MEGAN KURASHIGE
San Francisco Conservatory of Dance
San Francisco, California USA
BIO | POSTS

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!

BRIAN GIBBS
TAGsf
San Francisco, CA USA
BIO | POSTS

YELLE “A CAUSE DES GARCONS” TEPR Remix

“fresh”

watch my man at the beginning get down with the get down.

thanks J for turning me onto this video.

B

KRISTIN SLOAN
New York City Ballet
New York, NY USA
BIO | POSTS

As some of you might already know, my dad happens to be an exceptional photographer and for the past 15 years he’s been creating beautiful images of José Mateo’s Ballet Theatre of Boston - a great company (and school) who exclusively dance Mr. Matéo’s choreography. I went to their school right before I left Boston to come to SAB and they gave me the strength and the amazing experience of working directly with a gifted choreographer, before I even got to New York.

This Friday, they are having a gala showing of the work my dad has done with the company. (Needless it’s been a journey for my dad and BTB to go through and decide which pieces will be shown after 15 years of collaboration!)
It’s at BTB’s beautifully renovated church space in Harvard Square. (You might remember the picture I took when I taught there this summer). Doug and I are taking the Acela up Friday afternoon for the show. I can’t wait!

Click the image to read the details… maybe we’ll see you there!

DEBORAH FRIEDES
Dance Researcher
Tel Aviv, Israel
BIO | POSTS

Signs for Furo in Tel Aviv’s port area.

The building which houses the installation.

The sign at the entrance to the installation. “Furo” means “bath” in Japanese.

A question was asked in Hebrew, restated in English, and then translated into Japanese. This was part of the scene at yesterday’s press conference for Furo, a collaboration between Ohad Naharin and the Japanese video artist Tabaimo.

In the last two decades, Israeli choreographers - led by Naharin - have pushed the boundaries of their art form along with their foreign counterparts. Furo continues this move forward. Globalization, collaboration, installation, technology, and video art are some of the hot words right now, and every one of these terms can be used in a discussion about Furo. The seed for the production began in New York City, where Naharin saw an exhibition of Tabaimo’s Japanese Bathhouse, and the collaboration between the Israeli choreographer and the Japanese video artist was initially shown in Stockholm. Now the installation - with Tabaimo’s video projected onto three screens which shape a stage space dotted with yellow buckets and flanked by two dancers standing on boxes with rotating platforms - is in Tel Aviv, with tickets at a mere 60 shekels in conjunction with Israel’s 60th birthday. Over the next few weeks, audiences will flock to the city’s port to see the work, which loops continuously for several hours nearly every day. Viewers can filter in and out as they like; meanwhile, pairs of Batsheva dancers trade off performing duty partway through each loop (one full cycle is 45 minutes). I got to preview the work (and make my way through a Q-and-A session primarily in Hebrew!) at the press conference and can’t wait to go back to see it with a regular audience on Friday. I have a feeling I’ll stay for a few cycles . . .

SUSAN KIM
Ballet Student, Supporter
- mobile -
BIO | POSTS

This is a quick snapshot of the Barnes & Noble shelves over which I used to hover during my high school days. The shelves now labeled “Theater Arts” used to be the “Dance” library.
How sad… I wonder what happened to the dance books (and if they still carry them).
Tres triste…

KRISTIN SLOAN
New York City Ballet
New York, NY USA
BIO | POSTS

NOELANI
PANTASTICO
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Seattle, WA USA
BIO | POSTS

As I pack up all of my dance memorabilia, I see what eleven years looks like!

I found some things from before I became a professional dancer that I thought you would appreciate. The first is this picture I found of me when I was 10. This was taken at my very first ballet school, Ballet New England. My father was in the military when I was younger, and we moved every two years. As you can imagine, I wasn’t able to stay commited to after school activities, but I tried anything from soccer to gymanstics. I was in and out of ballet twice in New Hampshire, and the third time it finally stuck! A year after this was taken, my family moved once more to Pennsylvania, where I began training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

This next picture is actually my first publicity in Seattle. The date on the article is August 14, 1996. I was a ripe 16 years old! All I remember is being really nervous about the interview. I froze up & didn’t know what to say, and that’s pretty evident in the article I think I gave them one sentence to work with - ha!

Hope you enjoyed! I’ll be posting again soon!!

DAVID HALLBERG
American Ballet Theatre
New York, NY USA
BIO | POSTS

A review and an interesting slide show caught my eye this morning in the Times.

To read the review click HERE

To see the complete slide show click HERE

Wilfred Romoli danced his farewell in Phlegmatic, which I had the opportunity to dance a month ago. (note the beauties with him in the first photo)

Also, my dear friend, Isabelle Ciaravola, in the lead of Raymonda. A beauty herself!

DEBORAH FRIEDES
Dance Researcher
Tel Aviv, Israel
BIO | POSTS

Due to popular demand . . .

Since I’ve been posting about my experiences with Gaga, I have gotten a few questions about where people can take classes. Here’s some answers:

First, there is a Gaga intensive going on this summer in Tel Aviv, Israel. Above is the advertisement, and for more information, you can contact Reut directly at the e-mail listed there.

Not in Israel or not able to come here? There are going to be a few summer Gaga and repertory intensives in the U.S. Ariel Freedman, an American who has been dancing with the Batsheva Ensemble, will be teaching from July 14-26 at the Baryshnikov Art Center in New York. The classes are already full, but there may be a wait list. To learn more about this workshop, go to this link: http://www.baryshnikovdancefoundation.org/schedules_gaga.html

If you’re on the West Coast, Bobbi Smith - another American who has been dancing with the Ensemble - will be teaching at an intensive held by the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. You can check out this program at the following link: http://www.sfconservatoryofdance.org/intensives/index.htm

Enjoy! If anyone takes either of these workshops, I’d love to hear about it!

I still browse the New York Times arts page every morning, and I saw that Cedar Lake performed Ohad Naharin’s Decadance as part of the Joyce Theater’s 25th anniversary festivities; did anyone in NYC make it to the concert? Back here in Israel, the Batsheva company is *very* busy. In the next month and a half, I’ll be seeing Naharin’s MAX and Shalosh (Three), Sharon Eyal’s Makarova Kabisa (a new work which premiered earlier this year), and Furo, a collaboration between Naharin and the Japanese animation artist Tabaimo which will be at Tel Aviv’s port over the course of a few weeks. Plus there are plenty of concerts by other companies which I’m planning to attend, as well as end-of-year performances at arts high schools and academies. Spring is busy here!

Meanwhile, I’m off to join in festivities for Israel’s 60th birthday. There’s supposed to be some folk dancing near the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, so perhaps I’ll get to experience a different kind of Israeli dance . . .

DAVID HALLBERG
American Ballet Theatre
New York, NY USA
BIO | POSTS

As of lately, New York is having the spring days its famous for. Total Euphoria.

This weekend I participated in a lecture at the Guggenheim titled ‘Preserving the Classics’, which acted as a preview to the upcoming Met season. Being that my apartment is across the Central Park from the museum, I decided to walk there, basking in the day. Here is a step by step visual of my “walk to work”.

Near the West Side of the Park, around 72nd st. and Strawberry Fields.

The famed Fountain of Bethesda. You can see the apartment buildings popping up on outskirts of the park.

Approaching the East Side, around 77th St.. This is the Hans Christian Andersen statue that kids adore playing on!

The Conservatory Water, where people sail their motorized boats, hence ‘Stuart Little’. On top of the building in the middle lives the famed Pale Male and Lola.

Alice in Wonderland

As I was approaching the Met Museum, I realized I was walking by the arrivals of the Costume Institute Gala. Which is praised as the best party in New York. Hosted by Anna Wintour and Vouge, every actress and designer attends this gala. Read more about it HERE

The chaos that is a red carpet

And finally at the Guggenheim, under going renovations which makes it looks like the Globe Theatre in London.