the urgent artist

So we showed the redux of 13 Variations on a Car Crash last night at Green Space Studio for their Fertile Ground Series.  We only had one fan come out from our camp (yeah, we get it, LIC is a bit of a hike) but it ended up being totally fine, because we made some new friends who were all articulate and gave us some great feedback! In case you missed it, check out the video here:

I was exceedingly proud of my dancers for a number of reasons – their actual performance and for pulling it together in time (two rehearsals! one for some!)  included.  The crowning victory of the night for me was that it was the first time that people were using the term “virtuosic” to talk about the movement, which feels AWESOME.  There were some last minute ‘changes’ incorporated, like when Cory and Cristina and i all realized mid-piece that no one had brought out the chairs…oops – but I actually think that all of the mistakes were really great edits that i’ll probably keep.

Lillie was recalling that our first NYC showing (which, coincidentally, was the first iteration of 13V) we were totally clean and crystal and rehearsed intensively for weeks on end; as we’ve done more and more showings i think we’ve moved (for better and worse) into seeing them as opportunities to really be in-process with the work, adding things and making changes up to the very last minute as we forsake perfection for experimentation.

Anyway – the feedback was great (thanks, new fam!) and gave me a lot of alternate paths to think about.  In case you’d like to join in, my main questions for this section are about what the experience of your watching was (which is always hard on video, and the angle of the camera here fights some of the focus points that i’ve constructed, but you get an idea at least…) – was it easy to watch? too much info? did you find yourself being pulled into questions and ideas and mental pinging, or were you present in the movements and feeling it more viscerally? Was there a narrative for you, and if so, what? How would you characterize this section? Broken? Creepy? High-energy? Sexy? And if you had to talk about it in the context of other work you’ve seen (not just dance – feel free to talk films, lit, dreams, etc) what else would be on the table?

As always, I have a lot of questions.  I’m a maximalist.  It’s what you love about me.

So that’s that, and now we’re already on to the next one.  We’ll be in residence at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center starting March 19th, culminating in performance on March 26th! I’m really looking forward to it – it’l be the AOMC’s first residency, and also the first time in a while i’ll have Rowan and Ilona back together to work on some of the partnering stuff.  We’re also doing some outreach during the residency with LPAC students, which is another AOMC first, and I’m looking forward to that aspect of it as well.

We’re trying to present the performance as sort of a preview performance – certianly nothing like what the Joyce SoHo show will be, but at the same time, containing as much of the movement and ideas that will be present in the final as possible.  Because the space is so different, I’m not as concerned with having them choreographically similar.  I’m more interested in using it as a time to problem solve about the larger structure – how are these sections connected? what are the transitions? etc – and have fun being in that glorious space.

So that’s that.  I’ll keep you updated as we get closer, but I’m prepping you now: we WILL get you to LIC – it’s really not that bad of a trek!  Would love feedback if you feel so inspired…

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