Today was the first rehearsal with new company members: Aleyse Bradford, Heidi D’Alessandro, Chanelle Lagacé, Brigitte Mitchell, and Quincy Junor. It was so great to share the space, and begin the very special process of sharing our work with the individuals who will be responsible for sharing it with the world. Sounds a bit…hoaky, I know… but it really is something intense that anyone who has created work can surely relate to. The dancers are the more than the vessel, they are the living breathing translation of what the work is and will shape up to be. It’s funny seeing a piece I have seen many times with a new perspective. We began learning a bunch of core phrases from “Abravanel” today and they blew me away.
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I look forward so much to the coming months as we get to know each other in a variety of ways.
After rehearsal Lynn and I had a meeting at Chelsea Art Museum where we think we may have our Benefit in November (fingers crossed!!!). Then we headed to a meeting with one of our Board members to discuss that in a bit more detail. She works for a hedge fund in Midtown, so we love getting free waters and juices!!!
What a day of running around!
A couple times today I just stopped to think that, WOW, I was fishing with my fiance this weekend in the middle of nowhere in Northern Vermont, and this evening I was at a Hedgefund office on 5th Ave in NYC. Crazy where life takes you…
Today we had the pleasure of welcoming Jeff back into the studio (at least for the moment!) He is in between projects with Noemie LaFrance, and we take him any time we can get him!
At the end of rehearsal we watched the footage from the “Pelleas et Melisande” premiere and it made me so inspired to get back to work on the re-staging of it. It’s good to feel that… A positive push to make the better parts better and to change the parts that didnt work so well. I know the feeling when I see something of mine and I just feel like “that’s just not good Kate, let that one go”. But there is something strangely fascinating to me about Pelleas. I just can’t wait to dig back in.
Still searching for the score for what will be the other new piece of the season. Just have not found it yet. But it will surely come.
Anyway, today really was great. It occurred to me that Jeff, Lynn and I have now danced with each other for a decade. We met freshman year at Purchase in 1998. Definitely a special thing to have moved with someone over time.
This is one of the posters starting appear around the city (this one at 5th Ave N/R/W train stop). This is a great event at City Center (all tickets $10!!!) The shows are in Sept. Everything from Shen Wei, ABT, Cunningham, to Oregon Ballet Theater and much much more. A great mix, the right price, and a SUPERB venue. One of these days, we hope SYREN will get on the bill! In the meantime, we are enthusiastic supporters.
Lynn and I have been back in the studio… Just “jamming” right now. Doing a bit of barre together, then she teaches me some new class excercises and combinations she has been creating…which feels great to be told what to do a bit! This week we did a pretty long imrov together to some Brahams mostly (Sonatos for Cello and piano Opp. 38, 99 and 108… and some work by James Newton Howard). Felt AWESOME to just move that BIG and free! Can’t believe we will be in studio with new company members in a few weeks re-staging “Pelleas” and getting “Abravanel” back up and running (we just booked a gig at Ethel Walker School in CT for November) and “Dig” excerpts ready for DanceNow Festival at DTW. Oh and somewhere in that I am starting a new piece for the company that we are trying to have the Artemis Chamber Ensemble play live for!!! So so excited.
And, I have yet to see a copy, but I hear there is a little mention of us in Dance Spirit Magazine for September. Page 150 to be exact!
Lots of really great stuff… But for the 3 hours in the studio, it sure did feel good to forget about running a company and remember where this whole thing started… Just dancing in a studio with Lynn…
Well, the company is hard at work creating a new piece that is set to the “Pelleas et Melisande” suite by Sebelius. We have just two weeks before it premieres! It will be the first time SYREN has worked with live musicians, so we are thrilled and a bit nervous at the same time.
The company has never worked so fast, with only four weeks to get the piece done. Our heads are spinning in 12’s and 3’s, but we are really getting somewhere, and I think that after Thursday’s rehearsal we will have a solid dent in the beast!
Check out what Lynn and Lindsay were rockin with today…
Two and a half weeks ago I was on the Greek island of Rhodes, soaking up some rays. This weekend, I was in the West Highlands of Scotland - getting soaked.
Rhodes and Scotland are at opposite ends of Europe,and there are some interesting comparisons to be made.
The beautiful views from my hotel rooms, for example:
Guess which one is in Scotland…
Up in the north of Scotland, the clouds were so low (or we were so high up) that it looked like smoke or steam was coming out of the ground. It seemed to be so perpetually damp I could not imagine that there could ever be a problem with forest fires (which there are in Greece, which is really hot and dry), but apparently there is:
Another interesting comparison is the animals one comes across in the course of the day. In Rhodes there were cats everywhere. They were really cute and I ended up taking more pictures of them than anything else. If this makes me a philistine then I am sorry!
The Greek donkeys were rather nice too:
In Scotland there are cows and sheep and some birds of prey, and rather a lot of frogs.
We walked about 20 miles yesterday. I like walking for similar reasons as I like dancing. I kind of retreat into my own head and either I don’t think about anything other than what I am doing or I feel like I can sort things out with a clarity it’s hard to find in my everyday life. Now we’re in Glasgow all that beauty is less than two hours away by train. You walk straight off the train into the most wonderful countryside, where the air smells really clean, a bit like cinnamon chewing gum. I feel so lucky to be here.
On the other hand, I do need a bit of sunshine… I wish I could be close to both places!
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