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Fall and Recover: Musings on Dance
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Lauren: Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 6:03 PM
I admire dance critics, but I certainly don't envy them. Weekends spent in a dark theater hunched over a notepad; people you barely know pretending to be your best friend; the fate of their social media lives resting in your hands.
I think back to episodes such as the disastrous review of NYCB's Nutcracker and the firestorm that followed Alastair Macaulay's assessment of Jennifer Ringer and her cohort. Yeah, critiquing dance is something I really don't aspire to do.
If I were to categorize myself as a writer, I guess I would fall somewhere between academic or scholarly writing and commentary. As such, I struggle to keep up with the "news" aspect of dance. I don't see enough of it; I certainly can't hold a candle in a conversation on who's who's of modern day dancers and choreographers. That's for the critics, I suppose...
However,
 I'm visiting St. Louis next weekend and have the opportunity to see the entirety of the Spring To Dance Festival, and it occurred to me that not writing on it would be missing out on a huge opportunity for me to experience personal growth as a writer, not to mention as an active participant in the dance community. At the risk of being cheeky... is it cool if I write non-critique-y critiques on what I see?
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Lauren: Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2012 5:22 PM
I work, and I write, and then I work some more, and then I write some more.
And then, sometimes, I think.
What I mean is, life is go, go, go, all the time and if you're an artist of any kind this can be a bit problematic when if comes to making work that's.... well..... good.
You might go to a coffee shop and see that one guy that stares intensely into his cup, or you might come across three hipsters in an alley talking about vortices, and vice, and puppies.
"Pftshaw. Artists"
You say under your breath.
Those moments and those conversations aren't idle time. Those people aren't lazy. This stuff is extremely important, and I'm thinking that really you are just jealous.
I know I am.
 Instead of staring at my coffee or meeting up with guys in skinny jeans in alleys, I usually think by writing. I don't mean so much writing articles but rather stream-of-consciousness type free writing. Well, and I also take baths. Those two things help me digest the art that's happening in my life (whether it be made by me or anyone else). They help me to understand: what do I REALLY think about _____, or, what is my next step in this phrase or this piece or this life.
So that's what I'm going try to do here...
After decompressing a bit from Refill, I find myself at a bit of an artistic pause before getting hot and heavy into the planning of a second season of Produce. The funny thing is, if I look back on my year it's kind of a blur. Without my knowing, it turned out to be a "season" of sorts. Two fully produced performances, a festival appearance, and a curated series. That's a far cry from what I was doing two years ago... which was nothing. I feel a little bit like I got on the right train at the right time, and now I can't get off.
So what exactly is this thing, and where is it going?
There are full on dance companies that don't take on this many projects, but I've always insisted that I don't have a dance company; I don't want a dance company; I like doing just "projects".
At what point are you doing enough consistent projects that you might as well have a dance company? Does calling this thing my "dance company" somehow legitimize the work or the dancers or the collaborators? Does it give me responsibilities beyond that project to continually and consistently provide these people with work?
Instead of just reveling in my post-show glory, these are the questions I ponder.
But maybe it doesn't really matter what this thing is or where it's going. The way I figure it, as long as we're all still inspired and having a good time, let's go for it.
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Lauren: Posted on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 7:01 PM
 I knew this week wasn't going to be easy. First week of school, family members coming into town, and tech week. Tech week is exhausting even under the best of circumstances, but this one's a doozy.
Surprisingly, I'm in good form so far. I haven't really experienced much of the last minute OMG moments where I realize I didn't make a program, or follow up with press, or buy the right underwear to go under my costume.
It's the little lady with the long name that is making for such a hassel-free week, with thanks to the Kemper Foundation and Links Hall's brand spankin' new Apprentice Producer Program. I'm not having those panicky moments, because it's all taken care of, and not by me, and I don't have to spare a dime on it.
Awesome.
Caralanay, our Apprentice Production and PR Manager, rocked this show, and according to her, learned a lot in the process.
I learned a lot too: I learned that I'm happier with the result when I spend my time focusing on the work itself, and not on the program, or the PR, or the box office. Excepting the purchase of afore mentioned underwear, Caralanay took care of all the details and afforded me the time and the energy to make the dance I wanted to make.
Ironically, that's kind of, part of, what my dance is about.
Come check it out! The not-to-be-missed double bill of yours truly and enidsmithdance goes up on Friday through Sunday at Links Hall. |
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Lauren: Posted on Friday, July 22, 2011 1:47 PM
 First of all, I'd like to publicly announce that that movie should have ended after "eat," although I've been told the book is much better.
Secondly, that piece of strawberry pie is not from Italy. It's from the Hotel Santa Fe in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. And it's the best piece of pie I've ever had.
With ongoing rehearsals, Dance/USA, and new projects on the horizon, July has been so busy it's been hard to hash out some time to process the things that have happened at Produce. At some point I may have the opportunity to take a step back from my life, sit in my backyard with a frosty cold beverage, and think about it. In the meantime, I'll have to settle for a blog entry of bullet points: - Some artists prefer chaos and the Unknown, others prefer organization and pre-determined expectations. Much like the Kinsey scale, everyone seems to fall somewhere along a spectrum between these two extremes.
- Seeing the same seven groups performing the same thing in multiple combinations does not get boring.
- Somewhat (though not entirely) arbitrary pairings can bring out new layers of meaning in an existing work through "happy accidents".
- Audience members are smart. They see a lot the things we want them to see - we just don't often get a chance to have a chat about it. How can we and/or should we facilitate these interactions in a more "traditional" concert setting?
- Many patrons (so far) placed the monetary value of what they saw at the price they paid at the door. I was talking to a dancer/friend on the Saturday after Produce 1 who paid $65 plus $11 parking for an hour of bowling and a beer with her boyfriend. I'm not AT ALL suggesting that our audience members are cheap; it's just an interesting comparison to make.
- Aside: That then begs the question(s).... IS Produce worth just 8 bucks? Do we challenge this perception and try to prove that what we did was worth more than 8 bucks? Or, do we change what we are doing to try to create something else that is worth as much as bowling? Or, is it OK if it's only worth 8 bucks? Or, is our audience made up of other artists, and because of the value predicament we're in they need every dollar they can get to buy themselves dinner?
I have no answers to these questions (yet). Perhaps there really aren't any... What I know for sure is that, for me, at least, Produce is something that was absolutely necessary. Stay tuned... |
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Lauren: Posted on Thursday, July 07, 2011 6:39 PM
Produce.
Or is it Produce?
Either way, it's happening tomorrow night, and for the following three Fridays in July. You've been hearing a lot from me about Produce. About what it is and why you should come.
So, instead of repeating myself with shameless, desperate plugs to fill seats at the Fasseas Whitebox, this is about why I am doing it.
Reality TV is amazing. Where else can you lump together frat boys, dancers, trophy wives, fat people, hoarders and obnoxious brides-to-be in the same category?! In both of my current projects, part of my efforts have been focused on evaluating, understanding, and ultimately discarding reality TV from my life. I really want to figure out why this stuff is so compelling, and conversely why I sometimes judge my own success based on these contrived "real people" we see on TV. I frequently carry on about how it's so difficult to get butts in seats at the theatre, and yet, I admittedly watched about three back-to-back episodes of Teen Mom yesterday during my day off.... That's not that I necessarily consider Teen Mom to be comparable competition to, say, Produce.
Dr. Jim Taylor writes in the Huffington Post that today's fascination with reality TV is akin to public executions, or a traffic jam caused by gaper's delay. You just have to look. It gives us a sneak peak into the ridiculous lives of "real" people and all their foibles and vices. It allows us to feel good about ourselves, because, hey, at least I'm not like THAT guy..... Even a show like So You Think You Can Dance, a seemingly wholesome endeavor to spread a love for dance around the world, capitalizes on weird audition footage, the quirky personalities of the dancers, and screaming judges making out with one other. It's become less and less about the dance, because, what we really care about is the people, and who's going to get voted off this week.
Truthfully, sometimes I'd rather stay at home and watch reality TV instead of going to a dance concert, for the same reason I sometimes want to play the Sims. Why would I chose to piddle away hours, living vicariously through another person--real, fictional, or otherwise? Simple: it's entertaining.
Going to dance concerts is sometimes entertaining, and sometimes it's not. Sometimes I understand them, and sometimes, no matter how hard I try, I don't. But because dance is my field, I can usually draw something useful out of that experience. For me, I think that's why I don't often see many patrons from outside the dance community at modern dance concerts. It's not inherently entertaining. You can't tune it out with a piece of pie, you've got to work at it. But that doesn't mean it can't be fun, and extremely rewarding. Can contemporary dance reach the masses in the way that commercial dance and reality TV has? If it can, does it want to? That's what I'd like to find out.
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