A Choreographer's Blog: Jun Lee

Showing posts with label Jun Lee. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Secrets and Seawalls -- the beginning

Did you think I had left you forever?
Not a chance.
I was napping, kind of.

Let's step into process again....for the first time in a while.

The question series to begin this process was:

Think of a secret.

Where does it live in you?

How does it move through you?

Where would it reveal itself?

and finally...

How would you reveal it to someone.

Here are some images from our Open Studio in which we worked through the movement that had been created over a few weeks from this beginning point.

....These are the beautiful people I get to work with to make dances:
Jun Lee, Benjamin Oyzon, Hilary Brown, Zoe Bowick Levine (and sometimes her son, Leo) missing in action is Madeline Hoak, but she'll be back in the mix soon.

Hilary's Solo in Trio - Jun, Ben, Hilary

Zoe, Hilary during the "Community" walk

Hilary's solo/secret

Zoe, Jun

Ben, Jun "Seawalls" section

Jun, Leo, Ben's shoulder

Jun & Ben hiding secrets

Ben's reveal

Jun, Zoe in Zoe's phrase

Saturday, July 21, 2012

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.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Mapping:Home and Continuing on

we spent time with the talented and flexible Mollye Asher and Ed Barnes two weeks ago - filming segments of Mapping Home that had been borne out of our first Group Interviews.

Most of you know about Mapping Home (I'm playing with it looking like this "Mapping:HOME" thoughts?) our incredibly ambitious project of interviewing as many people from as many places/walks of life as possible about ideas of Home and creating work that is performed in sites that replicate/express/enhance those conversations...... We've interviewed 28 people so far: 30-somethings, retirees, grandparents, teenagers, nomadic artists.... more coming!!

Anyway - all of that to say - here's a little meta video enjoyment for you: we took video of Mollye and Ed actually filming our dances....

Saturday, October 01, 2011

Kaatsbaan 2011/Pressing Empty

Some of these shots are from day to day moments (or special moments in a day/evening) during our residency at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center.
Before our showing on Thursday night, we decided to run out and get in a short photo shoot.
There was dinner, class in the morning, poi to be spun (thanks to Ben) & yes, Neva went running almost every morning!
Enjoy -
This Blog in Pictures is for Sheila Callaghan... who likes the sound of dancers feet during performances ;)

Click here for the slide show

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Mapping, photos, and caught in the air....

More soon... including video.... in the meantime - here we go:

Mapping Home InStudio at the lovely Gibney Dance Center

Friday, March 25, 2011

Build.......

Yet another idea of HOME.

(rehearsal work in process)
Kinesis Project dance theatre
Mapping Home
Choreography by Melissa Riker, in collaboration with the dancers
Phrases created by Jun Lee and Ben Oyzon
from Mapping Home Group Interview #1
voices are from Interview.
Video was taken in Gina Gibney Dance Center and DANY Studios
Music in video (temp) - Juicebox and Afro Celt Sound System

Friday, March 11, 2011

Five minutes of dancing.... in process

Hi there - I've been gone a while -
I admit it - but in that time, we were invited to take part in AEP, and thanks to that program, we've had our first group interview for MAPPING HOME -
(how completely cool it was too!)
There will be more coming soon - the events page on our website will fill up quickly, you just watch....

With many thanks to the brave individuals who came and shared their thoughts with us, I offer you our first bit work to come from the interviews: MAPPING HOME / this rock

The phrase work was created by Zoe and Hilary as they zoomed in on aspects of one of our interviewees who spoke of a rock on the tip of an island - each paid attention to a different aspect, one was focused on water, the other, on the foundation of rock...

This, as always, is a very first step - the first version is just their phrases put together as a duet. Then as I was watching, I felt I wanted another layer.... So as always, layers lead to meaning, and I feel like we've hit a good groove with this beginning.

(rehearsal work in process)
Kinesis Project dance theatre
Mapping Home
Choreography by Melissa Riker, in collaboration with the dancers
Phrases created by Hilary Brown and Zoe Bowick from Mapping Home Group Interview #1
Dancers in full segment: Hilary Brown, Zoe Bowick, Madeline Hoak, Jun Lee
Temporary Music for piece - Meditative Voices

Friday, December 17, 2010

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: