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In the studio and Jamming…

August 18, 2008 at 3:22 pm · Filed under dance, dancers, KATE, choreographer, dance theater workshop, contemporary dance, dance culture, dance companies, improvisation, dance spirit, KATE-M, SYREN, kate mehan, SYREN modern dance, dtw, dancenow NYC

KATE MEHAN
SYREN Modern Dance
New York, NY USA
BIO | POSTS

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…

Just doesn’t get much better than that.

www.syrendance.org

Dance Spirit Cover Model Search

July 10, 2008 at 9:29 pm · Filed under dance, magazine, magazines, dance photography, MADISON, cpyb, sanf francisco ballet, dance spirit, madison keesler

MADISON KEESLER
San Francisco Ballet School
San Francisco, CA USA
BIO | POSTS

Hello again everyone!

First I just wanted to thank everyone for the many congratulations about Hamburg. As the time comes closer it is becoming more and more real, I don’t think it will fully hit me until I actually arrive though.

Ok now for the main reason of this post…..

A couple of months ago I was contacted by Dance Spirit Magazine and was informed that I was a finalist in their Cover Model Search contest. I would have to leave San Francisco for a week and go to NYC with the other contestants where we would stay in a hotel, take classes at STEPS and Broadway Dance Center, have a professional photo shoot, see some shows, and have fun. Once I got the OK from my artistic director it was not a hard decision to go. The entire trip was a really good experience. I also learned that if I ever need photos Eduardo Patino is the man to go to. He is an incredible photographer and I loved working with him. It was really great to make the connection with not only Dance Spirit but the other contestants as well. Amanda was a tapper, and Lee does contemporary dance. They are both wonderful people and very talented in their field of dance, as well as other styles, so I knew that I had some tough competition. Even though the entire trip was technically for a competition there was nothing competative about it. We were all supportive of each other and appreciated what the others could do so it was a very relaxed atmosphere which made the trip much more enjoyable.

The magazine finally came out this past month (the July/August edition) and it was exhilarating to see it all put together. If you wanted to check out the magazine i know you can find Dance Spirit at book stores sometimes. Otherwise you can check out the website at www.dancespirit.com/cms . Here you will be able to see videos and a little information about all of us who are up for the cover. After you look at everything you can vote as many times as you want for your favorite.

Dance Spirit Magazine

October 22, 2007 at 9:03 pm · Filed under dance, media, magazine, school, TAYLOR, college, dance spirit

TAYLOR GORDON
Dancer, Student and Journalist
New York, NY UYSA
BIO | POSTS

After the September issue of Dance Spirit Magazine came out, focused largely on balancing college with a dance career, I thought it necessary to share my side of the story. Today there is so much of a pressure on young dancers graduating from high school: do we follow our dream and attempt to make a career from ballet, or do we follow a more conventional path to college, perhaps setting a dance career to the side or deferring it to a later date.

When I was at this point in my life (not long ago), nobody told me it was possible to have both. I had to find that out on my own the hard way. It’s been worth the effort, though, and I decided to share my story with the editors at Dance Spirit Magazine.

They printed a portion of my letter in the new November issue of the magazine. Buy it and turn to page 38…I’m there!

The part about Ajkun Ballet Theater is no longer valid (it was the plan at the time I wrote this, though), but many other things have taken the place of that (internship at Quick & Simple, Nutcracker with the company in CT…).

Anyways, I thought I’d share that. I’m off to do lots of work for midterms this week….