 The repertory work I am bringing to Elevate is PLUCK - a power-exploring dance work I originally created with my company dancers and composer in 2010-2011 when I was based in Chicago. The original work was largely flavored by some immediate responses to our recent tour to Central Asia merged with a creative process informed by Skype rehearsals and intensive weekend rehearsals in Chicago and Columbus, Ohio (where I was in graduate school). I chose to revive PLUCK because of my vivid memories of the physicality of the work and my ongoing interest in the issues of social and political hierarchies we explored. In our current political and social climate, I felt this work and themes were worth exploring and addressing again.
So now in 2019, I chose to approach the work as a re-making/re-imagining process. I gave myself permission to stray from the original video documentation to change phrase work, cut out sections, revise sections, and re-define, re-question, and re-discover the statements and ideas in the work. It is has been a very interesting/frustrating/fulfilling process the company has joined me in. Memories of the original version and collaborators bubble up and fade from week to week, and as I find myself approaching the piece with a more discerning and questioning eye, I also make clearer choices of what the piece truly is and is not. I can most compare this re-making to revising a term paper written 7 years ago, bringing to it new experiences, credibility, nuance, insight, and footnotes. The dancers have been amazing in this process, going all out and all in, giving themselves over to the extreme physicality and emotional intensity of the work. Attachments area
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Upon creating my section for Elevate, I knew I needed to create an uplifting movement sequence to end the piece. Basing my section on the process of empowerment, the transition between feeling smothered and feeling empowered, I wanted to form movement that appeared light, airy, and in the air. THIS, I discovered, is NOT how I naturally move. THIS is news to me! I went into the studio and tried to think of movements that are uplifting, high, elevated...what I created looked heavy, rooted, stiff. What!?!? Is that how I always move in my pieces!? I am shocked. Instead of going back into the studio to try to create a new phrase, I attempted to manipulate the original to have a different quality. I emphasized the suspension and pull through the body, I let go of my momentum to soar higher, I softened through the limbs. Whether it worked or not, you can be the judge! I can firmly say collaborating in different ways definitely leads to discoveries about oneself. I believe that is why I love to involve others in productions so often. -Shana Simmons, Shana Simmons Dance To support the artists of Elevate with your tax deductible contribution please visit: www.crowdrise.com/elevatefemales We have been busy in the studio developing movement material and generating as much as we can for the past month. When I begin working on something new I ask the dancers to write and speak from their own experience and with specific prompts that then are used to develop movement phrases. We always create more movement than we need, play with structures that may work or may just work in my brain but not in practice. I'm thankful to have a group of dancer collaborators who are willing to play and laugh as we go through the process and hone in on the real work. This past Wednesday in rehearsal I began the process of refining material and developing a more formal structure for the work. Just before getting to this point of refining I often feel temporarily stuck - and always hope it's just temporary! Thankfully we pushed through this Wednesday and an exciting new work is taking shape! I'm really excited to get back into the studio tomorrow for some solo work and on Wednesday to finish the piece and further refine it. I can't wait to share it with you. As always, we really need your support to make this a success - we have a little under three weeks to raise almost $5,000.00 to cover SOME of our costs. Please consider donating to this work to help elevate our voices and take some of the financial strain off so work like this will continue to be possible. We firmly believe in what we do and really want to share that with a wider audience. Your tax deductible financial contribution allows that to happen. No amount is too small! Please make your donation here: www.crowdrise.com/elevatefemales Thank you and we hope to see you soon! Heather Bryce Bryce Dance Company in rehearsal 3/27/19Moments from "Walled", a trio dance work that uses 10-feet of stretchy white fabric and a driving sound score to explore a physicality that uses extreme ranges of flexion/extension, high/low, still/vibratory, and control/tumult. Performed by Ashley Peters, Bethany Chang, and Aria Roach. As part of the upcoming show, Elevate, each company is bringing a repertory work to round out the performance. Shana Simmons Dance has decided to bring a movement forward piece set to the music of Otis Redding. After researching Redding's life and reading his biography, I was captivated by his ability to express the range of emotions a person can experience. (I've also listened to his music quite a bit and am moved sometimes to tears) I am extremely interested in how his artistry can stir in me an emotion so powerful, simply within a two minute song. As he states, "It's what we call soul...." We've been addressing a section of the work that deals with two solos set to "I've Been Loving You Too Long." Most of the music in the work is a live version from his performances, as I felt those tended to be a more in-the-moment example of his inner workings as a performer. Though the movement is set, I hope to connect the audience both visually and audibly in an experiential way, hoping they feel like they're at a concert and allow themselves to be absorbed by the music and dance.  The making process is a discovery process. Some days the work reveals itself with ease - I feel deep satisfaction having worked with the dancers through a blend of collaboration, skill, and intuition in the studio. Other days there are endless choices, ramifications, and detours - the making is slow, and I feel stuck. But after many years as a choreographer, I trust that it is a process, that the questioning leads to clarity, and for every hard day, there will be a better and clearer one in the studio. This discovery process is what makes it personal, real, important, and why those watching it connect to it. The blend of ease and strain makes the work, is what is revealed in the layers of the work, and is what keeps me returning to the ebb and flow process with each new piece.
-Erin Carlisle Norton, The Moving Architects
Bryce Dance Company has been hard at work in the studio - playing with new structures and building our section of our collaborative work "Elevate". Please consider supporting this unique production presented in collaboration with The Moving Architects and Shana Simmons Dance through your tax deductible donation. All donations go directly to covering the costs of the theater space and paying the dancers. We hope to see you at one of the performances! Please visit www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/elevatefemales to make your tax deductible donation today! To learn more about The Moving Architects please visit: http://themovingarchitects.org/ For more information about Shana Simmons Dance visit: http://www.shanasimmonsdance.com/ Below: Bryce Dance Company dancers - Audrey, Lizz, and Tierney developing material in rehearsal Wednesday morning. The Moving Architects digging into duet work this week, featuring dancers Bethany Chang, Aria Roach, and Ashley Peters. How you can help: In Fall 2018, 3 choreographers stretched across 3 cities had a Skype meeting to discuss the potential for creating a 3-city tour. Elevate is a production dedicated to uplifting each other's choreographic voices and helping create inspiration in those around us to raise up our fellow females. Statistics continually prove although dance and choreography is a female saturated art form, the paid positions and recognition consistently are offered to males. What NEEDS to happen? Raising not only our voices, but our funds. This tour is self-produced, meaning dancer fees, housing, meals, and the largest of all, PRODUCTION COSTS, lie on our shoulders. "WE CAN DO IT!" comes to mind... We believe in our production. We believe in our cause. We believe in the power of dance and art to change lives. Help us bring the best performance experience to New York City, Boston, and Pittsburgh, in an effort to connect us to each other, entertain you, and empower you. Please visit www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/elevatefemales to make your tax deductible donation today! |
AuthorElevate: A Triple Bill of Female Choreographers is an exciting collaboration between Bryce Dance Company, The Moving Architects, and Shana Simmons Dance. Performances in April and May in NYC, Boston, and Pittsburgh! ArchivesCategories |
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