Live Stream of W & P Monday Night on The Winger
Once again, Works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum has sold out and they are offering a live stream of the show. Tune in to The Winger or DIYdancer tomorrow night, February 28th at 7:30pm, to see John Zorn’s Music Interpreted – New Choreography by Donald Byrd and Pam Tanowitz.
Each choreographer was commissioned by W & P to create new works to the music of composer John Zorn. Below, is an interview with John Zorn and Pam Tanowitz to get you warmed up for the show:
I will be moderating an online discussion in real time via Ustream and Twitter. Hope you will join me!
P.S. You can view the video from the last live stream of PNB: Giselle Revisited here.
Pacific Northwest Ballet, “Giselle Revisited” - Streaming Live Tonight
Works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum presents Pacific Northwest Ballet–Giselle Revisited.
Watch the sold out show live tonight, right here, at 7:30p and join our online discussion:
Online Discussion moderated by me, Candice Thompson on DIYdancer and The Winger.
Works and Process and PNB live on The Winger!
A special event via The Winger: This Sunday night, January 9th at 7:30pm, Works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum will be live streaming one of their shows for the first time! You can catch the show and online discussion live on the The Winger and DIYdancer.
The show, Pacific Northwest–Ballet Giselle Revisited, will preview excerpts of Peter Boal’s new staging of Giselle, featuring reconstructed choreography utilizing Stepanov notation circa 1899-1903 and French sources from the 1840s and 1860s. There will be discussion among dance scholars Doug Fullington and Marian Smith and artistic director Peter Boal as well as performances by PNB dancers Carrie Imler, Carla Körbes, James Moore, and Seth Orza.
Not only am I looking forward to being enlightened by all of this history and retelling of my favorite classical ballet, I can’t wait to moderate the live chat accompanying the streaming! The show is sold out but you can be a part of it by coming back to The Winger at the above date and time, enjoy the show and be a part of the discussion online!
In all ways, this is going to an historic event, so don’t miss out!
{Photos courtesy of Works and Process at the Guggenheim. Amanda Clark in PNB’s new version and Tamara Karsavina and Vaslav Nijinsky in Ballet Russes’ Act 2.}
Say Goodbye to LOLAstretch
and hello to my newest venture DIYdancer.
But before I get to that, LOLAstretch will only be around for 6 more days! All that is left are some Track shorts and Stars Legwarmers. Help me get rid of everything (pretty please) and have affordable gifts for all of your dancing buddies. For these last six days you can use the code LOVEYOUGDBYE to receive 50% off your order!
Thanks especially to all of you Wingers for being so supportive of LOLAstretch throughout the years. I would be sad but I am way too excited about DIYdancer and my growing costume design work. I hope you can all check out DIYdancer, fan us on FB, follow us on Twitter and potentially comment and contribute should you be so inspired. I will be posting my leotard patterns and tutorials on the site in 2011, so subscribe to our rss.
I look forward to continued conversation with you all here and there.
xo
Candice
Ratmansky’s Nutcracker
ABT is premiering a brand new Nutcracker by Alexei Ratmansky at BAM this December 22-January 2. The Guggenheim’s Works and Process series gave a behind-the-scenes look at what makes this version Ratmansky’s own. Veronika Part’s vignettes in this video are gorgeous, but the brief moments of the Clara and her boy prince waking up are what really put me in the Nutcracker spirit. Totally priceless!
W&P Brings Reality to Dance
Last Sunday and Monday, the Guggenheim’s Works and Process series gave us a debut of reality television proportions. I mean that in the most flattering of senses–being a fan of Top Chef and Project Runway– and I strongly encourage Bravo to look into the possibilities of launching a show called Project Choreography. After attending and tweeting the world premiere on Monday night, I was reminded of why reality television is so popular and effective, aside from just being economical for networks. America today is a world of ever growing inequality; and for an hour, this dose of “reality” offers you a chance to vicariously feel the exhilaration of being placed on an even playing field with the same circumstances as all of your competitors, with a shot at greatness. And in the dance world, choreographers and dancers alike are no strangers to the desire for equal footing in their careers.
W&P meant this commission as more of an artistic challenge as opposed to an “I’m not here to make friends” kind of competition, and the limitations they placed on the choreographers did yield creativity and strikingly divergent results. The challenge given choreographers Jessica Lang and Pontus Lidberg, was to create a new work to the same two pieces of music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang with the dancers of Morphoses. The resulting work was night and day, Lidberg being the former and J Lang the latter. J Lang’s choreography was as aggressive as Lidberg’s was sensual; while Lidberg’s fluidity let the dancers give in to gravity at times, J Lang’s dancers had staccato patterns for their limbs and often inverted themselves against gravity. The choreographers even ordered the pieces of music in their work opposite of each other.
The different visions also played out through the costume designs brought to each. J Lang’s group was a battalion of army combatants in olive greens and browns with harness like vests, letting you know a gun was only put down for the sake of the dance. Lidberg’s dancers were in subdued monochromatic tones of gray that then bled to a dreamy surprise splash of color as the dresses changed instantaneously with a simple quick port de bras. Congratulations to Benjamin Briones for this onstage costume change coup!
But the thing I enjoyed most about the show was how it allowed me to hear the music, Forced March and The So Called Laws of Nature, by David Lang more deeply. David Lang’s music can be simultaneously spare and complex; but it is his use of small and seemingless endless variation that lend this music a sense of lightness v. darkness, making the notes so ripe for the expression of dance. In fact, the choreographers brought out such different motifs and moods–while still referring back to a common theme of war (J Lang) or interplay (Lidberg) between the sexes with their respective use of partnering– my ears felt deceived and each time I heard the music it felt completely new.
As far as my comparison with reality television, here is where it breaks down. Instead of one choreographer emerging victorious over the other, I found it a win-win situation for all. The choreographers stayed true to their own styles, allowing for the audience to learn a little more about their process and what makes their work unique. The dancers of Morphoses showed themselves to be a troupe of flexible, smart and capable dancers, fully showcasing and immersing themselves in different styles of movement to the same music (which is not always easy to accomplish to different music). Compliments aside, I am not convinced all of the components would make for as interesting an evening on their own. To that end, Works & Process is the true winner for commissioning this new work to music that demands listening and having the foresight to curate for this collaborative art form successfully.
If you want to read my twitter feed from the actual event, you can find it here.
Next up on the W&P Calendar: Voices and Dance within the Americas.
Works and Process is back!
I know that it is now officially fall because the Guggenheim’s Works and Process lecture and performance series is back. And I will be tweeting as many as I can live from many places: @worksandprocess (the Guggenheim twitter feed), @clthomps (my personal feed), and @diydancer (DIYdancer is my newest project that is in development and it is shaping up to be a new blog about dancers that do art! and many other interesting and cerative projects outside of the studio).
This Sunday and Monday, Works and Process will be premiering 2 new works by Pontus Lidberg and Jessica Lang performed by Morphoses. Both choreographers are using the same piece of music by David Lang. Personally, I love David Lang as he has often been the composer of choice for the work I do with ad hoc Ballet, and I am also looking forward to seeing this commission by two choreographers with whom I am somewhat unfamiliar.
Here is a video clip of a studio showing of this upcoming work by Morphoses at Martha’s Vineyard this summer:
I hope you can join me either in the audience of the show or on twitter Monday night at 7:30pm!
xo
Candice
5 Question Survey Sale=Your input is needed!
Dear Wingers,
I need your help! I am in the process of reinventing LOLAstretch (it’s mission, products and community) and you your input is integral to developing the new direction. My goal is for it to become more of a DIY resource, sales outlet and hub for dancers as they explore fashion, art and handmade crafts.
Please take five minutes to answer these questions and I will be forever grateful to you and of course, send you an awesome sale code in return for $10 legwarmers or $15.00 off dancewear. Click on link below:
http://lolastretch.tumblr.com/post/738680554/we-want-you-survey-sale
Thanks in advance for your time and valuable input!
xo
Candice
(Pictured Eran Bugge and Francisco Graciano of Paul Taylor Dance Company. Photo by Steven Schreiber.)
Introducing Brittany Fridenstine-Keefe and LOLAline Summer
One model, 1 hour on a sunny day that was forecasted as rainy, four leotards, a public restroom to change in and a great photographer equals guerrilla photo shoot fun in McCarren Park (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)! Many things did not go as planned–such as finding the ice cream truck that inspired my color palette– and yet somehow, the end result was just what I was looking for to represent LOLAline Summer. Phew! Lucky to work with such talented people!
Here are some of my favorite shots of Brittany and a few outtakes to boot.
Now I am going to walk away carefully as you hold this port de bras back…..
Runners, it is your lucky day.
Working home plate.
Nap in the sun.
Wow. Legs!!
It is always recommended to warm up before running hurdles in a halter leotard.
Ungracefully trying to get my idea for a lunge across.
Good times had by all. Brittany was so much fun to work with!
Photos by Steven Schreiber. Clothing available now at LOLAstretch. (Free shipping use code ROCKET by 5/30/10).
Before you know it, we will be posting Fall photos. In the meantime, have a great summer!
xo candice
Columbia Ballet Collaborative
My favorite springtime models from Columbia Ballet Collaborative are performing this weekend in Emery LeCrone’s new ballet Five Songs for Piano at the Miller Theater on April 9th & 10th. Come on out and see what these multi-talented, multi-tasking ladies have been up to!
You can see more behind the scenes rehearsal photos at Oberon’s Grove. Thanks for keeping track of everything that is going on in the NY dance world Philip!
And you can read more about Artistic Director Victoria North in an interview she did with Stephanie Wolf of LOLAstretch.
Merde!
xo
Candice
(Photo by Steven Schreiber)
