MEGAN KURASHIGE San Francisco Conservatory of Dance San Francisco, California USA BIO | POSTS
Hello!
So, the last time I wrote, I mentioned a performance I was getting ready for, but didn’t actually say much about what we were doing. That was because I didn’t know! When my friend called to see if I’d be interested in a “dance theater” piece that was about sleep and dreams and possibly involved screaming, I thought: well, that seems a bit weird, but it could be fun. There are three of us who are only in the one piece, so it wasn’t until our first performance that we actually grasped what the whole evening is about, whether it would be good or bizarre or awkward.
So… it’s really good. If you’re in SF and have time this weekend or next, head to CELLspace (this weekend) or Yerba Buena (next) and check out Dandelion Dancetheater.
Dandelion is hosting three weeks of physically integrated dance, joined by several artists from Madrid, Montreal, and the (completely awesome) local company, AXIS. The programs are different each weekend, so I’ll only talk about the program I’m in, but I’m sure the Yerba Buena shows will be equally fantastic.
The piece I’m in is called DORS. It’s an excerpt from a longer work by Jacques Poulin-Denis. Here’s a picture of Jacques:
Hm. He looks a bit stern there, but he’s very nice, very funny, and a very, very good dancer. The piece begins with Jacques standing in the dark, holding a small light, and talking about a dream. Quiet disturbances break out and escalate until people are leaping out of the audience, yelling and running through the space, acting out dreams and nightmares. I’m one of three dancers who float across the space like detached sleepwalkers (we improvise with our eyes closed—very exciting when you feel someone race past you at high speed).
Dandelion does this fantastic piece called oust. What blows my mind is how many talents everyone has. People sing and dance and play instruments and speak. It’s like watching some bizarre, slightly cracked, circus that lures you in with a strange spectacle and then suddenly starts talking about all the things that make you uncomfortable.
photo: Hiroki Saito
And a fabulous picture of Eric Kupers, who choreographed the piece (and plays a drum in it…):
photo: Luiza Silva Nadia Adame does this wonderful duet in a chair in oust. She also dances in and choreographed a piece for her own company called 9 dias y 20 horas a la deriva.
photo: Paloma Parra
My favorite piece though, the one I’m really excited to talk about and really, really want everyone to see, is Les Angles Morts. It’s a duet for Jacques and Melanie Demers. I’m not even sure how to describe it, except to say that it made me cry. It says something to you, but without being literal, without pointing out or explaining. It goes from the eye straight through to a place that recognizes it as both familiar and strange. Melanie and Jacques are both so extraordinary, so committed and honest in their movement, that they shook me all over. Melanie does this solo that ends with her walking backwards with a paper bag over her head, gesturing with her arms, and you are hypnotized by every small move that she makes because they are all so carefully considered… Such wonderfulness!
So, if you’re in SF, come see our show. Or keep a lookout for Dandelion, Melanie, Jacques, and Nadia, and if you get the chance, go see them!
As some of you might already know, my dad happens to be an exceptional photographer and for the past 15 years he’s been creating beautiful images of José Mateo’s Ballet Theatre of Boston - a great company (and school) who exclusively dance Mr. Matéo’s choreography. I went to their school right before I left Boston to come to SAB and they gave me the strength and the amazing experience of working directly with a gifted choreographer, before I even got to New York.
This Friday, they are having a gala showing of the work my dad has done with the company. (Needless it’s been a journey for my dad and BTB to go through and decide which pieces will be shown after 15 years of collaboration!)
It’s at BTB’s beautifully renovated church space in Harvard Square. (You might remember the picture I took when I taught there this summer). Doug and I are taking the Acela up Friday afternoon for the show. I can’t wait!
Click the image to read the details… maybe we’ll see you there!
The sign at the entrance to the installation. “Furo” means “bath” in Japanese.
A question was asked in Hebrew, restated in English, and then translated into Japanese. This was part of the scene at yesterday’s press conference for Furo, a collaboration between Ohad Naharin and the Japanese video artist Tabaimo.
In the last two decades, Israeli choreographers - led by Naharin - have pushed the boundaries of their art form along with their foreign counterparts. Furo continues this move forward. Globalization, collaboration, installation, technology, and video art are some of the hot words right now, and every one of these terms can be used in a discussion about Furo. The seed for the production began in New York City, where Naharin saw an exhibition of Tabaimo’s Japanese Bathhouse, and the collaboration between the Israeli choreographer and the Japanese video artist was initially shown in Stockholm. Now the installation - with Tabaimo’s video projected onto three screens which shape a stage space dotted with yellow buckets and flanked by two dancers standing on boxes with rotating platforms - is in Tel Aviv, with tickets at a mere 60 shekels in conjunction with Israel’s 60th birthday. Over the next few weeks, audiences will flock to the city’s port to see the work, which loops continuously for several hours nearly every day. Viewers can filter in and out as they like; meanwhile, pairs of Batsheva dancers trade off performing duty partway through each loop (one full cycle is 45 minutes). I got to preview the work (and make my way through a Q-and-A session primarily in Hebrew!) at the press conference and can’t wait to go back to see it with a regular audience on Friday. I have a feeling I’ll stay for a few cycles . . .
This is a quick snapshot of the Barnes & Noble shelves over which I used to hover during my high school days. The shelves now labeled “Theater Arts” used to be the “Dance” library.
How sad… I wonder what happened to the dance books (and if they still carry them).
Tres triste…
and for the past 15 years he’s been creating beautiful images of 
