Archive for miki orihara
July 22, 2008 at 3:29 am · Filed under dance, jacobs pillow, miki orihara, MIKI
The end of May, we performed “water water” at LaMama theater. This time we performed at Inside/Out at Jacob’s Pillow.
I danced Muna’s new solo “for Her”, Muna danced ” for Stella” ( work in progress), Water water and Duet from Water Mysteries.
In this picture, Muna is sitting the audience area( wood blocks are the seat!) over looking the stage. On stage is rehersal of “Water water”.
Tech run of “Water water”
above Ted Shawn theater, wathercock is a dancer…
this is a back stage area for Inside/out. it is really a back of the stage( behind the stage) and it is pretty low. I could stand straight without hitting my head but I am 5″2′.
and of course while we were there, this is the Pillow!
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July 16, 2008 at 11:55 am · Filed under dance, saratoga springs, saratoga performing arts center, dacners, miki orihara, MIKI, martha graham, stephen pier, martha graham dance compan
Saratoga Performing Arts Center
It has been a long pause since I posted my last entry…
“Water,water”, a dance that I did about 25 years ago, which we performed at LaMaMa Theater.
After LaMaMa, I went to join MGDC for our residency at the Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs to put MG’s master piece “Clytemnestra” back. Of course it was a residency so we had summer program dancers too. Technique classes, repertory, choreography and media classes are part of this residency. I ended up setting “Panorama”on these 37 dancers. They performed with us at SPAC on June 13. So it was a crash course of this wild dance…
Skidmore residency with Clytemnestra set desigh by Isamu Noguchi
Anyway, during this residency, yes we were putting Clytemnestra back together. But the students were leaning some parts, then making their own dance inspired by this piece. It was a very intersting process. and that process was captured on their blog at Clytemnestra Project.
Stephen Pier rehearsing his new ballet “Nameless Garden” in Nagoya
Then MGDC went to the American Dance Festival, unfortunately I was not cast for this so I went to Japan for a week. My husband Stephen was in Nagoya, Japan choreographing a new dance and setting a ballet on Ballet Studio M-deux. They also performed my new work, too. So I needed to see it. Stephen’s new piece “Nameless Garden” was inspired by his visit to Kyoto’s Moss Garden and Rock Garden. It is a beautiful piece with many images that I had too. I really wanted to see the perofrmance, all together with costumes and lighting, I am sure it was magical…
Berlin’s Staat Oper
Well my visit to Japan was just a week (5 days really) then off to Berlin, Germany for 2 weeks. We performed at the Staats Oper in Berlin. 5 shows in the first weekend, 8 in the second. Yes it was a lot of dancing…I am pretty beat…
Berlin’s Old and New, I like Berlin, it is an alive city…
Berlin in the evening…
So now I am back in NYC, rehearsing with Muna Tseng (Water,water) again, and we are going to Jacob’s Pillow tomorrow. We will have “Inside/Out” performance at 6:30 pm. It is a free performance so if you are close, stop by!!! We will perform a part from “Water Mysteries”, “water,water” and 2 new solos. I will dance one and Muna will dance the other.
Then I will go to Atlanta Ballet’s Summer Program. I will be teaching for 2 weeks. Some classes are 1 hour, so I am thinking this year I will teach more standing up and cross over exercise. Past years I tried to teach floor work, but it is very hard… I will not entirey cut the floor work but give them a little more moving in class than sitting on the floor in a cold studio… in the south, it is always cold inside since the outdoor tempture is pretty high. but that is so bad for your body. you have to have a lot of warm up clothes… I should pack them too!!!
After this, MGDC will be a part of a new festival in Chicago in August 17 . I should get more info regarding this. but I will be dancing ” Cave of the Heart” Legend of Media. It is a beautiful dance by MG with a set by Isamu Noguchi. I think we share a program with a few other dance companies. I will let you know when I know more about it… but until then,
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!!
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April 12, 2008 at 4:04 am · Filed under dance, new york city, choreographer, juilliard, performance, miki orihara, MIKI, martha graham, stephen pier, aszure barton, east village
Duo Theater in East Village, is a pretty space. Built in 1889, as a ballroom, this space was a home of Roy Rogers( I think…I saw a lot of posters).
Very nice !
Aszure Barton is a most succeceful woman choreographer now in NYC, and her company’s performances this weekend. It is one act show of about 1hour 5mins. 5 dancers were very different from each other and their movement and quality was very different but when they move, very precisely as her choreography, amazingly together and they were TIGHT!!!
I had a previledge of dancing her work with MG”s season at the Joyce last September, ” Lamentation Variation” inspired by MG’s short study film of her master peice “Lamentation”, her choreography is very detail oriented and you have to be so precise to move… I had a great time!
this is Aszure(R) and one of 5 dancers, Banning Roberts who is the Juilliard Grad and ex-Cluberg Ballet dancer and now freelance lives in Paris!
anyway, this “A Travelling Show” added one more show on Sunday Matinee this coming April 13, highly recommended!!!
I don’t want to talk about too much since some of us might go to see it this week weekend!!!
From the Left to Right: Stephen Pier, Courteny Blackwell, Bannning and Williams Briscoe( who was another one of 5 !) these three of them were all Juilliard Grad. and Stephen and I somehow feel like “Parents”…
oh well.
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April 3, 2008 at 1:50 am · Filed under dance, gala, dancing, miki orihara, MIKI, martha graham dance company
It was March 12, 2008.I know it was almost a month ago.
My friend’s sister goes to this school and here is the Gala performance that her sister and her friends started to raise fund for DRA last year. Last year they had a dancer from Bill T. Jones and this year was us, MGDC.
from MGDC, Oliver Tobin spoke about DRA, opened the program and MG’s Satyric Festival Song was the opener for this evening.
It was such a fun night.
This performance was formed with students from this school at Friends Seminary, dancers are from 8 years old to senior in High school. Those 8 year old dancers, themselves choreographed short dance! Amazing!
There is a dancer teacher who takes care of all age students. Wow I could not believe how much energy they have. when everydancers are there, waiting to start, well it was vibrating energy…
what they see and what they created was timely intresting. Their movement and try some serious dancing and more. One girl who danced Indian/Ethnic dance mixture who does not study with anybody but came up the idea to dance this, and now she is thinking about attending some classes. A tap dancer who performed improvisation was amazing too. He was proffesional level. It was very toughing that one girl with crathces was dancing with her friends. She danced everything her friends are doing. Lay on the floor, pick up other dancer, and running around. They were all equal. Dancers are having fun and you can tell they are having great time.
When I was dancing Satyric, I heard somebody said, “it is scary…” I don’t know may be the LOOK that I made was that way??? Oh well, but they responded very interestingly well.
Last year they raised $2000 for this gala, and this year they raised $1600! This is great but it does not matter how much they made. It is great that those students( dancers) did something for NY community and they were aware what is in our field and the field that some of them are going in need a lot of support. and they are actually doing something very important.
So I give them BIG 10!!!
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February 20, 2008 at 2:29 am · Filed under dance, books, SUSAN, wingers, mobile, miki orihara
After work I stopped by Barnes & Noble to run an errand, never expecting to also run into a fellow Winger! 
What a pleasant surprise!
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February 6, 2008 at 1:48 pm · Filed under dance, music, composers, museum, art event, miki orihara, MIKI, composer, arts
I went to see Fred Sherry Plays Zorn on Monday night. It was such a great evening.
World premiere of “777″( three cellists) Discussion lead by Charles Wuorinen( composer) with Fred Sherry and John Zorn, “Amour fou(1999)” piano, violin and cello, another discussion, solo cello work title “Untitled ( for Joseph Cornell)( 1999)” and again “777″.
“777″ started very disharmony sound, but when you listened it , it was actually harmonied together. It was a long tme ago that I used to listened to one CD which had John Zorn’s work, then long time I did not hear his music. But this performance, he gave me so many different sides of music. every work sounded different from each other. It was just amazing.
“Untitled ( for Joseph Cornell)” has a very interesting story that Zorn, in his childhood, lived in Queens where Cornell lived few doors down from his place. Knowing him as a person, eating icecream at the deli, strange man on the corner… all other aspects…and of course his art work inspire Zorn to make this solo.
I love this “works & process” at Guggenheim. You get to know the artist!and we came out after this performance, they were putting new exhibition. Interesting to see how they were putting this cars up in the air…
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