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

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

A tidbit....

pulled straight from the middle of the piece.

musical editing by Katie Down
source music Greg Laswell (Cindy Lauper), Penguin Cafe Orchestra and The Turtles.

Mixed, Relieved and Happy

I have been working on Pressing Empty for three years. You have been reading about it for roughly the same amount of time - not sure you believe me?
Here's the first process post from Dec. 2007.

Emotions after such a large undertaking is accomplished are always complicated. This experience is nothing different. I have moments of utter joy that it has been completed and accomplished after years of thought, movement and writing - and then moments of abject sadness.
HOWEVER, the sadnesses seem to be much more temporary than the joy.
A good sign of more to come and continuing to hone "what it is".

I'm complicated. What can I say?

With the amazing power of music by Katie Down, the lovely lighting of Zac Mosley, the final costuming by Tracy Klein, the incredible support of my right arm Laura Schlachtmeyer and this amazing, fearless cast I have been so lucky to gather - it can all happen again, each time a better stronger work.

Images I love from this performance:
Photos by Bob Riker

Hilary Brown, Madeline Hoak, Jun Lee Zoe Bowick, Nik Priest, Ben Oyzon, Hilary Brown, Rebecca Patek, Wiebke Shuster, Madeline Hoak, Laura Colon Jun Lee, Madeline Hoak, Rebecca Patek, Hilary Brown, Ben Oyzon, Haley Willcox
Jun Lee, Madeline Hoak, Wiebke Shuster, Rebecca Patek, Hilary Brown, Haley Willcox Hilary Brown Hilary Brown, Zoe Bowick, Rebecca Patek, Jun Lee

OPENING

Pressing Empty Opens tonight....

words. escape. me.

There is a still some work to do on the technical details....but I love the way tech-ing a show creates the necessary repetition so I can see these beautiful dancers digging up their stories and placing them on the stage for you...

Almost there

We are so close to this huge project being realized - I am incredibly excited and totally thrilled that it is really happening.
Judson Memorial Church is the kind of space that has not only decades of dance history in its walls, but holds that history with beauty. It almost makes me want to start going to church again.

But not quite.

Because dancing is my church and has been for a long time - so...lets say this experience combines many things:
a dance that has been broiling to the surface for almost three years
my love for beautiful architecture
a need to laugh at ourselves and how seriously we take some of the strange parts of institutions in life
& a release into the unknown with a vision of a work so large that two days ago I was sure it wasn't going to happen.

oh but it will - and I will be thrilled... proud and happy to share it with you.
get some tickets....... here, I'll even give you a secret code: DANCER

here's a little funny snippet of Madeline's hat we filmed last fall....

And awaaayyyy we go.....

More videos to come soon - in the meantime, study this:

Continuum

I am focused on moments between things.
Actions, people, thoughts, words...all of it....
I jokingly called it an obsession this evening - but I'm realizing that (maybe) I am not joking.

I make dances to explore moments. And to have the freedom to dive as deep into a moment in time between people, experiences or decisions of enormous weight to find out why we do it (or don't do it.)

Generally it is a 50/50 chance that a reason or exploration will unearth things hilariously funny vs. something heartbreaking.

Something you should know:
Pressing Empty is a wild combination of:
- the sense of empty that exists when someone unexpectedly disappears from your life.
- the state of empty that occurs right before, or right after, a decision is made.
.....and
the warning my dad always gave me about driving on fumes.
thus, the name: Pressing Empty.

The tagline?
........decisions, panic & lots and lots of tulle.

Empty. and Walking.

In 2007 I choreographed our show Right Before You Fell - it was a piece that explored what might happen if all of the elephants-in-the-room, or things we don't manage to say, were physicalized. To serve all that is unsaid.....there needed to be an awkward love story (or two) wound in for good lack of communication.

One "love story" was a series of duets between a singer and a dancer to Crazy by Willie Nelson.
The internal narrative of the dance is a women walking the city to clear her mind of love...but she imagines hearing his voice and his kisses flying towards her on the air.


While I was building the piece with Zoe, my Grandfather (Poppy) passed away.


I came back to the studio knowing deeply that this dance was not just about a break up, but also the intense sense of presence and forever that now fully immersed my Grandmother.

Poppy was gone, but Nanny was feeling him around every corner, and waiting patiently (most of the time) for him to show up, laugh and help her make some sauce.

It didn't happen. Until now. Yesterday my Grandmother passed away. Quietly ushered into death with words of love from my Mom, Dad and me.

And when we celebrate her life tomorrow and Tuesday these new dances about emptiness and fulfillment will begin to be filled with the wisdom of loss, the joy of finding home, and the bubbling laughter that we all can't help but equate with Nanny.

She has always been a wise voice and good listener. She had the strength of love in her actions and words. She will be missed in body here - but her loving ways and advice are part of all of us and will never be lost or forgotten.
Theresa Cerone Sanducci 1926-2009

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.

Madeline - Pressing Empty

This is Mads phrase paired down and turned into gestures that might be seen in an "everyday" situation. Things we, as people (not as dancers), might do.

Music by Suzie Almond

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