I met with the yellows on Wednesday and the green, youngest level on Thursday. I was so amazed that each of the three groups, ranging in age from 8 years old to 19, responded to the layout, guidelines, and open-endedness of the choreography workshop. There was never a lack of creativity or ideas…Some of the young teenagers who prefer to dance ballet were not thrilled to do contemporary, but I explained that even doing ballet was fine. Each kid could literally do whatever he or she wanted. In the first hour and fifteen minutes for each group, they created a phrase, tweaked it with levels and directional changes, and played with order and dynamics. Each time I ran the workshop, I learned new things to help the process along. Music has to be picked in the first five minutes, and once it’s been decided, it can’t be changed. When the groups congregate to show their tweaked phrases, they should show the original phrase first in order to keep track of what they’ve done. Overall, it was an exciting and rewarding process every time.
Watching Alejandro and Olivia stage Petit Mort has been so inspiring and amazing. These two amazing dancers come from different companies, ABT/Hubbard Street Chicago and Smuin Ballet in San Francisco. They’ve never met, but they have such an attachment and appreciation for the experience of learning this amazing Kilian ballet that they each sing the movement through their bodies. It is as if the choreography, and the Mozart music, was written for their bodies to express it. These two people, who have never met before this program, get together to teach this incredible piece, and when they dance the duets together, it’s as if they’ve known each other their whole lives. Alejandro is soft spoken and kind, and Olivia is sweet and genuine. All of the Reds respond to their connection too. They have instilled such an appreciation for the piece. The foils, or swords that the men use, symbolize nobility, power, sensuality, and masculinity. They are used in such a way that they are an extension of the mens bodies, that connect them to the music, and to the women. When I watch the boys work with the foils, I see how Alejandro and Olivia’s work is paying off. You could hear a pin drop in that studio, and the boys pay such a close attention to each detail; they have such a respect for the movement.
Through watching these rehearsals, and taking class with this oldest level, I have learned all their names and had a chance to get to know them. I am so amazed at the raw talent, natural rhythem, and hunger for movement that these people, especially the boys, have. Odwa is my favorite, with his gorgeous face, intense eyes, and long expressive arms. The one photo I have managed to post on my idisk folder is of Odwa and his partner Setu. I am always so impressed with how he makes each movement a whole body experience, and he commits to everything that he does. Even for an 18 year old, his is a very mature way of working.
Phatiswa is the most outgoing girl. She helped me learn all the others names, and taught me the African warmup that we saw the students dance on the first day. She told me about the amazing delicacy at her home of eating sheeps head, and described exactly how it’s prepared. She told me that she loves meeting new people, and she wanted to know all about my life back home, and how long I’ve been dancing, etc.
Well, that about sums up week one. Last weekend and this week to come!!
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