performed again in 1920, that same composition elevated Stravinsky above the shoulders of the crowd, exclaiming his genius. What happened in between?  World War I. The people weren’t prepared to handle the stark, angular musical and dance phrases in 1913, but in 1920, after enduring destruction and loss of life and near-loss of freedom, the people were able to appreciate it. The Arts were both a herald and a reflection.

Dance has always defined a culture. Whether it is tribal, religious, social, entertaining, or interpretive, it has always been an anchor in a culture’s existence and development into a society. It is a universal language revolving around the one thing all humans share without a doubt: the heartbeat. 

Modern dance evolved from an initial rejection of the classical way of looking at dance: women in toe shoes being moved around the stage by men in tights in stories that were based on fairy tales and romance. The innovators kicked off their shoes, reconnected with gravity, passion not dependent upon romance, and spent time allowing their internal movement to dictate and form their outward movement. In Germany, those pioneers included Mary Wigman, who was a product of the expressionist movement in art and an explorer of movement with Rudolf Laban. She employed the use of masks to either depict a character (Hexentanz - Witch Dance), or to dehumanize (in Totenmal), and yet was loved for her solo work that showed vulnerability and softness.  In the United States, Martha Graham began her own career after having spent time studying and dancing with Denishawn in Idylwyld, CA. She made a singular impression on American audiences for reincorporating the story ballet in a completely different and specific technique all her own. Lester Horton, a mild-mannered man from Indiana, established a dance theatre and school in Los Angeles, and whose company was the first American dance company that was interracial, as well as developing a technique that became the foundation for dancers including Alvin Ailey.  From these three roots, branches of proteges used the techniques they learned from them and expanded their own voices. From Mary Wigman came Hanya Holm, who brought Wigman’s school to New York City in the early 1930’s, and who became a renowned Broadway choreographer as well as modern dance master teacher and choreographer; from Hanya came Nancy McKnight Hauser, both of whom mentored me, and, who continued the Wigman thread.  From Martha Graham came Merce Cunningham, who further developed his technique and established his own company, much loved world-wide; from him came Viola Farber, who maintained her own company and taught collegiately. And from Lester Horton came Bella Lewitzsky, who was instrumental in codifying the Horton technique; from Bella comes John Pennington, who danced in her company for many years and has had his own company for more than 20 years; and Don Martin, who came to Horton’s class as a high school student with Alvin Ailey and went on to dance there and become a much beloved teacher well into his 80’s at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

What is perhaps most telling about the influence of these three Roots is that the fruits of their labor and art permeate college dance programs because the foundations they built endure.

This season’s WORKS 2022 celebrates those roots and branches. I am honored and delighted to bring the reconstructed work of Nancy McKnight Hauser, Don Martin, Viola Farber, and Bella Lewitzky, as well as the current work of John Pennington and me.  

I’d like to personally thank John Pennington and Pennington Dance Group for their participation in these concerts, and for providing such a wonderful space in which to dance. I also thank Ze’eva Cohen for granting permission for Jeff Slayton to reconstruct Viola Farber’s “Clearing” for us. This solo was created by Viola for her, and hasn’t been performed in nearly 40 years. Jeff gave us his time and coaching in many rehearsals, adding his personal insights into the character of Viola Farber, helping greatly in fleshing out this reconstruction.

These performances are dedicated to these artists, these visionaries, these sources of inspiration. Dance and dancers today owe much to them.  We offer them our gratitude, proud to be a part of their history.

Back to Basics

by Nancy Evans Doede 

The pandemic is not only taking the world by storm, but it continues to wreck havoc on our livelihoods, our lifestyles, and our liberties. It is all-encompassing, with no real solution available yet as to how to live with and beyond it.  It is like we are all standing on a precipice in the wind, trying to maintain our balance. The facts have rattled us to our emotional cores, well past the practical logistics of managing daily life.

We are grieving.

All of us have lost.  Some of us have lost loved ones, which is really unfathomable. Some have lost jobs, some have lost businesses, and perhaps we have all lost sight of the future. Any psychologist will tell us that grieving is a process. There are steps in that process, that don’t necessarily go in a particular order, depending on the form the loss has taken. To say that we are in the process may help to explain it, but does it help to make us feel better?

We are creatures of habit and of feeling. We respond first with our feelings, and then our heads - excepting, perhaps first-responders, who must lead with their heads in crisis situations or they would be unable to act.  They are trained to do that, and may fall apart after the crisis is over.  The rest of us react before we can act. How do we manage to sort through the overwhelming feelings that we are swimming in?

Here, in NEDT, we have been in a form of hibernation. Declared a “non-essential,” arts and entertainment have not only taken a back seat, but are gripping with tenterhooks onto the back bumper. How do we rehearse, produce, interact, connect with ourselves and our audience?

Initially, we all had to retreat. We had to go back to the basics: how to manage a job online/how to live without one; how to deal with/struggle with being isolated; how to create when survival instincts were taking precedence over everything else. Each of us is on a different timeline with a different internal reality, even though we are a company of artists and friends.  In times of stress, some lead, others follow. There is nothing wrong with that.  In our case, it took about a month into the pandemic here in L.A. to be able to emerge with a creative endeavor that allowed all of us to contribute. Led by Ashleigh Doede and Jenn Logan, an improvisation-based video was mastered that was based on how each of us was looking at or dealing with the Stay Home Stay Safe directive. It was posted online on our Facebook page and Instagram. You can watch it here. It is basic, and personal.  Even though it was created in isolation, its intent is to connect with whoever watches it.

About six weeks ago, I presented an idea to my son, Nik, who dances with Augsburg Ballet in Germany.  I wanted to explore the idea of “global community.” All of us are aware that we live in a global community, but what does that actually mean?  To me, community involves interaction, personalization, and curiosity. To me, community is a result of individuals coming together not only because they share common ideas or goals, but often because they don’t, and the diversity that brings to the table creates a true community of people who hash things out, balance reason and feeling, and hold dear the concept of what being together really means.  From that viewpoint, the idea came to me to partner up my company dancers with six dancers from across the globe to create an online experience that I am currently calling “Channels.”  Like the channels on a television set, there will be six channels, involving two dancers per channel. They will collaborate to create material, edit it, and submit it to be presented by us through online platforms. It is an ongoing project, intended to help create global community.

With the exception of Ashleigh and Nik, who are siblings, no one else knows the person they are matched up with, so the initial conversation we all had on Zoom was to introduce each other and brainstorm about the project. There is only one overall theme: to get to know one another and explore a common idea of their own choosing.  It can include technical dance, gesture, text, sound, color - any medium of their choice.  Everyone is excited and actively working on their ideas. Stay tuned!

In an effort to make our work more accessible to audience everywhere, we are also in the process of producing our annual Figures of Speech concert for online viewing. Since this is a concert of solos, we can more easily translate the work to online platforms. Our plan is to present the concert, and then offer a live Q&A via Zoom afterwards. You will be getting details as we fine-tune, but look for this toward the end of September.

In summary, yes, we have been hibernating. But hibernation is a period of rest and conservation in order to emerge strong again. We are definitely emerging. We will be reaching out to you in new ways until we can meet again in a theatre. What we have determined is that the online experience can be a creative one, and one that we intend to offer as part of our season in order to allow many of you who otherwise cannot attend a live concert to participate.

We are all creative.  It’s in our DNA. It isn’t limited to the “artist.”  We create in order to explore and then push beyond our limitations. We now have the opportunity to make the virtual real. The third dimension to this endeavor is in your hands as participants in the process. Even though we cannot at this time actually sense each other’s energy in a performance, we can still connect. We all just keep on bringing our imaginations into the experience. We can still “reach out and touch someone.” Let’s expand our community together. Distance is just a matter of perspective.

The New Normal?

by Nancy Evans Doede 

At the beginning of the Stay-At-Home directive I was overwhelmed by all the details I needed to put into place in order to continue teaching my school classes online, with less than a week to assimilate various platforms, faculty instructions, student trepidation and lots of trial and error. Ten days after starting this new adventure, I went on Spring break and didn’t want to look at an electronic device to save my skin. I spent most of the next ten days “redding out,” as my mother used to call purging junk you never needed in the first place and had forgotten you even had. Putting my hands on real paper and taking stock of how many bags of the shredded stuff had made it into the trash gave me a rare feeling of accomplishment. My husband, who is jobless at the moment, was doing the “honey-do’s” that had been on his list for years. He’s put together outdoor furniture, installed outdoor lighting, built outdoor shelters for our water sprinklers that look like inviting little birdhouses.  Once we are all allowed to get together again, our outdoor living space is ready! Roses and flowers that I planted before this began are now beginning to bloom.  It reminded me that life does indeed “go on.”  In fact, it goes on in a big way.

I’ve always enjoyed Nature.  I used to hike a lot, camp out, ride my bike, and still do a lot of walking. But it’s probably not been since I spent summers dancing in Colorado Springs with Hanya Holm and went out every weekend with the Geology students to hike and camp out that I’ve really appreciated Her. Now I find that being outside every day for some portion of the day (when it hasn’t been pouring rain) has given me a sense of space, a chance to breathe, a moment of peace.

I commend all of us that are taking our situation seriously and are following the precautions given to us. It’s an odd way for us to actually put ourselves in a position of vulnerability and compassion towards others who may be more at risk than we seem to be. And yet, I must admit, that I miss being able to look someone in the full-face, see a smile, give a hug, be real. I am grateful that there is a virtual way to connect with others, because I believe humans are social animals and need interaction. I am happy to see artists taking a difficulty and making it an opportunity. I am hoping that it will not become “the new normal.”

I’ve heard that said often since this whole debacle began, and I cannot agree that this is “the new normal.”  We have no idea yet what “normal” is going to be from here on out. Much of that is still in the unknown. We will be creating it as we go.

Perhaps I’m very Old School, and if I am, I will need to find a way to adapt and thrive. However, I am very concerned about the future of concert dance - concert anything, actually, for the near future. I believe that the actual coming-together of people to share a common experience in live theatre is critical to the furtherance of the art form. Until we are able to gather again with confidence in an actual theatre space, we as a company have been brainstorming and coming up with options to keep us creatively motivated and visible to our supporters. I invite you to keep up with us, either by following us on social media or checking in on the website.  We would love to hear your comments, ideas and musings. NEDT is a creative family, and you are a part of it.  Let’s find ways to pull up a virtual chair and have coffee.

What’s Your Story?

by Nancy Evans Doede 

The trendy phrase used when striking up a conversation with a new acquaintance is “What’s your story?”  It’s a casual approach to a very personal question.  It’s a gentle way to probe, and to give confidence to the teller that there is interest in who that person is, seemingly without pressure to divulge too much – which could then make the conversation awkward and unwelcome.  It’s left up to the person being asked to decide how much detail to provide, whether to safely scratch the surface or take the risk of running the asker off to less dangerous waters.

How DO we get to know someone if that person isn’t willing to share that story – because we all have one.  There is a fascination in learning something about someone’s story that is different from our own.  It’s comforting and often confidence-building to relate to someone else’s story.  It can be incredibly uncomfortable to be admitted into someone’s inner sanctum of tragedy and loss.  Yet, without knowing someone’s story, it’s impossible to really relate – to develop compassion, understanding, love.  Ultimately, life is about relationship.  It’s something people need in order to be healthy and whole. Lack of relationship, or loss of it, can result in feelings of abandonment, unworthiness, and can manifest into violence, cruelty and hatred.

I am an explorer of the Story.  This time, I am exploring seven women’s stories inspired by characters from the writings of John Steinbeck, entitled “Steinbeck’s Women.” It began when I responded to the prompt I gave the company to draw inspiration from a novel for our Figures of Speech showing last year.  This annual showing takes place in April, which is National Literature Month, and is an effort to bring literature to light through dance in the hopes of planting a seed of curiosity in the audience to read more.

I chose a character from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, named Mae.  She is not iconic.  She is not important to the furtherance of the plot.  She is a waitress in a diner on Route 66, watching her life whiz by with the traffic outside.  It is a four-minute solo that is turning itself into being part of a one-act production.

“Steinbeck’s Women” is my choreographic impression of what the inner life of seven women from seven different writings might be.  John Steinbeck has written these women in a beautiful way, describing and enlivening them with personal stories that may not be noticeable from their outside appearances, or what they are expected to be in the worlds in which they live inside the writings.  For the most part, these are not the iconic women – not the archetypal mother figure like Ma Joad, or the cruel vixen like Cathy Trask. Instead, I have chosen other women whose stories may be subtler or less fleshed-out in the overall story.  

In addition to Mae, we meet Liza Hamilton from East of Eden, Mary Talbot from Cannery Row, Molly Morden from The Moon Is Down, Elisa Allen from The Chrysanthemums, Juana from The Pearl, and Curly’s Wife fromOf Mice and Men– who is probably the most iconic of these mentioned, possibly because she is the only woman in the novel.  In rehearsal, each dancer and I are exploring the possible unsaid in her life; the spark of life that is to various degrees being extinguished. These are powerful women, with realities that demand them to respond in a way that ensures their survival, even when those realities kill a bit of their spirits along the way.  They are somewhat heroic in their fortitude.  None of them are weak.  None of them crawl under a rug.  All of them decide to continue in spite of or because of their circumstances.  Without these women, the writings would be incomplete.

If you saw our production of “Fate and the Heroine: Queen Dido of Carthage” at the Norton Simon Museum last March, the format for “Steinbeck’s Women” will be a familiar one.  I will be infusing text, quotes, and acting in addition to our dance-theatre approach and musical landscape.  It is a bit of a monumental project, but so exciting to bring these women to life – to lift them out of the writings that John Steinbeck so eloquently penned, and get to know their stories just a little bit – possibly enough to inspire you to read the works from which they were drawn.

Please stay tuned, as the Story unfolds…

CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT

by Nancy Evans Doede

The one thing we can always rely on is that “things” change.  I have time to write this musing because my flight to Germany today was canceled, and I am going out later, on a different flight.  Although I’m not wild about going from a nonstop flight to one that connects through my least favorite airport - Frankfurt - I will arrive in Augsburg, albeit a few hours later than I had planned.  The smiles and hugs at the destination will be intensified because we all had to wait a little bit longer to enjoy them.

NEDT has just closed out its 2018-19 fiscal year, and it has been an incredible year of change for us.  Not only were we busier with performances, but we were creatively shifting gears almost constantly.  We took on the project with Jacksonville Dance Theatre to truly have a collaborative concert in both Jacksonville and Los Angeles, with changing casts and roles within dances.  That was a first for both of our companies.  After over a year of planning, choreographing and rehearsing, we honored our first commission, by the Norton Simon Museum, and enjoyed the opportunity of presenting ourselves to new audience in a new space.  New choreography was presented in our annual solo show, “Figures of Speech” and we were able to share it with many students as well as loyal attendees. We became part of an inaugural project called Foothills Dancemakers, combining the talents and promoting the quality of dance in our San Gabriel Valley, with Benita Bike’s DanceArts, Lineage Dance, and Pennington Dance Group.  Lots of new ideas made manifest.  Lots of changes.

While everything changes, I find that holding onto my roots in dance and theatre allows me to be flexible and creative when change is inevitable.  Preserving where I have come from has a great deal to do with where I’m going.  This year I was honored to reconstruct “Everness”, a lyrical dance created by Nancy Hauser, in whose company I danced for several years, and had the privilege of dancing in that piece.  It turned out that Ashleigh, my daughter, danced my role in it this time.

So many changes this year…and our company is still strong and ready to move forward and bring new changes to our landscape for the coming year — our 10th!

We will be celebrating our 10th year in this 2019-20 season, and it’s already gearing up to be a full one! You will be seeing almost entirely new work in our October show.  (If you weren’t able to see Figures of Speech this year, then all of the work will be new to you.)  We will have a new work from my son, Nik Doede, as well as a company-inspired one-act, and a new piece from me.  In addition, we are in the initial stages of working on reconstructing another work this year from the legacy of Viola Farber, entitled “Clearing.”  This is a solo that was made for Za’eva Cohen in the 1970’s, and will be curated by Jeff Slayton.  We are honored to have this work offered to us.  There are other possibilities on the horizon, and we are in the beginning talks with two organizations that I will hopefully be able to announce soon.

I want to thank you all for your continued enthusiastic support of NEDT, and look forward to sharing time with you in this next season.  Someone said “Be the change you want to see in the world…”  Sounds like a good inspiration to me!

What’s In A Number?

by Nancy Evans Doede

Time. Age. Space. Dance…

We are surrounded by numbers.  In many ways, numbers control much of our lives.  We are kept in check by the numbers on a clock.  We are made aware of our presence on this earth by counting our birthdays. We know how long it will take to go to the moon because we know how far away it is and how fast we can travel because of the computations of scientists.  We create phrases to music or rhythm with dancers based on counts or breath because we are tied to the original rhythm of the heartbeat.  All numbers.

Numbers mark milestones – birthdays, anniversaries, generations…

This year, NEDT marks its 10th year as a performing company. A decade. Definitely, a milestone…and a time to reflect on what has been accomplished.

Over ten years, we have consistently performed new work, have branched out from solely featuring my choreography to embracing the work of company members and outside artists, toured locally and regionally, performed in a multitude of festivals, reconstructed historically valuable choreography, have had a company of mixed genders and of women only, have earned a reputation for storytelling as truly a dance-theatre company, been commissioned by the Norton Simon Museum, and four of our current company members have been involved from the beginning. 

In ten years’ time, we have created 48 new works.  We rehearse only twice a week.  We have operated on a shoestring budget, but managed to double our performance pay to our dancers, as well as moving from our humble beginnings under the umbrella of Outpost Theatre Ensemble’s nonprofit to now having our own 501(c)3.

We are a dedicated bunch. We love to create. We love to perform.

The reason?  You.

As artists, we must not only create, but we must share. Our interpretations of the various stories of life are intended to strike a chord somewhere in someone who is in dialogue with us in the theatre.  In that shared space, we all come together to be engaged, enlightened perhaps, and moved in spirit. Using the language of movement we strive to communicate our thoughts, inspirations, and – let’s say it – feelings. Our world moves faster. The clock is ticking.  We’re not getting any younger.  We have ten years behind us, and the future in front of us.  We are here for as long as you’ll have us. So, let’s Dance…

COLLABORATION = RISK

by Nancy Evans Doede

By definition, collaboration is the process of working together. People do it all the time–or do they?

Collaboration, at its best, is not an easy process. It requires a high level of communication skills. Mostly, it demands that the intended result be at its highest level.  And that’s where things can get sticky.

Looking back on the recent collaborative event with Rebecca R. Levy, Artistic Director of Jacksonville Dance Theatre (JDT), I can tell you that I learned a great deal from making this mutual commitment.

Becca and I have been talking about working together for several years. People always talk about “meeting for coffee” or “getting together”—it’s a part of our 21st Century culture, I think. But we are all so busy that it rarely occurs.  I am grateful that both Becca and Jenn Logan spearheaded this project, and I am extremely happy that Becca and I came together from opposite sides of the US to bring this concert series to its fruition.

Setting the logistics of the timetable was complicated for our Executive Directors, juggling the schedules of 15 people, in all. That was something finite, however.  The real challenge was deciding what the collaboration would be.

In email and phone discussions with Becca, we determined that it was not enough to simply share a concert—JDT doing its repertory, and NEDT doing its repertory.  Anyone can do that, and there’s no RISK.

To collaborate is to take a monumental risk. It is not a process of give-and-take. That is compromise.  It is a process of give-and-give, of defining and listening. Most importantly—listening. What did each of us envision?  What part of that vision was shared?  

We decided to include each other’s dancers in existing repertory of our individual companies.  In some cases, that meant expanding the numbers in sections of work, in others, it meant mixing up dancers in sections, and thereby working together across companies.  That was exciting, especially since we knew we would be fusing everything together when NEDT arrived in Jacksonville on September 7th for a September 8th performance.

But that wasn’t enough. To truly collaborate meant that Becca and I needed to share something new between us. New and untried.  RISK.  So—we gave ourselves parameters in order to create a fluid structure for a solo. Each of us crafted three phrases of 20 seconds or so. They did not need to connect to each other, except in that they were to express “inside/outside.” We sent our phrases to each other.  The next prompt was to create 4 minutes of dance using all six phrases - in any order or partial order that we wanted to, on one of our dancers: NEDT’s Jenn Logan, and JDT’s Tiffany Santiero. We did not share how that would look. The two solos would be performed simultaneously, and we had no idea how of if they would reflect or meet each other on the stage. I suggested a piece of Shumann music -  a piano sonata.  Becca and Tiffany had trouble with the music, feeling that it restricted them too much. Becca suggested a local Jacksonville composer that she’d worked with before who is a pianist, to create something for the piece. I don’t know him, and have never heard his work, but I trusted Becca’s judgment, and said “ok.”  RISK. We continued working, in silence.

Unfortunately, the pianist had an emergency situation come up and he was unable to make a score.  We decided to revisit the Shumann. Becca listened to my thoughts that the music had plenty of space within its structure to accommodate our movement. She said “ok.”  RISK.

Jenn went to Jacksonville early, and she and Tiffany worked with Becca one afternoon to then fuse the two solos into a duet. I was not present. RISK. I saw the piece for the first time in tech. I made two observations that were incorporated into the final rendition, and we had a dance. Not a title, but a dance.  It went on the program as “Untitled.”  I’m a big one for titles, but neither of us had a clue what to call it, and were under other pressures to get everything together, so “Untitled” it was.

The concert went off without a hitch. The dancers blended beautifully, and the result was magical. The evening was a great success—for us as companies, and especially for the audience, who also took a risk in coming out on a Saturday night to participate with us.

I don’t recommend collaboration to anyone unless they are willing to TRUST, take a RISK, and keep the highest quality of the work at the forefront, not one’s ego. Becca and I had a wonderful experience, and I would do it again with her in a heartbeat.

Perhaps there is a title for the duet…RISK.

Click here for tickets to see the collaboration this October.

Improv > Improve

By Nancy Evans Doede

Why should a dancer improvise? Simply put, to develop a personal vocabulary. In my experience as a dancer, actor, choreographer and director, improvisation is the one tool that has taught me more about how to “be” all of those things better than technique classes, scene study, or preparing for rehearsals.

My mentor, Hanya Holm, often spoke about the need to explore every movement to its extremes so that you have more to choose from when you work. When I had the privilege to study and dance with Nancy Hauser and her company, she infused improvisation into our daily routine. Nancy taught me not only how to improvise, but how to use it as a way to extend my vision.

For me, “improv-ing” is much different than putting on a piece of music and moving to it -- although there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, there is no “right” or “wrong” when improvising. It is a tool for exploration; an immersion in the present tense; an opportunity to expand your own inner and outer awareness of the space within you and outside of you. Just as a writer uses specific language to describe or narrate, an artist who improvises discovers specific language for her/himself.

At NEDT, we are using structured improv regularly in our class and rehearsal process to help us stretch our boundaries and become better interrelated when we dance. Sometimes we use parts of speech such as adjectives or verbs as a springboard for exploration. Sometimes we use more pedestrian actions like walking, sitting, nervous habits -- again, as a springboard to find new ways to move. We always begin our improv session working solo altogether in the space. Sometimes it stays that way, and sometimes we incorporate other dancers in the progression. Starting out solo helps the individual to center and focus inward, helping to remove distractions or a feeling of being scattered. Once the prompt of the improv has been individually established in movement, then it is often a normal progression to involve others and collaborate, further expanding and defining the original prompt. Sometimes, when I lead the improv, I will make adjustments to the prompt while the dancers are improvising, giving instruction or guidance into moving the process forward. Sometimes, I say nothing, allowing the dancers to explore, evolve, collaborate, devolve and organically finish the improv when it has exhausted itself.

Every dance has a core. Every dance is “about” something. Maybe there is no storyline, but movement is language. The core of the dance should inform the movement, which may mean that the choreographer will need to stretch beyond a “style” in order to achieve what the dance demands. Using improvisation in the studio, or asking dancers to improvise in order to draw from their movement to help fulfill the choreography is a great way to bring your idea into reality. The beauty of improvisation as a tool to the choreographer, is that when “stuck” in a choreographic loop, it can free both the choreographer and the dancer by allowing them to stop and return to an organic approach to the concept of the piece. Improvising can bring new movement that the choreographer may never have conceived alone that will take the dance to the next level.

Why should a dancer improvise? TO IMPROVE!

The Big, the Bad, and the Wolfie

The making of “Be Afraid of Virginia Woolf”

by Scot Tupper

After dancing with NEDT for several years, I decided it was time for me to choreograph for a change. Several heavy pieces already existed in our repertoire, so I wanted to do something light, and hopefully fun, for the cast as well as the audience. Fairy tales and nursery rhymes have always been dear to me, and I decided to lean on a well known story to fill in any gaps I might leave as a choreographer. The Little Red Riding Hood story started off the series as there is a lot of room for both humor and athleticism in that tale. The second installment based on the Three Little Pigs was the next logical extension, even if my treatment of it was not. Several little jokes worked their way into the pieces:  some obvious, some subtle but perceptible to an attentive audience, some just for me.

The creation process for both sections of Be Afraid of Virginia Woolf, “The Girl in Red” and “In a Pig’s Eye”, was very different than how I’ve worked before, or how any of my mentors worked.  Since the pieces are story driven, I started with a live-action story boarding process. I used character placement on stage to shape how I wanted the interactions to feel, then added more specific movements and levels as we progressed.  From the outside, it felt a bit like watching a Polaroid develop.  From the inside, I may have frustrated my dancers a bit by not giving them specific steps from the get-go. All of the dancers, however, rose to the challenge and brought their characters to life.

By working with such well known stories, the visuals were more important to me initially than specific movements. Consequently, the costumes were developed in tandem with, or even before, the movement.  The most innovative costume/dance collaboration was Jenn Logan’s use of the wolf tail. I wanted an oversized tail that she could add femininity to, much like the cat from the Pepe le Pew cartoons. After some brain storming with Jenn and a few trips to hardware stores and fabric stores, the long, springy, furry tail came into being.  An evening of Jenn improving with the apparatus brought about a majority of the movements that were ultimately used in both pieces.  

For “The Girl in Red” the cloak was a must. Again, the costume dictated much of the movement.  In many cases I was choreographing the cape and directing the dancer, Katrina Amerine, a bit like a puppeteer. As the story-boarding progressed, Katrina added more and more of her own character elements bringing to life a Red who was real, brave, and naïve bordering on ditzy; just as Red should be. 

The three little pigs started with an even more exact visual seed.  I wanted pigs en pointe, with the multiple tutus, and knew I wanted to use Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Three Little Maids from School” from “The Mikado.”  I have to again thank Jenn for collaborating on the story-boarding process.  The challenge from there was to find the additional music that fit both the narrative and the seed idea.  After talking myself into and out of it several times, I settled on excerpts of the ballet music from “Faust.”  Not only did I like the music, but also liked the connotation of the decent into hell as the wolf stalked and ate the pigs. Oh yes, in my mother’s version the wolf always ate the first two pigs! 

There is more to come in the saga of Virginia Woolf.  The exact details are still to be decided: whether she will have a suitor, or if we’ll further explore her taste for mutton and wild game.

Alter Ego for WeAreTheContributors.com

By Jenn Logan

In 2014 I was invited to create an original work for WeAreTheContributors.com, an online space that brings together artists, designers, photographers and all kinds of makers around creative projects to inspire and build community across mediums. We were asked to explore the theme, Alter Ego—to inhabit the mind, space and life of another person or another facet of ourselves. By some odd cosmic coincidence I had just begun to explore a new dance work that explored exactly that, though I didn't know it yet.

What started out as a solo, set on Jen Hunter, about fear became a duet about control....because as it turns out, my biggest fear is losing control. What we uncovered as the piece developed were two very distinct personas that I use to keep my fear in check. There is the external persona (calm, collected, balanced) that I show the world, and the internal persona (pushing, driving, controlling) that gets me through the day — my alter ego. This piece, performed by Jen Hunter and myself, is an illustration of the struggle that's usually, expertly hidden from view.

“I am proud to be an alter ego, but it was a challenging process. Once I realized that I could bring my own passion and my own story into the work, it began to develop a beautiful complexity. Working with Jenn was wonderful. She talked me through her ideas and I was able to understand what she wanted more than the physical dance movement, but what she wanted to get across emotionally. ”

— Jen Hunter

Watch the original Alter Ego here.