"Move" is the working title to one of my dance pieces for the Dance 32 showcase coming up on June 8th. “Move has 6 dancers: Arthur, Kate, Nora, Camille, Caira, Tabitha. “Sound: I am collecting sounds from around me to put together into a piece of "music"(I'm not sure if it can be called music. Well, if a helicopter lifting can be called music this can be. But, I don't know if a helicopter lifting is music. hmm...). I'll give an update as to what the sound will be. “Movement: I have different ideas for different sections. I intend to create movement several different ways: from drawings, the dancers, variations... This piece is conceptual and ensemble based. “Creation and Teaching Progress: So far I have made 8 traveling movements I did with the group (except Kate). The video of the movements may be slightly different than what I taught, and will probably be different in the final product, if these movements remain. I have idea for an arc of the piece. My next rehearsal in Thursday the 12th,” (BLOG 4/6).
Remembering repetition in the rehearsal process to best prep dancers, scheduling, and having fun with the process are things that have been present in this “Move”. I wanted to make a piece that reflected more of the work that I have been doing in Thursdays in the Theater: “I changed this practice from “Phrase of the Week” to “Thursdays in the Theater” because it is more true to what it is. Thursday is more specific than week and it gives me clearer boundaries. I have one time that I need to commit every week. It is consistent and routine. I also do not want to limit what I am doing in the theater to a phrase. I have been making dance that could be called a phrase. But, not specifying what is happening in the theater leaves it more open for any and all movement to have importance, not just movement that fits into the phrase. It is about making the phrase, not just the phrase itself. This ambiguity emphasizing the journey of creation, more than the final product” (N.Q.3).
I have continued to use theater during band 4 as a space to choreograph and plan. However, I have learned that I enjoy choreographing in room that provide a smaller, more personal space. I sometimes can feel self-conscious about improvising or choreographing in front of people. I have gotten more comfortable with doing it in the theater, where it is established that the people -- like Amy and friends who are far away -- in the audience are not interacting with me. Perhaps it is about focus. I want to keep going with ideas and I cannot stop to disrupt the process and judge the movement I’ve made. I need to establish for myself that what I am making is what it is now, but I can update and adapt it later. Like writing, what feel now is true to that moment. What I write and what movement I do is also true to the moment. All will be different later, and I want to respect that change is part of the process, and judgement should take a seat. “Move” is, more or less, a series of structured improv. With a set outline of formations, flow, and movement, travel pathways, expressions, and some timing is up to the interpretation of the dancers. I am not sure where the sound idea originated from, but the smoothly-mixed-by-Zak-Kline-conglomeration-of-sound-collected-by-me provided an absurd narrative for, what I like to think of as oddly commedic, routinely explosive, consistent, reflective, and exposing. These descriptions are words I just came up with to explain the piece. They are words describe how I think about the piece. As something that reveals who people are within the cramp of time all they feel they have to do. Neglecting to acknowledge the importance of their wellness. Privately freaking out and carrying on.
I know that this dance is much less specific in execution than “Groove” is, for “Groove” has the assistance of lyricism to help audiences understand. It is exciting to me that I have consciously been considering specific ideas in the creation of the piece, but I know that it will mean something else to the dancers and the audience. I can share my ideas with the dancers about what I think it is, but it is also up to them to let it be what they want. I think it is important to be ambiguous. I want to encourage people to be confused and find answers on their own -- perhaps similar to ideas of postmodernism writing that we have discussed in my American Writers class. Not only will the movement of my dance be varying in each execution of the piece, but what it could mean to someone will vary as well. Perhaps the piece will not carry any significance for some people. Bu, others’ reactions are not in my control. I can do my best to guide the piece to where I want it to go, and how I want it to be, while remembering that it will become something out of my possession. I want to continue to explore more conceptual and ambiguous meaning in dance. Unclear meaning does not mean a lack of specific and deliberate movement. I want to challenge myself to make things that are new to me, to explore generating movement in different ways, collaborating, and connecting.