Archive for MEGAN
May 15, 2008 at 6:44 pm · Filed under dance, MEGAN, performances, contemporary dance
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!
Recent Posts by megan kurashige
May 6, 2008 at 1:09 am · Filed under dance, space, MEGAN, san francisco, improvisation
Hello!
This past weekend I jumped into rehearsal for a dance theater piece by Jacques Poulin-Denis. But wait, you say. Aren’t you still gimpy? Why yes I am, thank you very much. I don’t have to do anything too strenuous though, just a bit of improvisation on the themes of sleep, dreams, and discomfort. It’s fun and something different.
We worked at CELLspace, which is this really interesting performance/work space in the Mission. It’s a big warehouse-type building with little self-contained rooms that serve as artists’ studios, and a large, open area for performing artists. It was founded as an artists’ collective, so there are all these quirky touches.
I like the lobby. It has white walls and stuck to all of them are these small, white squares of paper with line drawings on them. The squares are neatly lined up, edge to edge, so that when you look at them all together, they look like one big map.
CELLspace is very close to Theater Artaud where we performed for WestWave, but I never knew it existed. I love discovering new places like this in the city. It’s such a treat to meet a different group of artists and to see how they work.
In other news, I can jump now! Tiny, tiny jumps, but still… Jumps in first position were never so exciting!
Recent Posts by megan kurashige
May 1, 2008 at 7:02 am · Filed under dance, MEGAN, san francisco ballet, performances
Hello all!
Just back from seeing program C of San Francisco Ballet’s New Works Festival. As you can see in my (rather hopeless… my camera and I haven’t yet come to a friendly understanding about nighttime pictures) photos, the opera house is all decked out for the occasion. In celebration of the company’s 75th anniversary, SFB is presenting ten NEW ballets in two weeks. Exciting! Program C has three pieces: “Thread” by Margaret Jenkins, “Ibsen’s House” by Val Caniparoli, and “Double Evil” by Jorma Elo. (If you go to SFB’s website, there are all sorts of interesting goodies: videos, podcasts, interviews, etc.)
There was a surfeit of great dancing in all three pieces, but I had the strangest reaction to the last piece (“Double Evil”). I’m absolutely perplexed by it; I honestly don’t know what I think of it. Watching it made me feel like two separate parts of my brain were colliding. The closest thing I can come up with for a description of the movement is a classical, but abstract ballet given to amazing dancers who also happen to be interesting improvisers. They’re told to go wild with it, to take movements to their logical, but extreme and quirky conclusions, to follow whatever whims and ideas they might have. It’s a ballet fractured apart and pulled inside out, and, for some reason, it really confused me. I enjoyed it, there was so much bright energy and technique flooding the stage; but my brain is pinwheeling over it. I think this might be a good thing. Also, for the first time, realized what weird architecture tutus have. They halve the body onto two separate planes so you consider legs as one thing and upper body as another. Weird.
I think that’s what I like best about seeing new work. Any new piece might make you look at something and consider it from an entirely different angle. Always exciting! Plus, everything is shiny and new.
Now to bed. Good night!
Recent Posts by megan kurashige
February 29, 2008 at 2:26 am · Filed under dance, MEGAN, performance, nacho duato, thomas mcmanus
Right, now I have something to displace the slightly scary vision of Jack Black in baby blue tights and Luchador cape.
Last Thursday and Saturday I had the good fortune to see Compania Nacional de Danza perform at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. I saw two different programs of work choreographed by Nacho Duato, the first being: Castrati (very educational program notes there; did you know that the male sopranos were considered “on-stage heroes” in 17th century Italy?), Rassemblement, and White Darkness. This is the first time I’ve seen CND and only the second time I’ve seen any of Duato’s choreography (I saw Hubbard Street perform “Duende” several years ago).
This is “Farinelli,” uber-star of opera in the 1700s and a castrato:
(photo from the NY Times, picture from the Royal College of Music)
So:
The dancers are AMAZING! They have particular and individual ways of moving, but they all have the most astonishingly mobile backs. They articulate the entire length of their spines as if they are one long swish of muscle. The movement is very creature-like (Eel? Snake? Sea cucumber? So not the image I’m looking for…), but the effect is more human. It’s as if the dimension and depth that they get at somehow makes them more vividly people.
They can also rock the unison. Everyone on stage moving so fast and so huge at precisely the same time? Thrilling.
I read the program notes before the performance for the first program, which I think was a mistake. All three pieces were very much about something: castration, slavery, and drug addiction, respectively. Once I had that list in my head, I couldn’t get it out and it distracted me from the dancing. The movement is beautiful and interesting, but having all those meanings in my head made me feel uncomfortable with the drama.
Favourite moments:
A lush pas de deux in Rassemblement, danced by (I think) Marina Jiminez and a great man who I couldn’t pick out in the program.
The huge spills of white sand that poured onto the stage in White Darkness (CND has a brief video of this effect on their website).
Program two was Gilded Goldbergs, Gnawa, and Por Vos Mueros. This time I didn’t read the program notes and was much happier. My favourite piece was Gnawa, mostly for the exciting, rhythmic parts that swept all of the dancers across the stage. This was the piece that made me most jealous of the people on the stage. They were all caught up in this amazing dance and I was sitting on my bum in a chair (in an orchestra pit. The pit was covered and filled with more seats. My sister and I felt a bit like we were smashed up on the stage, but we got over it).
Whew. That was a lot of blather.
I don’t have any pics of the fun Yerba Buena theater because it was gloomy and wet, but to make up for it here’s one of Hattie instead:
Read the rest of this entry »
Recent Posts by megan kurashige
December 24, 2007 at 4:00 pm · Filed under SLOAN, dance, recommendations, TONY, EVAN MCKIE, MEGAN, wingers, life, MIKI, MAIA, iphone, TAYLOR, MATTHEW, BRIAN, holiday, gifts
As a holiday gift to all of you, (I apologize for it’s lateness)…
A sampling of Winger contributors gave our thoughts on what we (or other people involved in dance) might be excited about for the holidays.
We’ve suggested some things that are useful, inspiring, or just plain cool.
Popular among many contributors were spa treatments (and related goodies), magazine subscriptions, books, music, performance tickets, and the iPhone.
Enjoy!
Also,
LOLAstretch Gift Certificates, which enables the receiver to design their own leotard.
“Give the gift of creative control!”
Another thing I would recommend is season tickets to BAM. - CANDICE
“Look before you leap: an advice guide for choreographers” by Ann Whitley
The description on the back says:
“This is not a book about how to choreograph. It is a practical guide to the negotation, preparation, organization and continuing care of choreographic work. It is intended as a useful source of reference for choreographers, assistant choreographers, dance teachers, managers, administrators, amateurs, movements specialists, composers, designers, technicians and all those who collaborate with choreographers.”
Also,
There is an annual publication in South Africa called “Contacts” - this book contains all contact information for people working in the industry.
A grant to make a work … finding out that my funding applications were successful …. or even just finding a sponsor to support my work;
The completion of my MA thesis.
Spa Treatments for those sore bodies.
Alternative health remedies / tonics to keep us healthy during the intense seasons
Calender with beautiful pics
Funky bag to keep all the rehearsal stuff in
Beautiful journal - to write new ideas in
A subscription to a magazine is always a great gift idea that keeps on giving through-out the year. - MAIA
Also,
Touchstone by Laurie R. King
This book doesn’t come out till Boxing Day, so I guess it doesn’t technically qualify for holiday gift giving status (though I suppose you can always give New Year’s presents… why not?), but Laurie R. King is one of my favorite mystery writers. Her stories are always deliciously smart and satisfyingly precise.
Chocolate
One of those gifts that can very rarely go wrong (though my sister has a friend who likes neither chocolate nor peanut butter! Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups must be like a bad nightmare to him). My recent obsessions are Green and Black’s dark chocolate (really flavorful, but not too bitter) and Theo Chocolate’s “Bread and Chocolate” bar, which is dark chocolate pocked with the tiniest crumbs of salty baugette. This sounds like a really bizarre and unpleasant combination, but it’s addictive and delicious. Plus, the wrapper is a cheerful yellow and has adorable, cartoonish cats on it. - MEGAN
Also,
Tickets to The Nutcracker, Christmas Carol or Passion. - MIKI
Also,
I like all cotton sweats. hate cotton/poly blend. Yuck!
Something like these.
And of course the essential stocking stuffer, We B Girlz. - TONY
Also,
I’d love to be able to design my own ballet-wear somehow… but, like, with a few drags and a click.
…and a puppy. - EVAN
Also,
A subscription to Answers4dancers.com - good website that lists auditions.
And what tops my Xmas wish list this year:
*an iphone or blackberry so I can organize my rehearsal schedule and check emails between running from class to work to where ever! - TAYLOR
Also,
A membership to a museum.
An iTunes gift certificate to purchase some good warm-up music. - MATTHEW
Also,
Always useful - iTunes gift certificates and Starbucks gift cards. (There are four of these within a sic block radius of Lincoln Center).
And warm fuzzy things. - SLOAN
(From Ian, a dancer with Les Ballets Grandiva, who will be joining our family very soon…)
The top on my list are gift certificates for 90 minute massages at the Equinox Spa and 60 minute session gift cards for True Pilates and True Pilates East - anything that soothes aching 35 year old muscles!
Truth be told, I am also a sucker for anything from Hermes in the Hermes orange along with any little Louis Vuitton accessory like the I-Pod case. I guess that’s my two or four cents. - IAN
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
December 18, 2007 at 10:37 pm · Filed under dance, injuries, video, tv, MEGAN, ohad naharin
Hello, all!
Knee surgery happened last Thursday. The very nice Dr. Frederic Bost took a bit of my hamstring tendon and screwed, bolted, and strung it into my knee. They knocked me out for the procedure, so I didn’t get to see the actual process, but he did send me home with some nice photographs of joint interiors and a neat little sketch as a souvenir. I am off my crutches and in PT sessions where I do very difficult things, like bending my knee and then straightening it again. It’s a bit humbling really.
Hang on, let me see if I can scan one of the less gory ones in…
There you go. Here are two images from inside my knee. Doesn’t everything look weirdly white and clean?
And here’s Dr. Bost’s little sketch:
As a result of sticking cameras and sharp implements into my knee, I’ve been at home for an absurd amount of time. My biggest “occasion” of late was a trip to the movies with my friends (we saw Enchanted) where I learned that people are shockingly courteous to you when you are wielding crutches. So I’m spending quite a bit of time on my couch, reading or watching movies, or pretending that I’m doing something edifying by poking round the internet. Lots of Vulture, lots of YouTube, a whole season of Extras (really funny, but lots of those moments when you cringe away from the TV because the characters are doing something so mortifying that it’s almost painful), and some Austen to top it off (Emma, to be specific). Nederlands Dans Theater has put up some nice videos online, if you want to take a look.
The Conservatory also has a new website up, with pretty pictures, shiny new video, and a newsletter that I helped out on a tiny bit. There’s also the announcement that this summer’s curriculum will include the study of “gaga” and the choreography of Ohad Naharin, along with the work of William Forsythe and Jiri Kylian. So, if there are any students out there interested, perhaps I’ll see you soon! I’ve only seen one Naharin piece (Minus 16 danced by Hubbard Street), but I thought it was incredible.
Right-o. I’m off to work on some writing. Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and fitting in a few Nutcrackers here and there! Hm. I’ve just put “Nutcracker” into youtube and come up with a rather unfortunate looking soccer accident. Definitely time to turn off the computer.
Recent Posts by megan kurashige
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