Dancing for Haiti
It’s horrible to hear of the tragedy in Haiti and how the devastation continues for the people who suffered from the earthquake recently - but it’s even more of a shock to know someone closer to home, in our own tight NYC dance community, who was hit personally by the aftermath.
The Haitian dance teacher at The Ailey Extension Program, Peniel Guerrier, apparently lost family members in the devastation and knows others in trouble there. Fortunately Ailey has donated time and space to offer a big benefit performance evening, with all ticket proceeds going directly to those in need in Haiti.
Though I’ve never taken Peniel’s class, I always feel a personal loss when I hear of sad news in the dance community (like the recent death of my teacher’s great ballet teacher, Dick Andros). The dance world is so small and I’ve somehow developed that strong empathy for those who’ve lost - so I am very glad to know I can do something myself to help this time.
I’ll be performing in the 9:30pm benefit performance this Saturday night (Jan. 23), and I’m really looking forward to being part of the cause. I’ll be dancing one of my favorite variations - Kitri’s Act 3 Variation from Don Quixote - coached by my amazing teacher, Kat Wildish.
If you’re in the city and want to give, I highly recommend coming to either the 7pm or my 9:30pm performance that night. A whole slew of talent is performing. Cash donations are also being accepted at the Ailey Extension front desk at their studios. Purchase tickets (and see more info) here.
San Francisco Open Your Golden Gate
During my most recent move I felt it was necessary to step back from things for a little while, which is why you haven’t heard from me in a very long time. I’ve always enjoyed writing, not only to connect to the audience and other dancers but also for myself; I’m finally ready to start that again.
Life has brought me back to San Francisco and I am currently corps de ballet with the San Francisco Ballet. My year in Hamburg was an incredible adventure and I learned more about ballet, life, and myself than I ever could have imagined. John Neumeier gave me a gift and I will never be able to thank him enough for that. I have many reasons for coming back to San Francisco and I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to continue my career with San Francisco Ballet. Hamburg Ballet is one of the most beautiful companies I have ever seen, and I feel so blessed for the year I had with them. I hope to work with John again soon.
Update
Hey.
Being ADHD and all everyone knows that I keep myself busy. With that said this weekend is the culmination of a lot of work.
For starters I have a silent involvement in a sketch comedy troupe called the S.H.I.T show that runs Friday and Saturday the rest of the month (started the 1st). Working with actors has been one of the best working experiences I have ever had. Not too mention I was laughing the entire time. When I did come up for air I would tell them “guys, im just a vessel” and we’d move on. Shout out to Ray and Evan for becoming the movement and surviving our “meeting” at the Pirate Ship?
Another project that is going down this weekend is very special to me. I have had the privilege to get invited to set a piece for the Lorraine Hansbury foundation annual fundraising gala this year at the Ritz Carlton. For anyone who does not know Lorraine Hansbury is a very famous Afro-American playwright whom wrote A Raisin in The Sun, which my commission is based off of. The multi-talented Director of the Lorraine Hansbury Theatre Stanley Williams and I have had many discussions about my involvement with the theatre and how im supposed to help usher in a new audience because my work is “edgy” or “progressive”. Not too big on those description of my work because that puts me out of the status quo. However I am very relieved to see an organization willing to take a chance and shake things up and do something new. I was telling Stanley that for this piece I want to have the monologue from A Raisin in The Sun be read by an actor much like spoken word. Within the context of the monologue that I have been working off of with my dancer and getting back ground insight into the minds of the characters from Stanley I noticed that having just text alone would not be enough to suffice this project. Needed to do something more so I told Stanley that I envision base, percussions and cello sneaking in and out of the background. Comparable to Mingus or cars been stuck in traffic jam blarring their horns. Only after I had completed the choreographic end with my dancer Michael Montgomery did I get in contact with Mr. David Molina a freelance music producer whom just got back from a project at Yale. Molina, Stanley and I spoke about what I had in mind for the dance so that musically speaking I will be able to set up the right tone and atmosphere for the piece to exist. We planned to meet later the following week in his studio to knock out the recording process. Originally a female actress read the monologue but it did not match what I was going for. I had Stanley read the whole entire rehearsal process and settled my movement in his deep baritone voice. Made sense to use him for the recording too. At the studio I had Stanley read a few times with some voice inflections with certain words to give it a lil more punch. I even got to do some beat boxing (my strange breath heavy attempts) and screaming falsetto that will sneak in and out the music. I’m glad that I have the trust from the director for full artistic range because I had him doing some funny lil things:) Today I looked online and the Gala is completely sold out. I will have the honor of having the opportunity to show the old mayor of SF Willie Brown and the current mayor Gavin Newsome my work and that’s pretty dope. The same night I have the same solo being performed in a different venue with other dancers/choreographers from the SF bay area. The only difference is that im having female dance the part that was originally choreographed for a man. Everyone who could not make it to the gala will have the chance to see the same piece danced and I suggest that you all go because im very proud of the work.
The end of the month I will be dancing in my 1st 20minute joint titled “MicroMachines and Dinosaurs” more on that later along with some other surprises that will be traveling me and dancer Alex Jenkins to the east coast. All I will say about that is……. that it’s a bit “NUTTY”.
micheal rehearsing with the Director Stanley Williams in the background
me in the studio. Sometimes you have to just feel it.
keep on keepin on.
Wait…..I dont have a date for the gala yet!!!!!
B
heres a link to my blog that i update with all the show info on the sidebars. http://tagsf-noexpct.blogspot.com/
Working in Washington
So I am in my third week with the Washington Ballet and my third week as a professional dancer. I arrived in DC a week or so before my contract started to get settled in and take the company’s optional “get-in-shape” classes. Taking class with out a dress-code and getting paid weekly are two things I am really liking about the company life. Everyone I have met has been so nice and the other dancers have been very welcoming and helpful while I adjust to my new life. Right now we are working on Don Quixote (staged by Anna-Marie Holmes) and a few light rehearsals for the world premier of Septime Webre’s “The Great Gatsby”. Being in a smaller sized company compared to SFB has given me 0ppurtunites to learn many parts in one ballet so I have had my brain full learning 4 different roles in Don Quixote. I have never really been around another company besides SFB so it is interesting to see how a “ensemble” or “non-ranking” company like The Washington Ballet works. In some rehearsals dancers will be doing a principle part then in the next rehearsal be in a corps spot while someone else gets there chance at a soloist role. It creates a atmosphere where everyone feels equal and part of a team.
The website of The Washington Ballet has been re-designed and launched last week. The new site is really great and has some cool videos and photo galleries to check out (….as well as my bio and headshot). Pretty soon we will start rehearsals for ballets in programs after Don Quixote in October.
To summarize the 09-10 season:
Don Quixote (October)
The Nutcracker (chor: Septime Webre, December)
The Great Gatsby (chor: Septime Webre, February)
Bolero(+) (with Nicolo Fonte’s Bolero, Karol Armitage World Premier and Edwaard Liang’s Wunderland)
Genius3 (with Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove, Mark Morris’ Pacific, Nacho Duato’s Cor Perdutand George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments)
I hope to keep you updated soon on how everything is and what is going on. Until next time!
Otis Houston Jr Has A Posse
Otis Houston Jr aka Black Cherokee has a posse and we are assembling. People are in play, talking to each other and working together. Case in point, member Chelsea Spengemann is curating FLOAT, the biennial series of performance and temporary sculpture at Socrates Sculpture Park, August 29 – 30, in Long Island City. For this show, Otis is crossing the river to install sculpture and manifest his concentrated human presence.
This social assembly requires consideration by promoters of online dance communications. It is another great example of how networking technologies can connect artists, viewers, producers and critics. The use of mobile video blogging (iphone 3gs) is new however there is something novel going on here beyond a mere technological advance, that is the treatment of the artist as the subject itself. Through the collective presentation and documentation of Otis’ life and work we build a group narrative around what we see in the artist, not only what he does but who he is.
The talk on Great Dance and DTW misses something else too. The grand narrative that surrounds the production and performance of “great dance” should not one of marketing or branding. Using the language of business is not the best way to conceive and develop relationships between artist and audience. A broader, more effective, grand narrative is that of social interactions rather than financial interactions.
The language of business is limited because it cannot properly conceive of itself. Otis’ support will never come from a bank or a tobacco company because he is their critic . Otis’ support comes from the people and the power they manifest developing social credit outside the logic of the marketplace.
Otis Houston Jr has a posse and we are assembling a story together.
Vail Round 3
I am about to take off for Vail… for my third time.
I was a wee one when I first came to Vail. 16 years old to be exact and studying at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy for a months time. I remember fondly watching Damian Woetzel in the “Stars Gala” dance Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes with Alexandra Ansanelli. It was a memorable summer.
A young Hallberg in training on the Ford Theatre stage circa 1998 (age 16)
Fast forward 8 years later and I made my return to Vail, now dancing in the “Stars Gala”. It was surreal… to be back as a professional and to be dancing in the program that I watched on the other side of the stage.
Fast forward 3 years after that and I am back… dancing with some great dancers.
Carla Korbes, ballerina with Pacific Northwest Ballet and Ashley Bouder, ballerina with New York City Ballet. The rep includes George Balanchine’’s Apollo and Black Swan Pas de Deux, respectively.
The divine Ms. Korbes (aka Terpsichore) fellow Wingerer.
Ms. Bouder in her powerful glory…
It is always great to come back to a gala more than once. And now with Damian holding the reigns tight, Im happy to return.
New beginnings…
Sorry for the much needed update all! At the end of June, I finished dancing with the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago and moved back to New York City to start working towards finishing my collegiate studies at Fordham University. I had previously finished two years of my undergraduate work prior to joining the Joffrey and embarking on a professional ballet career. It has been such a whirlwind of change but fresh starts can be truly exciting. I resume studies at Fordham in September and am also dancing for the Suzanne Farrell Ballet this season. I look forward to seeing what these new changes will bring to my life as I have so enjoyed seeing how fellow wingers have been thriving with such substantial changes in their careers as well. cheers!
You’re Not Splotchy
Since finishing my career as a professional ballet dancer over two years ago I have battled endlessly with the art form’s position in my life. I have relegated my passion to the back burner for much of this transitional period—being the all or nothing person that I am—choosing instead to focus what energy I’ve had on the task at hand, be it writing, photography or concocting a Twitter update.
This is not a popular choice. I am reminded so every time I am met with the question for which I have no conclusive answer: do you think you’ll ever dance again? It comes out of my parents’ mouths, my blog readers’ fingers as they type emails, and even strangers on the street who notice my face from all of the Ranting Details billboards currently populating the Times Square of my dreams. By now I’ve become so accustomed to encountering this elephant of a question that I find myself reciting a stock answer with the same rote delivery as a telemarketer. I don’t know, I say, cocking my head to the side and smiling through what has become an increasingly more comfortable conversation topic.
Though I’ve had moments recently where I’ve decided to take class on a whim or choreographed a solo for myself, I have never treated dance as something in which I can plainly dabble. For when you immerse yourself so completely in something from the age of eleven it’s nearly impossible to take a step backwards and look at it differently. Sometimes I feel dance is a family member I recently discovered isn’t a blood relative and I have to adjust to my altered perception. I just don’t know how to interact with it anymore.
Last week, this began to change. I set foot in a classroom to teach a corral of young students at a workshop in Missoula, Montana—the first time I’d taught in nearly three years. I’d known for months I would be standing at the front of a room wearing jazz sneakers and doing my best to keep my voice from rattling like the change in my pocket, but I was nervous nonetheless.
For the week leading up to the workshop I spent an hour each day concocting a lesson plan and, more often than not, laughing at my reflection in the mirror. Where has my arabesque gone? I wondered. And what about my ability to balance on one leg? Even the names of steps I’d executed daily since my twelfth birthday seemed as difficult to remember as foreign dignitaries.
But I trudged along. I listened to the piano plodding a three-four time signature and moved my legs accordingly. Within a matter of hours, collectively through the week, I had carried my body through a classical ballet technique class all the way from beginning to end. True, I didn’t execute every move with full force. But I was proud nonetheless.
Then the soreness hit. Anyone who has ever danced understands the sick masochism that displays itself on such occasions; muscle soreness means you’ve been active, which can only be good, right? Anyone who has ever not danced for two years and then danced again understands the intense amount of pain that displays itself on such occasions; it’s like jumping out of a plane without a parachute, hitting the ground and not only living to tell about it, but having to teach the next day.
Since I figured feigning a skydiving accident was out of the question I was left with no logical excuse for calling in sick to my first day of class. So I lifted myself out of bed and made my way to the studio. It felt strange having removed my ego from the situation. I walked into the building and instead of lamenting the fact that the classroom was about a tenth of the size I was used to working in I felt as eager to tackle the task at hand as I had my first day as a professional dancer. I began to realize there was a small chance I’d actually be able to invigorate these students in a different way than their daily teacher. I also realized I might actually be able to teach myself a thing or two in the process.
We made our way through plies and tendues. I clapped my hands to emphasize where the accents should hit in the music. We made our way through turns and jumps. And I began to smile. With each combination I grew more confident barking out corrections and demanding something more from the dancers; and I slowly realized I could give myself permission to see this whole experience as something more for myself.
Too often I hear professional dancers discuss the parameters of their careers as being limited to the company in which they dance. Once one achieves the level of excellence present at somewhere like American Ballet Theatre can there be anything else? I always used to chide people with this mentality, but as I looked around my class the other day I realized I had limited myself in similar ways. The reality is that my body still is not ready to journey back to the level of intensity at which I was operating before dealing with Epstein Barr Virus. Even if I get to a healthy enough place for that to be a possibility I may not want it in the same way anymore. But that doesn’t mean dance has to die for me. Maybe it just needed to flatline for a moment before I was aware enough to bring it back to life.
A Glimpse of My Year
I can hardly believe it… it’s been a whole year, and then some! As you can see, in my previous posts, it’s been so hard to keep you tuned in with all the changes in my life. I don’t think I will ever be able to catch you all up with everything that has happened in the past year, but hopefully giving you a glimpse will suffice.
The first tour for les Ballets de Monte-Carlo was to Ljubliana, Slovenia with Jean-Christophe’s, La Belle (Sleeping Beauty). When I think back on the tour, I felt like I was going to the first day of school after summer vacation. EVERY situation was new. New people, new places, new ballets, new teachers, new system, and a new way of working – everything was new, new, new!!! The change was scary and exhilarating all at once! The only comfort was knowing that others were going through the same thing with me. With every tour and new experience after the first, came the realization that change was inevitable, and it WAS the thing that sparked my move to BMC in the first place. I, of course, made comparisons from my past life to my new one, but eventually came to the understanding that in a change, nothing is better or worse – it’s just different. And that thought alone has opened up my life!
I guess if I were to talk about an initial hardship, it would be the language barrier. Simple everyday tasks like going to the grocery store or bank turned into a guessing game. I found myself (and still find myself at times) freezing up, and then asking, Parlez-vous anglais? Thankfully, a lot of people in the south of France and Monaco are english speaking, but in the long run it will not help me learn the language faster. I guess in the course of a year I can say that I understand French pretty well, but I don’t speak it - and this will take years!
In terms of company life, things are amazing! Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo is remarkable. The work, the creativity, the people, the places… the list is endless. Jean-Christophe is a definitive artist. I could say a whole lot more, but feel I don’t need to. I just know BMC is a good fit for me!
On a whole different note - Those of you who are close to me know that I am an avid believer in “The Secret”, and for the last two or so years I have been using its principles to shape my life. Now, I am not here to preach it, but I will say that I believe in it whole-heartedly. The power of positive thinking and knowing how the laws of attraction work have forced me to look at my life (and future) with a fine-toothed comb. And in return, have made this past season, and also my future endeavors, quite clear. I guess my point in even bringing this all up, is that it has made my transition into this les Ballets de Monte-Carlo pretty seamless. If you haven’t heard of it, I highly recommend the book or DVD.
I don’t want to make this post too lengthy so I will try to show you through some pictures what I’ve done & seen. The world is definitely your oyster, and life is what you make it. If you crave change or are contemplating something, just do it. The outcome in learning is golden.
This is a picture from the our first tour. It is the set for JC’s La Songe (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). There is a very modern approach to all of the sets of his ballets. I love it. I feel it brings more attention the the dancers and their intentions.
This is a picture from the theater in Bologna, Italy. The picture doesn’t capture the beauty of this enchanting space. This is where we performed JC’s Romeo et Juliette. It was also my first time dancing on a raked stage!!! My turns were never so bad, but by day three I started to get the hang of it.
We traveled to two small cities on the north of France, and along the way (on a free day), a small group of us stopped in Paris for a day. This is my impression of Mary Tyler Moore in front of the Louvre. Oh, yeah, and the Louvre is not pink, haha.. it was a setting that the camera was on!
Earlier this year, I posted pictures of La Belle in Japan. Here is a fun picture from that tour! It was of one of the best tours this season - sometimes I don’t think I will ever grow up!
Me & Nathalie Nordquist before our debut in JC’s Altro Canto. This is one of my favorites of Maillot’s! This was in Valencia, Spain
On our last, and potentially best tour, we had one free day to explore. The dancers took it as an opportunity to go to the Dead Sea & Jerusalem. We packed on black mud from the earth all over our bodies (like a mask), then rinsed it off, and went to literally float in the salty water of Dead Sea. It was UNREAL. I wish that I could post more pictures from this tour - Performing La Songe, and experiencing Israel… la vie est belle!
And now, this is what we are currently doing. JC’s new creation, Men’s Dance for Women. It’s been wonderful to work on a “creation” with Jean-Christophe. The dancers are still fine tuning the choreography in this piece, and we always will be. Jean-Christophe has an intention for every step in this ballet which does two things - one, makes it easier to have an objective so we know why steps are executed in a certain way. And, two makes it a challenge to focus on that objective. It’s great fun!!
Hope you enjoyed my glimpse! Next for me is a small vacation & then a guesting with Ballet Hawaii!!! Very excited! Stay tuned…
AIDS Walk - San Francisco
Please click the link at the bottom of this e-mail and sponsor me for AIDS Walk San Francisco!
For 22 years, AIDS Walk San Francisco has evoked a powerful outpouring of public support. This year, please join me in making a meaningful difference in the lives of people struggling with HIV and AIDS.
In this year when clients need so much and resources are tighter, I am asking you to reach deeply into your heart and consider making a gift to help cover for those who are unable to give this year. I am set on surpassing my goal this year—Please sponsor me today by clicking the link below to visit my AIDS Walk fundraising Web page! The website is secure and all donations are 100% tax deductible.
If you prefer to write a check donation, please make it out to “AIDS Walk San Francisco” and mail it the address below—including my name along with the check. Be sure to let me know that you have made the donation so I can properly thank you for your support! Mailing address: AIDS Walk San Francisco, P.O. Box 193920, San Francisco, CA 94119-3920
The fight against AIDS is not over! Did you know…
• Every 9 ½ minutes, someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV?
• Nationally, 1 out of every 5 people infected with HIV don’t know it?
• There are over 25,000 people currently living with HIV in San Francisco?
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation has set new, bold and aggressive goals to improve HIV prevention in the Bay Area and help the rest of the country—and the world—learn from their example. The Foundation’s comprehensive array of services, advocacy and outreach ensure that individuals get tested, know how to prevent infection, and that HIV-positive people receive the treatment they need.
The AIDS Walk is our community’s single most powerful and enduring response to the AIDS epidemic. Thank you in advance for being as generous as you can and for joining me in this important cause!
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