SECRETS AND SEAWALLS - Program notes...

We are heading into a first-look showing for Secrets and Seawalls today at TheaterLab to wrap up the Hotel New Work Series and get our grounding before residencies over the summer.

I'm excited, and a bit scared - the work has gone in a very different direction than I had originally thought - but, this...this too is perfectly fine and really exciting.

Andrew Broaddus, Callie Ritter, Michelle Micca and Katie Brennan

Here are the program notes for today....

Secrets and Seawalls

a collaboration of dancers, an architect and vulnerability.

Friday April 25, 2014
Theaterlab 357 W 36th St NYC

Dancers: Callie Ritter, Michelle Micca, Katie Brennan, Andrew Broaddus
Choreographer: Melissa Riker
Collaborating Architect: Lee Skolnick

Dramatugy: Pele Bausch

I am honored to be working with so many brave & beautiful dancing souls.

This work began in 2013 with dancers Benjamin Oyzon, Hilary Brown, Jun Lee and Zoe Levine.

Thank you Lee, Callie, Katie Andrew and Michelle for your commitment, creativity and honesty

as we continue to find out what this work is becoming.

Secrets and Seawalls is made possible by

generous individual donations, The KP Leadership Circle

 a residency at TheaterLab via Hotel New Work and

an upcoming Residency at Adelphi University

Performances at Adelphi are on Sept 12^th and 13^th, 2014.

About the work

What is a secret?

Where does it hide in you?

How might it move through you?

Where would it reveal itself?

How would you reveal it to another person?

These are the questions with which I entered the rehearsal process of this piece.

Over all, Secrets and Seawalls is an exploration of structure and vulnerability –

The initial inspiration for the work was a combination of two major NYC events.

Sept 11, 2001 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

After 9/11, there was a murmur that NYC’s seawalls had been fractured. 

Teams of architects and engineers were brought in as a task force to discover the extent of damage.

As a busy New Yorker, I never learned the outcome.  And I didn’t really think about it again until Oct. 29^th, 2012,

as Hurricane Sandy, the full moon, and a Nor’Easter slammed the East coast all at once, I thought of the walls – the possibility of fracture – and what keeps this powerful city safe and our amazing subway system intact….

I also thought of our human reality: We think we are quite powerful; We have all of the structures in place…

But once we lose electricity, NYC is just an island, and our homes at the beach are constantly facing off with

something so much more powerful than us….

So where is power? Is it in the open, honest vulnerability? Or is it in the mortar, the structures we build?

Is it about retaining our information or about releasing it so that others might learn as well?

Thank you for joining this journey of questions with us.

~Melissa and Kinesis Project dance theatre

Storms, Dances and Forward

It has been a while since I've sat down and written.
Since September, Kinesis Project has presented segments of Mapping Home in the parks of NYC as part of PARK DANCES in Battery Park's Bosque Gardens and Ft. Tryon's Cloisters Lawn.

They were beautiful, and thanks to Emil Baez, Homer Frizzell, Mike Trutt and my Dad, we have some incredible shots of the dancers on benches, rocks and in the fountains.

We've also landed squarely in the realm of Flash Mobs - Yes.
Kinesis Project now creates flash mob experiences.  I'm really proud of what we've accomplished so far...
Madeline choreographed this gorgeous Times Sq. Proposal:

Jun has choreographed a 30th Birthday surprise in Central Park

and I tried my hand at a "mob" for a rehearsal dinner right after the storm!

Yes. The storm.  A superstorm that ravaged beloved beaches in Long Island and in NJ.  The hours and hours I spent with friend Pete staring out over the ocean during our "let's drive to the beach" years, pleased to be looking out at something so much larger than ourselves - relieved to know that our tiny decisions about college or midterms almost couldn't possibly matter in a world so much bigger than us.

The superstorm (called because it was a Category 1 Hurricane, a large Nor'Easter and the full moon) triangulated in NJ to create, as one would say, a Perfect Storm - leaving a perfect mess of demolished houses, torn up beaches and two new inlets between the ocean and Barnegat Bay -- there is much, much more - damage on Staten Island, The Rockaways, and up and down the Jersey Shore, but I don't have the room, or the heart to list it all here.

And I find myself thinking of secrets. The secrets we keep and are kept from us...and vulnerability. What it is to admit to it, and how it feels when it is caught, seen and exposed - even if only for a moment.

Life and Art Overlap

This video is a gesture of thanks to the performers of Pressing Empty and the dancers of Kinesis Project, for helping me build this bridge between questions and decisions.
Much love to each of you,
-Melissa

music by Ingrid Michaelson, edited by Katie Down - "Giving Up" off of the album Be OK, used for performance with permission by the artist.

design me

I look back at things I have written, posted...and the dances that I've built and I think:
Damn... I guess I'm not as private as I think I am.

Because I am.

But these dances aren't.
they are for sure "Written on the Body" as Jeannette Winterson wrote...
or as I said many years ago "All I have is my body to explain to you my mind."

All of the wonderings we pursue to make these works are parts of life that I am trying to understand and put together -
As a collective mind, most of what we talk about, the dancers are interested in exploring as well.......and since much of what happens to us in life is strangely funny, we do spend a lot of time laughing at ourselves.......

So when I look at it all as a collection..... I feel awfully and refreshingly vulnerable for all of us.

Mapping Home will be shown in it's current iteration of rough sketches tomorrow at the newly created Gibney Dance Center @ 890 Broadway.
Hope you can join us in our current search for ways of revealing ourselves to you.....

If you are far away, but are still interested, you can see the showing via our livestream.... Send me a love note, and I'll send you the link ;)

Bundled and Full....

Oh the ideas of Home are flying in and around.... so....
We took one rehearsal off from prepping for APAP (yes. APAP... check us out on Facebook right here: Kinesis Project)
and began really diving further into Home, cycles of life, what you inherit, rituals around building a Home, and how those ideas translate into spaces inside and outside....
So...
Madeline and Ben are building a "negotiations" totem pole, and Zoe is working with ideas of ritual....
and...
We now have a flip-cam to dedicate to interviews and of course Skype will be a big part of that as well - so the next step is to move past our own thoughts, and into YOUR thoughts.

I am thrilled that we are supported and moving forward in this personal, yet universal theme...that the concept of crowd-sourcing is moving beyond finances and into how this art will actually be made....and that the myriad of environments we will visit to build this work are so full of potential!

and here's a lil' Mapping Home blog bonus!
Joe Silver was at our showing on Nov. 18 and took some great pictures:

Rebecca Patek and Hilary Brown

Zoe Bowick

Jun Lee, Madeline Hoak and Zoe Bowick

Benjamin Oyzon and Zoe Bowick

Rebcca Patek and Jun Lee

Jun Lee, Zoe Bowick

Zoe Bowick, Rebecca Patek, Hilary Brown, Ben Oyzon

Benjamin Oyzon

Ben Oyzon, Jun Lee, Madeline Hoak

Rebecca, Jun, Madeline, Zoe, Hilary

Rebecca, Jun, Madeline, Zoe, Ben

Zoe Bowick, Jun Lee

Jun Lee, Madeline Hoak, Zoe Bowick

Jun  Lee, Madeline Hoak

Hilary Brown

In Step

Kinesis Project in Parks:
Sept 12th - Performances in Ft. Tryon Park in the Cloister Gardens
Sept 19th - 4th Annual performance in Battery Park

AND....to bring up something we haven't talked about in a while....
thoughts of Home beyond the four walls of a house, apartment, etc....

how many places can we find that map a sense of home - an outdoor experience of an internal and emotional patterning.....

More soon.

Letting Go

Week 8, part II
*************************************
I am writing this while traveling back to NYC from Syracuse -
This week grades were handed in, costume spreadsheets completed, and goodbyes gained momentum....
The past two days have a been a whirlwind of completing choreography with the Ensemble (Advanced) and my 1st Period class (Intro) -
I am proud of the work we've all done - and of the chances they took along with me on this curving 8 week ride.

And........I can't end the ride without thank yous to Karen Kotlar, my housemate and overall teaching mentor (whether she knew it or not) Bill Davern, and the amazing staff of the West Genesee Performing Arts Department - I am incredibly thankful for the speed of reaction, openness and clarity demonstrated repeatedly.

The appreciation I've been shown in the past two days is warming and wonderful - beautiful cards, both hand-drawn and purchased, gifties, cookies and multiple cookie cakes and treats! (I think I gained back any weight I might have lost in my time here simply by celebrating with cake or cookies every 41 minutes today!!)

Choreographically I am pleased - The Ensemble's piece has technique and loads of intricate personality that I hope they can keep with them for the next few months and the Intermediate classes have created pieces that beautifully express the creativity of each class.

I will be going back to see the final products in June - My hope is to offer the Standing Room open commission with them and possibly perform in the show alongside the dancers.

Besides the beautiful lessons these students have offered me: reminders of what it is to love immediately, the vulnerability of a wide open heart and the ease at which change can appear, effect us, and leave; I have learned much about myself - my patience levels, my ability to see what is in front of me, all I certainly still need to learn about grading, breaking down information and mixing playfulness with solid. The last I think I may have done successfully, but I'd love to know that I can offer more technique with my play over time.

In the Fray of Endings

Week 8
***************************************
This is it - my time in Syracuse is coming to an end - each day now marks the thoughts of "wow. that's the last..."
I found myself generous with 1st period, incredibly frustrated at bad behavior in 2nd period, giving 4th period a playful choreography assignment, taking 6/7 outside to create a dance in the chilly sunshine and getting just this much closer to finishing the piece for the Ensemble.

The behaviors in 2nd period are upsetting because when they are good, I love them. But when they are bad, I could easily walk out of the room and not look back.

Of course all teachers feel that way about one class or another. I'm lucky that most of my classes can stay focused and on the tasks of dancing. But I also admit, that is not behavior one sees often in the arts professionally. Oh sure, we've all got our fruitbat scenarios (as friend Patrick calls certain types of rehearsals) but disinterest and flat out rude behavior? No. Not as often.
So they are not inspired, and I am not inspired to do the work to inspire them....
What an ugly spiral that is!
So I'll avoid that if I can manage to stick to the positive ideas, and find their creative joy again.

And here we go - I may try to post mid-week since we all know how quickly things shift during the final moments somewhere!

Uh-Oh

WEEK 5
****************************************
This is the week of self-doubt.
When I started teaching I was going to create dances like no-one had ever seen before on the WG stage...
And now I'm not so sure.
At least about my beginner classes -

We are still having fun - and all of us are learning - but there are bumps in the road -
Like...the levels of training, the level of focus (or lack thereof) and the questions I have about how to build a piece based only on what I walk in the room with -

There isn't time to build something extravagant or full of concept because I taught for a week, started building phrases and now have 41 minutes a day to create each piece.

Sometimes I end classes feeling as though the experience is well worth the confusion of choreographing this way - and sometimes....

I hear the voices of my teachers "Choreograph to music without words first" and feel like I am mis-leading them.....
...or there is a sense that I am accidentally choreographing something that falls directly into the recital focus genre that I so strongly disagree with as a teacher, dancer and choreographer....
because here I am with my kids dancing to DJ Earworm


and Jay Sean


Why? Because my gut told me they would be that much more on board, get more out of this experience...and be more open to trying things if we were dancing to music that made them happy immediately and gave us all a lift when we crank it up and dance.
The good news, is that it does...hopefully the bad news is all in my mind.

Lets call it an experiment.

Teaching Balance

I am a teacher. At least for 8 weeks. In a High School in Syracuse NY that houses a fabulous Arts Department and, you guessed it, a dance studio -
A big, beautiful dance studio (though it shrinks when you put 25 dancing bodies in it).
Between 7:30am and 12:30 pm 105 teenagers join me in the constant search for expression and keeping ourselves entertained.

As dancers who work with me in Kinesis Project know, my process is not linear - its almost completely alinear - if that's a word. This is a challenge for young dancers who have been given dances for a long time that go from A-B-C or maybe A-C-B....if I am really IN a process it may look more like J-5-G-T-9,1,2,F....

I'm not sure if I can explain why that is - its possible someone who loves me could, however.

For most of my classes here I have challenged myself to work the way they do - Four of the classes are learning movement, or generating from my base movement and then I am building the order in a good 'ol A,B,C kinda way -
The ones who are really getting the brunt of my un-line-ing are the Ensemble group.

My Ensemble class is the last of my day, they are the most advanced dancers and the most willing to deal with a nutty choreographer (although I think the others like the last part too.)
Some of the classes are getting more focus in circus skill, and this week I'll be starting an after school experience for those who want to learn more partnering skills when I'm able to give more one-on-one attention in the "please don't fall down" and "look at how cool this is" categories.

I don't give homework, I don't always have the best behaving classes, but I do feel like since I've been here there are new bits of information I can give these bodies - hopefully leaving them stronger more willing to try strange things in movement because "one time we had a guest teacher and she always asked why are you doing that movement?, taught us to stand on one another made us do push-ups on Mondays and crunches on Tuesdays!"

My hope is that most are learning to listen to one another just a bit more, to balance lovely with not-so-lovely and story with movement. They are teaching me patience and to look a bit deeper into their eyes when they say "I can't do that."

The teacher I stay with here said: "I won't teach them science in 41 minutes, but I can show them how to be people that make better choices."
In my case, it's not quite possible to get into the details of dance technique - I've got to pray someone else can do that - but I can ask them to calmly listen to one another, teach them ways of getting stronger and show them how to find movement they haven't yet experienced.

Edit.... and Find a Story

I sat down yesterday with the intention of creating a rehearsal reel for Kinesis Project -
What ended up happening was something almost more interesting for the process of building Pressing Empty -
Something NOT a reel, but kind of a choreographer's exploration into Rebecca's character in Pressing Empty -
All disclaimers apply of course...


Music: Regina Spektor Dancers: Zoe Bowick, Rebecca Patek.

the dancing in the studio is part of the process of choreographic collaboration -
the dancing on the roof is solely improv by Rebecca.

Zoe & George Strait

Zoe and I sketched this dance in about two rehearsals...it certainly takes movement information from other sections of Pressing Empty - but as a solo, it really started to take on a life of its own with this song....
Draft Dance Blog 3....here we go...


Music by George Strait

A short tid-bit

Zoe and Rebecca working out the middle/beginning of the duet.
There is (of course) more work to be done - but I am happy with the shape so far...


music by Regina Spektor

In the Empty

The new work is in rehearsal.....Christa's dress (below) will play an important role.
Fluffy.
Escape Routes.
Identity.
Distraction.
Lovely layered with Indecision.

states of dress and empty.

Bridal gowns are floating around in my imagination.
But not quite as they do in many female brains.
The gowns in my mind are points of constraint, sources of fear and concern...plain bad news upon entering.
Why?
I am not sure yet.
For some reason the women in my mind didn't know what they were in for, didn't quite mean it when they said yes, and are now quickly moving towards a future they thought they wanted (when they were 15) but now (as cognizant adults) completely (rightly) frightens them.
Some say I have commitment issues.
My Mom thinks I was ruined by working for matrimonial attorneys as a day job.
I don't think so.
I would like to think that writing approximately 200 Uncontested New York State Compliant Divorces actually led me to understand how one should treasure the choice to live life with one person, and how one should avoid divorce at all costs - not at the cost of your soul of course -if you are married and need to be not married any more, by all means - sever.
I mean weigh the choice SERIOUSLY before stepping that perfectly french pedicured toe into the matrimonial waters.

And then go for it - embrace love and life and both of those things with another person - make promises and vows in front of friends, goddess and any gods applicable, with a promise from your friends and said dieties to help you through the hard parts (that's important.)

A one person seems like a beautiful, wonderful idea.

It's the fear of waking up years from the decision to find the life you were aiming for has gotten squished by something you didn't actually want.
It breaks my heart that due to social pressure, financial fear and fear in general (of being alone, of losing out of being labeled as "unlovable") it happens.

then again, I'm a firm believer in never not-doing because of fear. So.......

There are folks like dear Sheila, Jeff, Megan, Charlie and others who don't blog who have found solid, good non life squishing vow inducing love. (btw why do none of my gay married friends blog? are gay married couples busier (how can anyone be busier than Jeff?) Have they just not told me? Will need to look into that. Betcha I just haven't found 'em 'round these parts yet.)

For the record, I am currently involved in a wonderful non life squishing love. I am working out how to deal with that reality - really.

Historically I've been regularly concerned that I would find out too late (the second, third and fourth shoe falling on my head not strong enough signs to wake me up and get out!)
I would like to think I had an intuition of what might happen, and I have saved my unsquished self for what happens now.

But clearly there are a few dances of playful panic that need to get made.

Here we go folks - deeper into Pressing Empty.

Zoe Bowick Levine (yep. happily married) Dancer

A little Summer in Winter

Sharing a Little Blue Love Party

Here it is!
A Pop a fast spinning and BANG I seem to have landed my work on stage with two warm talented and wonderful artists - conveniently enough they are also two of my favorite people in the world.
Jeff - living at Odin's Aviary
&
Patrick's Loose Ends

Jeff's Lloyd Schlemiel (who I misspell constantly, and may have again just now...)
is painfully funny and wonderful - he borrowed Madeline and the two of them stole the hearts of our audience!

Patrick's roaringly passionate and wonderful Bromios owns and I mean OWNS love and sensuality in an in your face reminder of life's small and gorgeous moments.....

My biggest failing in the show has been my inability to get Sharon's (knitsisters - sharon estacio) beautiful film to project on the vaulted ceiling! I am hoping I find a way this afternoon to make it happen..... wish me luck!

But, Sharon forgiving me my technical issues - I am incredibly proud of this show and the integration of characters and search we have created together - as Jeff said - we are absolutely not in this alone - we are support for one another and playing along with the band of the show as it brings us all together as a cast of wacky dancing characters!

The between

the shred of the dress is the time passed, white is hopeful...
it is a wedding dress because of expectation placed on a garment, and the symbolism of beginnings.

spaces left empty on skin, beds and kitchens are where the story lives.

These are parts of the "what I know about this dance" brain-storm

title? yes. Pressing Empty.

Wandering to focus

Again. going for a walk in the woods helps get the work done.
I feel more focus, love (even focus in regards to that love) and openness then I did before I left the house.
Green stuff, sunshine and breezes will do that.......

Steps in Tearing