Where are the strings?

Andrea recently introduced me to something I’d never seen before: Chinese Acrobat Ballet. Incredibly flexible, lithe, dancers promenade en pointe ON TOP of their partners heads. No strings, cgi or faking. Honestly. It’s unbelievable. But don’t take my word for it.

Check it out yourself!

Dance Salad’s New Ingredients are Spot On

Hello All, Genevieve here, with another point of view to ponder, pontificate and postulate. Last Thursday, December 4th, Andrea and I went to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts Brown Auditorium Theater to view a special screening of Dance Salad’s 2008 Festival. Dance Salad is hailed as Houston’s premier international dance festival and it’s name pretty much says it all. It’s a 3 day extravanganza held annually at the Houston Wortham Center over Easter weekend, featuring modern, contemporary, and dance performances from dance companies all over the globe. Last night was an edited, archival 1 1/2 hour snippet of the total 8 hours of coverage filmed. One exciting point that their Artistic Director, Nancy Henderek, made was that many of these companies perform edited, partial versions of their performances, thereby, making them unique and priceless.

The tour opens with a film by Czech-born, Dutch-raised choreographer Jiri Kylian, a long-standing Dance Salad favorite and revered by Nancy as “one the most important and popular choreographers at this time”, who choreographed 3 of the pieces we saw. This delightfully amusing piece called Car Men was filmed on location in a Czech coal mine and it tells a story of 4 friends spinning wheels over hills. All is fun and games until the winner of the race is run over by a speeding car, some deliciously vintage, suave hunk of metal that I’m ashamed to say I cannot tell you the make or the model. Anyway, she is flattened into the ground and the silent shock is felt by dancers and audience alike. Until, she plumps up and storms away, dignity as muddied as her dress. Hauty disdain by a woman covered in mud, you do the math. Hilarious.

One piece that both Andrea and I agree to be the pinnacle of the festival, was performed by the Beijing LTDX Modern Dance Company entitled, “The Cold Dagger”. This morning, over our morning porch session, we each excitedly shared our respective opinions about the story, it’s conception, possible meanings and what we each took from the performance. I’m sure I would not betray office secrets to share that each of us were in tears throughout it’s moving liturgy. We each agree that its main theme centers around death and life. The dead’s remembrance in the memories of the living and the futility of Death and Life ’s inability to comprehend one another. Set on something resembling a chess board, 15 ish dancers are grouped geometrically, and with a BANG!, one female dancer is immediately shot and falls to the ground. What follows is a surreal, lyrical and haunting journey detailing grief; grief by the living for the dead, and even, I think the dead grieving the dead as well. At the end, all of the company members roll up the “chess board” mat and crawl underneath it, effectively giving the illusion of a space-time continuum grid made by computer spatial programs. As the mat undulates with the dancers movements, their hands begin to break through the mats grasping for life, ether or remembrance.

The National Ballet Theater of Prague performed a short version of a witty ballet originally choreographed by Petr Zuska called Maria’s Dream inspired by a bizarre dream had by Marie Taglioni. A debonair female ballerina in an all black suit and gorgeous black point shoes [Christmas is just around the corner guys! hint, hint] falls asleep on a park bench and dreams 4 men in white, long traditional tutus pirouette, lift her and the bench and dance around the stage, confusing gender roles in an amusing twist. Though we both found it comical, apparently someone behind us thought it more so and made sure everyone in theater knew with loud bursts of guffaws and gusts of wheezing. I couldn’t tell if they were laughing or dying. Andrea swears one of the male dancers wasn’t wearing underwear, but as I didn’t notice, I can neither confirm nor deny this allegation for all you inquiring minds out there.

Andrea and I are in complete agreement that dancer Marcin Krajewski was, quite possibly, the hottest dancer either of us have seen in a long time. Of the Polish National Opera Ballet, he performed an athletic, humorously dazzling piece, called Les Bourgeois, choreographed by Ben Van Cauwenbergh.  Check him out in the video below, though it was made some time ago and he’s definitely gotten better with age. wink.

The screening concluded with another Jiri Kylian theatrical dance film, called BIRTH-DAY. With by Mozart, four dancers are seated in 18th century dress at a large table underneath a large screen portraying the same dancers in a previously filmed synchronization of movements with the live dancers. What follows is comical and quizzical as feathers fly, hair becomes disheveled and laughter ensues. Very funny, light and curious in that it’s not really a dance but more of a delightful, modern pantomime.

Kylian states, “Sometimes, when our birthdays arrive, we think of the day we were born, and also perhaps of the day we will die. It is all the same – the same cycle of a year that has just gone by – with buds and fresh greens, followed by flowers, heat and sun, full of ripeness and fulfillment, the delicious picking of fruit, soon to face the frost – the imaginary ‘end of time’, only to prepare all the forces of nature to be reborn again. Between our Birth-day and Death-day much time and energy, filled with creation, desire, love and confusion is spent… and during much of this time we make fools of ourselves.”

Apt, well-said and true, wouldn’t you agree?

Before this blog turns into an epic novella, this is me, signing off.

Genevieve

And so begins my odyssey…

Perhaps a brief introduction is needed.  Hi. My name is Genevieve and I’m Dance Houston’s new assistant.  I started two weeks ago and already I feel I’ve been here for much longer. In the best way!  It’s been really exciting and overwhelming getting my feet wet, especially just a few short weeks before our first (rather I should say) MY first show.  Everyday I learn something or experience something new or glean more insight into what we do here and last Thursday was no exception.  As posted previously, we’re preparing for our free festival coming up in exactly 3 days on November 21st! (see our previous blog: Free Festival Friday November 21st at Discovery Green)  So, yesterday, Al, our Sales Support Coordinator, who will, heretofore be known as “Boy Friday” coordinated with some of the performers in a photoshoot.  This was my first opportunity to experience a completely different vibe in the office. Up until then, it had just been either myself or Andrea, our multi-faceted lively director.  Quiet, in decibel, days spent learning new programs, and getting acquainted with Coco, our adorable shih-tzu mascot.  The word “treat” is a powerful motivating factor for her.  I could learn something from a power word like that.  I digress.

LO!  Early Thursday morning, Dance Houston’s studio is inundated with chattering, energetic dancers and my head began to spin. 

Photo by Whirling Hand Photographics

Photo by Whirling Hand Photographics

First, walked in Mike & Jessica, who will be performing a duet about the value of control, that which we place on ourselves and others, which I must admit I’m very curious to see performed and fleshed out on stage.  Mike is inquisitive and helpful.  Jessica, as a cute as a button and just as petite with a winning smile. 

Natalee will be performing a modern, hip-hop styled solo called “Energy”, and energetic she is!  Bright eyes and smile, I am certain she will fill up the stage with her performance. 

 

 

Photo by Whirling Hand Photographics

 

Liza, a flamenco dancer, came in full costume with a quiet intensity.  Liza will be bringing out the passion of Flamenco by dancing the Farruca.  Farruca is known to be one of the hardest dance forms of Flamenco.  The dance requires heavy footwork and is traditionally performed only by men.  I already know I will have shivers during her performance. 

 

Photo by Whirling Hand Photographics

Then, came ms. YET, the belly dancer.  Sultry eyes, vibrant energy, she makes her own costumes and is a one-woman powerhouse of intensity.  And that’s only 4 out of the 19 groups performing! 

All I can say is. WOW.  I haven’t even seen the other groups yet; though I’ve been listening to their music all week.  One group, Fyasko samples MIA’s Paper Planes (love that song!) and another group, Xtreme Productions samples Nelly Furtado’s Maneater (love love love that song! ) and I’m so curious to see their piece because they describe it as ”a hip hop piece with a very unique style. A lot of funky movement, and something fresh for the world of hip hop.” It is a mix of music… very up beat and It begins with a  short scene of dolls coming to life. The dolls soon realise they are alive and start dancing around to Missy Elliott as well as samples by other performers.  Hip hop and dolls that come to life???  I definitely don’t want to miss that!

Photo by Whirling Hand Photographics

Revolve Dance Company will also be performing and I’m really intrigued because I’ve heard so much about them but haven’t actually ever seen them.  Music has always been something that helps me connect to life more so than anything else and their song “Consequence” by the No Twist is touching and maybe just a little sentimental, and I have to admit I’ve had on repeat when I’m alone in the office.  At our last big festival they won Best Artistic Achievement and though they have some shoes to fill, I know I won’t be disappointed.  Wyld Styl is coming back too.  They won Best Performance at said festival and they’re performing a new piece with 20 dancers!  Pictured right is Hunter Hicks, one of the FLY Dance kids and he was named Outstanding Dancer as were others from the crew. Check out his pose!  I can’t help but be a little jealous at his flexibility and remember when I too could backflip and jump around without risk of a week-long backache.  Now, I barely look at a night out on the dancefloor and I’m sore.   But I think the performance I most intrigued about is one by Freneticore.  Two dancers decked out in furry costumes performing a piece entitled Donde Viven los Monstros (Where the Wild Things).  One, I love that book!  Two, it’s furry costumes.  Nuff said.

So much going on, but what this organization does; bringing art, communities, creativity, dance, people, life together in a really positive way inspires me to keep my nose to the grindstone and give everything I’ve got.  And yes, I get that I sound just a little corny and cheesy and I promise I’m not trying to Pollyanna out on you but there’s an energy and a vibe here that I’ve not experienced at any other job.  Maybe that’s because it’s not so much a job but a mission and a joy.  Come on!  I get to hang out with this fantastic cast of characters and brainstorm ways to get you guys involved with our guys.  How much fun is that?  So, thank you for taking the time to read my first post and I hope you’ll continue to view Dance Houston through my eyes as I sommersault through this journey.

Genevieve