March 4, 2008 at 12:14 am · Filed under dance, art, san francisco, new york, choreographer, edwaard liang, BRIAN, tag sf
(Drew Jacoby and Rubi Pronk, photos by Dikayl Dunkley)
(Garen Scribner in a still pic from the film “Sunburst” by Mattew Taylor)
This past week i just got back to San Francisco from NYC. I was Intown for 10 days working on the first leg of a series of projects that i am doing for TAG. The artist’s that i was working with were Drew Jacoby and Rubi Pronk. Originally we were supposed to work Friday of the day that i arrived but i decided to cancel rehearsal and go out to dinner with the dancers. I was eager to do so because i knew Drew from SF while she was dancing with Lines. Rubi on the other hand i had never met, so i thought it would be best to get a face to face before we started work and i could explain to them my process.
I tend to go through various phases of interest in my movement vocab depending on where i am in the that particular moment in time. This time around i was in “Earthy/ Organic/Symbiosis” almost modern type mood. Hell, I spent 4 years doing it so it is mos def in my blood. It was cool working with the two dancers in the studio trying to figure out the movement. Me demonstrating and molding both parts with the dancers while they were eager to jump in and figure it out for themselves. What i loved most was how open they were. Here you have two classically trained virtuostic bodies wiling to throw themselves into new terrain no matter how silly they initially felt. The result after it all was said and done brought a smile to my face and that is a great way to leave something.
My mood changed the next morning. The Winter Snowstorm had halted production because we were going to shoot on location and Dr.Bacon - the man who directs and edits all of our films, my “Thom to his Jonny”(Props if you can get that reference.) - was not able to make it up from DC due to to the icey roads. It all worked out for the best though.
My time not rehearsing was spent with me shooting uptown and downtown and everywhere else within the town having various meetings. My fave was meeting Ms.Sloan! Very cool in person. I went to the Movmnt Magazine’s blogger forum hosted by David Benaym. It was great to see him again and a few of the fellow Wingnuts, Taylor Gordon, and Tony Schultz. Back to the Snow Storm being a blessing in disguise, a few of some really important meetings in terms of my career and future projects got cancelled so i get to re-schedule them for when i come back for the re-shoot later this month.(i know i jump around) My last night in the City i went out with a few friends from ABT and had a great discussion with Ethan Stifel about what he wants to do for NCSA as the new dean. I was very impressed with what he had to say. I know that he will do great things with my old stomping ground.
My time spent in the City was productive and most important for me was i got the movement done with the dancers. Now when i go back i can run it a few times, do some cleaning and then put it through the mill.
___________
This next part of the post is a couple months old. I wrote it out but was hesitant about posting it. A little bird gave me some encouragement so here you are:
This past week has been very busy and hectic with me having to get up earlier than usual which is super early, and having full loads during my work day. Last night after getting home i wanted to go out. All of my housemates were in rehearsal or yoga so i did some work on my computer waiting for all of them to get back. While on my computer i called up Liz to see what was going on for the evening (I love Thursdays) but of course she was on her way to a hockey game all the way in San Jose. The news came as a funny surprise to me seeing how i know more about hockey than Liz and i know nothing. As i was asking her about why she was going to a hockey game she told me that i should take her friend out who is in town setting a piece for the SFB Gala. Normally if left to my own devices i tend to keep to myself/close friends and not too interested in meeting new people so much. Luckily it is the new year. My resolution is to be more outgoing and with that in mind i decided to go out with Ms.Miners friend Edwaard Liang.
He and i went out for drinks and had some great conversations about dance , the industry and business. Neither one of us have seen any of each others work, yet we still had an equal respect and admiration for each other. I asked about the duet that he was setting and then quickly /kindly asked him to not explain the piece to me because i would rather form my own opinions. I wanted to watch it myself and draw my own opinions “OPINIONS”, a popular theme that kept popping up during our discussions…. “Opinions”.
Ed was speaking to me about how some of the best art that you might see could be in your home tucked away somewhere while other pieces that are not so good can find they’re way into the general populace for no other reason than luck, which is very true. A perfect example could be 95% of what is presented to us on a daily basis concerning pop culture. How many times have you paid to see your favorite band only to find out that they suck live? Or wonder why your really talented artist friend can’t get a break while other artists with far less talent are getting work? What about being super juiced about seeing a film just to find out 2 and half hours later that you will never get that time back. Yet all of these examples sell. That is how the biz industry judges it’s products. Numbers. Numbers are never wrong. 2 will always be “2″ and 0 will always be “0″. No way around it. This was an arc in the conversation: How do you judge art? With the understanding that good is “Good” and bad is “Bad”, everything else fall’s into opinion land. I know that i have gone to see shows by some of my favorite artist and left feeling let down because i felt no connection to the piece aside from the amazing dancers or movement. Even though i might not have enjoyed it i cant call it bad because i did not like it. What about all the others whom rant and rave about it for weeks to come? They are in no ways wrong about they’re opinions. Ed was saying If one person walked out feeling inspired than the artist did they’re job. TRUE.
The best part about the entire evening for me aside from the free drinks was that i was able to speak to someone whom is in the position to give me some accredited advice. I am fast approaching some major changes in my life that will take me out of my comfort zone and embark on a new chapter in my life. It is very exciting and scary at the same time. I was telling Ed that i am excited about moving on in my life and career because i will be able to have more resources and opportunites to work with other artist that i respect. He was playing devils advocate but not trying to disuade me. Simply keeping it real about the path that i am about to embark on. Paying close attention to him i could not tear this huge grin off my face. I was explaining how i am open to new challenges and that is what i am activly looking for. My fear will help keep me focused and sharp.
Something that i will retain from the evening conversation is that we all have something to say. As long as you have something to say and just have to get out, you will find ways to communicate. That’s what counts.
phewwwwwww…cant believe i wrote all of that.
pace.
B
Recent Posts by brian
October 24, 2007 at 3:40 am · Filed under dance, vail, CHRIS, morphoses, christopher wheeldon, edwaard liang, carla korbes, yaniv schulman, adrian danchig-waring, debut, journal, wendy whelan, craig hall, gonzalo garcia, teresa reichlen, lourdes lopez, olga kostritsky, miranda weese, laeticia giuliani, ginger tidwell, loreen domijani, cameron grant, maria kowroski, aesha ash
Photos ©Yaniv Schulman
Recounting Morphoses the Wheeldon Company’s first performance in Vail, CO in July/August…
Picked up at my apartment this morning at 7 am by Nev, camera in hand and tape rolling. Bleary eyed, I staggered into one of the two car services waiting. One had been called by mistake, by Ginger my assistant, and in an effort to be super organized we have truly pissed off a very grumpy Indian driver. We zip uptown on the early Sunday morning traffic-less streets of Manhattan’s Upper West Side to pick up Elizabeth our administrator, who is likewise bleary eyed and soapy smelling from the shower she has taken minutes before we pile back in the van and set off for La Guardia airport to take our flight to Vail. Today is Elizabeth’s 25th birthday, so July 29th is a shared birthday between Lib and Morphoses the Wheeldon Company.
Nev is shooting footage so we have film to make webisodes for our site and also to document the first steps of Morphoses. He clips a radio mike onto my belt as we wait for some of the dancers to gather by the United check-in desk. One by one, the dancers arrive, are they all really here for my company? Wendy Whelan, Craig Hall, Gonzalo Garcia who recently arrived in New York to take a position as principal dancer at City Ballet in the fall but dancing with us this summer. Following is Teresa Reichlen and Adrian Danchig-Waring. Immaculately organized and dressed in her own inimitable style. (She makes fabulous imaginative jewelry.) Victoria Epstein, our tour manager, instructs the dancers on the check-in procedure. All cruise through security except for me who is of course hauled aside for a scrutinizing extra check. I think it must have been my threatening English pinstriped trousers.
We sit in departures as a group happily chatting comparing technologies (mainly iphones and Blackberries). Lourdes and family arrive. Calista, her youngest daughter, chats excitedly with Wendy and I about a fish she had caught in the Hamptons. Adriel greets the group with a sleepy yet fresh and beautiful charm. George, Lourdes’s husband is dapper in a pressed shirt and grey slacks . His fatherly concern and devotion to Morphoses always touches me. He believes in us and it really translates into genuine caring support. A wonderful personal touch, he is surprising the dancers when we arrive in Vail with personalized backpacks and Morphoses sweatshirts. We continue to sip coffee and I eat my bran muffin suggesting that all the dancers take one. A suggested slogan :
“ Morphoses, we keep our dancers regular! “
Katy arrives with baby Jack . His blue eyes and white blonde hair enchant everyone. Katy will have her hands full in Vail between Jack and her ballet mistress-ing duties. Her family is in Colorado Springs so hopefully she will have her parents to help.
Looking around I am suddenly overcome with pride. This is my group of dancers. These people represent the beginning of a new part of my career, my life. They have come together to create dance, to emanate beauty, such important food for humanity. Can we really do this, change the way ballet is viewed by the dance world and the public? I believe that we have to try. Over the next ten days with a group from all over the world we will create new work, rehearse existing ballets and perform twice. Focusing on process and performance and developing a technique of presentation that allows the audience into our world just enough to feel welcome and involved and to fall in love with the people who are fascinating and often underestimated, the dancers.
Okay so I skipped a few days. Actually it’s August 29th today so I skipped quite a few days, and what amazing days they were.
We arrived in Vail to a warm reception from the festival. I think all of us were thrilled with our mountainside accommodations. We shared condos in a complex in Beaver Creek (unfortunate name but stunning location). The reps from the festival met us at the condos and filled us in on the various transportation and activities during our stay. It all felt a bit Dirty Dancing mixed with summer dance camp although I don’t think anyone was underestimating the amount of work that was ahead of us. That night I zipped over to Vail to watch the opening of the Festival. First act only, as Lourdes Lopez our Executive director and her husband George had arranged a welcome dinner for all the dancers to meet. So there we were, sun setting over mountain tops on a balcony-overlooking town. A group of dancers from several acclaimed international companies. A fantastic feeling of goodwill and excitement and a healthy dose of travel exhaustion. By dessert we were all close to passing out so the night swallowed us in.
The first few minutes into morning class I would pinch myself. Here we were finally, a small company with a real performance to deliver. An absolutely stellar group of dancers, a wonderful executive director and spectacular place to perform. We assembled each day at The Ford Amphitheater, an outdoor stage with a roof covering the seated audience and stage but with no walls, revealing the spectacular surrounding mountains. By the Stage Door a stream rushed by and the backdrop of the stage was a garden of wild flowers. Sounds idyllic and it was, especially taking morning class in the open air.
Olga Kostritsky taught us every day, pulling together our different schoolings into one unanimously popular class. The mood was light and jokey although the mix of styles created a very interesting sense of friendly competition. The dancers from Hamburg displaying a distinctly classical training in class and a controlled abandon in performance. The City Ballet dancers characteristically American, theirs a full and daring movement quality with the distinct Balanchinian style. Laeticia Giuliani unquestionably Italian, her movement sensual and generous. It was wonderful to be working alongside Carla Korbes and Miranda Weese again, two dancers who left City Ballet to explore careers at Pacific Northwest Ballet . We all went along to cheer for them in their performances with PNB later on in the week. I was honored and proud to have such a group working for me and they reciprocated with hard work, many hours in the car driving to the rehearsal venues, and two absolutely spectacular performances.
Rehearsals over the ten days were divided between four venues some as far as 35 minutes away from each other. My particular favorite was the auditorium of The Valley Mountain School in Vail. It proved a quiet and removed space that allowed for focus in the creative process. It was also fun to create on the stage of The Ford Amphitheater. Nothing quite like mountains in the summer sun to provide inspiration for a new ballet. Both Edwaard Liang (an ex-City Ballet dancer, dancing and choreographing for me this year ) and I made some new work in Vail . Ed’s new pas de deux ‘Vicissitudes’ premiered at the end of our stay and we previewed a ten-minute excerpt from my new work, which will have its premiere in London next month at Sadlers Wells. I think we were both turned on by the majesty and beauty of the surroundings. One day during class it was difficult not to be distracted by the hummingbirds dancing around the flower garden at the back of the stage. Such is the inspired beauty of nature. It was at times easy to forget the struggles of the world whilst we were hiding out in Vail .
The first week was tough as we all found the travel between rehearsal spaces to be logistically challenging. Often the dancers had to spend their lunch break sitting in traffic on the highway between towns. Luckily tired as we all were, everyone seemed happy and we celebrated the end of our first week with a cookout in my condo . Of course it was meant to be by the pool but we were rained off so we gathered on Sunday evening and had an eat fest largely supplied by Lourdes and George.That was the day that confirmed my suspicions that I had gathered not only a supremely gifted group of artists, but also a fantastic bunch of people.
George and Lourdes
Aside from the dancers, Lourdes brought her family. Her husband George who was our biggest supporter and took it upon himself to be a very successful activities director. Their daughters Calista, ten going on thirty, and Adriel who is off to Yale this semester .They were a super family and included everyone in a feeling of love and support. Yaniv Schulman came along and made two insightful and moving short films that were shown at “ Up Close with Morphoses”, the first and most intimate of our two performances. These proved a hit with the audience as I knew they would . It really gave them a look into our personalities, our process, and above all our accessibility as people and as a company. It will always be the goal of Morphoses to be welcoming to the public and to shed some of the mysteries of our art form . That’s not to say that a certain amount of mysteriousness isn’t alluring, but I think that many people fear ballet because of a long enforced inaccessibility. Films and personal insight invites a wary and suspecting fence sitter into our world.
My assistant Ginger Tidwell came as well, and was soon nicknamed mother Ginger. She was awesome and made sure that everyone was well taken care of as well as seeing that I made it to my many rehearsals on time. I cant remember a happier professional time in my career.
Our administrator Lib was with us and she made sure that all was running smoothly behind the scenes. And then of course Victoria Epstein, the most spectacular company manager of all time, and likewise Loreen Domijani who spent sleepless nights lighting the stage and running the performances with a biting wit that kept us on our toes and laughing even in the pressured moments. Katey Tracey was also a force to be reckoned with. Her perfect schedule calculations, and as always, totally thorough rehearsing of my work was invaluable. Katey is totally unflappable even with baby in one arm and a rehearsal schedule in the other. I was truly a blessed artistic director and couldn’t have wished for a better team.
Cameron at the piano
I know for those of you that were with us you might be thinking “but you forgot Cameron and Helena”. Ahh but I didn’t, I was just saving the best till last. Cameron Grant made our group complete with his exceptional playing of the piano in both ‘Polyphonia’ and ‘After The Rain’. He and his wife Helena had a close brush with nature when a baby bear broke its way into their condo, stole a yoghurt (low fat) from the fridge, only to be seen peering out the window yoghurt in hand, to make sure no one was watching. The rest of the week we would find signs posted all over the complex warning of the hungry bears.
Of course it would be unrealistic of me to think that I could always provide this kind of blissful environment for my dancers, and I look on these two weeks as our innocent time, probably the only innocent time of Morphoses, before we are looked upon and are judged for better or worse by public and critics alike. I do however feel confident in my philosophy that happy confident dancers give magnificent and radiant performances. From the beginning of the inaugural performance on the last night of our stay I knew that the dancers felt like they were part of a company. I also know that they felt the intense pride, support and appreciation from myself, Lourdes and all the others who had brought us to that point and we were not afraid to show it. I was moved by the way the dancers swept the audience along with them and especially by how the audience surrendered to them. It gave me such hope in our beautiful art form and in its future. For those of you that doubt we can do it, just watch us try. You may be right, but you certainly will have a hard time stopping us from giving it our best shot.
Vail International Dance Festival program
MORPHOSES/ THE WHEELDON COMPANY.
Gerald R Ford Amphitheater Vail Colorado Friday August 10th 2007.
POLYPHONIA.
Choreography by Chrstopher Wheeldon
Music by Gyorgy Ligeti
Carla Korbes Bakthuel Bold PNB
Miranda Weese Gonzalo Garcia PNB SFB
Helene Bouchet Thiago Bordin Hamburg Ballet
Teresa Reichlen Tyler Angle NYCB
Intermission
VICISSITUDES,
Choreography by Edwaard Liang
Music by Franz Schubert ( Death And The Maiden )
Maria Kowroski Tyler Angle NYCB
EXCERPT FROM NEW WHEELDON BALLET.
Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon
Music by Joby Talbot
Wendy Whelan Aesha Ash NYCB LINES
Craig Hall Gonzalo Garcia NYCB
PROKOFIEV PAS DE DEUX.
Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon
Music by Serge Prokofiev ( Andante Assai from the Second Violin Concerto )
Helene Bouchet Thiago Bordin Hamburg Ballet
DANCE OF THE HOURS FROM LA GIACONDA.
Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon
Music by Amilcare Ponchielli
Laeticia Giuliani Gonzalo Garcia Maggio Danza Florence NYCB
Intermission
AFTER THE RAIN.
Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon
Music by Arvo Part
Wendy Whelan Craig Hall NYCB
Maria Kowroski Adrian Dancig-Waring
Teresa Reichlen Edwaard Liang.
Check out Morphoses on the Morphoses MySpace page.
All photos ©Yaniv Schulman
Recent Posts by christopher wheeldon
May 22, 2007 at 5:52 pm · Filed under travel, san francisco ballet, CHRIS, morphoses, christopher wheeldon, edwaard liang, australian ballet, australia, sydney, after the rain, sydney opera house, matz skoog, trinidad sevilliano, company class, matt trent, lucinda dunn, kenneth macmillan, white lodge, steven heathcote, muriel maffre, morphoses/the wheeldon company
I have been out and about recently working with some more spectacular dancers. A recent trip to Sydney, Australia was a highlight and although the travel was brutal, I found every moment worth the neck cramps and jetlag. I also discovered that, although far away, Australian Ballet are a company of the highest order.
Sydney is a glorious city. Fantastic weather, amazing architectural and natural surroundings and plenty of people to share a cold beer and a chat with. Then there is of course the magnificent Sydney Opera House. Perched in majestic splendor on the end of a bluff jutting out into the harbor. I don’t think my walk to work has ever been more pleasant. Watching the bright colored ferries crossing the bay, walking passed aboriginal groups performing old favourites on the Digereedoo.
I took class with Aussie Ballet every day under the watchful eye of Matz Skoog, the ex-director of London’s English National Ballet and a dancer I had enjoyed watching as a student. I remember fondly his Romeo opposite the exquisite Trinidad Sevilliano as Juliet in the old Ashton production. His classes were thoughtful and he really taught, meaning that there was a dialogue that made sense that wove his combinations together. A real development of ideas from the beginning to the end of class. He was not afraid to correct the dancers and follow with a clear explanation for his corrections. He was demanding yet nurturing. These are all qualities I find missing from most company classes. Class needs to be treated as more than a warm up. It is a refinement of our technique that allows us the freedom to be artists rather than just technicians on stage. I really appreciated Matz’s class.
The company are beautiful, spirited and athletic. They have a work ethic and an understanding of one another that reminds me of San Francisco Ballet. Rehearsals were a pleasure and it seemed to me that whomever it was in the front of the room, the dancers gave them their full energy and attention. Edwaard Liang had been down there for 5 weeks before my arrival and had set my ballet ‘After The Rain’ immaculately. The dancers fully embraced his personality and the ballet was so well set, my working week was easy. The only pain of it all was in my neck, having put it out on the plane trip. Lucky their physio was fab and she soon sorted me out. Not so comfy for the first couple of days though.
One of the joys of the trip was catching up with my friends Matt Trent and Lucinda Dunn. Luci and I danced our graduation performance at The Royal Ballet School together as Sweethearts in Kenneth Macmillan’s ‘Elite Syncopations’. One night at dinner she shared with me a video her mum had shot of us flailing around as teenagers in that very pas de deux. Luci is now a ballerina of extraordinary qualities at Australian Ballet and she danced two roles in ‘After The Rain’. In the first cast she was one of the first movement couples and in the third she danced Wendy Whelan’s role in the pas de deux .
I couldn’t believe how well Ed had prepared the three casts for me. The company perform upwards of 35 shows between their Sydney and Melbourne seasons . Three casts are a necessity and I have heard recently that Luci is the only pas de deux girl still standing.
Matt Trent is a great friend . He left Australian Ballet as a principal dancer last year and is now teaching in Sydney and will be taking a role in ‘Billy Elliot’ the musical when it arrives there in the fall. Matt and I go back to White Lodge together and like so many of my friends from that era we have remained close. I guess bonding really happens when you are thrown together with other kids for five years in such a highly competitive environment.
The opening night of ‘After The Rain’ was bittersweet as it marked the final performances of the company’s leading man Steven Heathcote. Steve chose to dance my ballet, which was an honor and very touching considering his long standing relationships with other more local choreographers. His performance on opening night was met with rapturous warmth . I couldn’t help but feel the power that I am blessed with . That I can at times find it in myself to create works that not only launch careers but also help with seeing them to an end. I guess ‘After The Rain‘ will not just be exclusive to Jock Soto although of course his beauty and spirit as a dancer and as the creator of the role will always be there. It was nice to see this work danced by other dancers who made it their own tribute . I understand now that it is a ballet about dancers and their unique relationships with one another. An unspoken love affair that is consummated only onstage.
Sydney was a remarkable experience as was my weekend stoppover in San Francisco to say farewell to the incomparable Mark Morris choreographed for a shorter dancer, to a comedienne in Macmillan’s ‘Elite Syncopations’ to a sculptural goddess in ‘Agon’ pas de deux. She did all of this on her farewell program proving that the San Francisco Ballet has now lost something so rare in this day and age. A true Ballerina.
THANK YOU MURIEL AND WE WISH YOU LOVE AND SUCCESS IN WHATEVER DIRECTION YOU CHOSE TO FOLLOW.
I hope you will all follow my progress with Morphoses/ the Wheeldon Company. We are gearing up for our summer season ,the details of which are on our webpage www.morphoses,org. Soon to come will be a website of magnificent proportions that will follow our progress and provide you with insight to our rep and dancers.
Thats all for now .
Keep dancing, its what you love and do best !
Chris
Recent Posts by christopher wheeldon
May 7, 2007 at 7:00 pm · Filed under choreographers, students, choreographer, modern dance, choreography, dance studies, contemporary dance, MIKI, stephen pier, suny purchase, edwaard liang, tally beatty
Posted by Miki Orihara
I went to see SUNY Purchase’s “MFA Spring 2007 Dance Concert” on Friday night.
It was interesting to see two chinese students’ work. One student is from Beijing and the other is from Taiwan. Two different cities, and you could see the difference between them somehow.
There were 6 dance pieces in this concert. 3 BFA program students works, and three solos by
Stephen Pier, Edwaard Liang and Tally Beatty.
“Triagon” choreographed by Stephen Pier, music by Elliot Carter was nice, physical solo. Dancer walks on to the stage, walk around with heel pounding, then Carter’s music with just percussion comes in. Pounding sound and music match, then whole movement starts. Use of shifting the weight, off balance is effective with this music. In the middle, there is a slow section in which the dancer stretches her body then clings to sitting position, like yawing of the body. Then back to the wild drumming, with physical movement and in the end, she goes off with a little suprise.
“Underneath it all…” choreographed by Edwaard Liang, music by Arvo Pärt. This dance was more like mixture between Kylian and Ek. Movement and costume and use of music reminded me of Ek’s “Wet Woman”( this is a work Ek created for Sylvie Guillem).
“Mourner’s Bench” choreographed by Tally Beatty, with a spiritual sung by Dalm Gileab. This work, as other master choreographer’s work are interesting. They all made very similar dance in the same time era. Male solo on bench with graham/horton technique like Ailey’s “I wanna be ready” gives you the idea of hardship of human beings. It was a very nice solo.
It is nice to see BFA and MFA students together in one concert.
Recent Posts by miki orihara
