Month: November 2015

November 10th, “Kaash”

By Akram Khan Company

I took my brother; I think he enjoyed it more than me.

I was interested, and also a little disappointed.  I think I was expecting something a little “more” and I’m not sure that I mean by that yet.  The dancers were strong and I liked the movement aesthetic, overall, but something was missing for me.  There was a stunning solo in purple light – her body moved with such precision and abandon.  I just can’t put my finger on it.  Maybe I was distracted by learning that Anish Kapoor had designed the set.  I saw his piece, Leviathan, in Paris 2011 so my expectations might have been (too) high.  Even so, I still wanted more – a message, question, or statement.  

 

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November 8th “Talk the Walk”

Part of Hope Mohr Dance; Bridge Project, Rewriting Dance

A few preliminaries:

  1. The full title: “Talk the Walk: Local Artists at the Intersection of Language and Dance
  2. I also went to the Jennifer Durning Workshop 11/7 and 11/8
  3. I am scrambling to write this before I see my next performance

Sticking to the theme of “writing about everything I see”:

Bear Writes an Equation about Death, Maureen Whiting

More bears!  

Movement Studies for Splinters in our Ankles, Gerald Casel

Not sure about this one.

minifesto, Hope Mohr

More please (pun kind-of intended).

Breath Catalog Curio #8a (Fragment: Pre-articulation), Megan Nicely

More dancing!

Still Life No 1 (excerpt), Lauren Simpson and Jenny Stulberg

Be still my heart!  I was go giddy; I have now seen all three.  I loved all 3 and want to see them all again.

untitled, Mauryr Kerr

Not sure about this one either.

An afterthought: My responses here are not isolated by any means.  The two days of working with Jeanine Durning facilitated a number of conversations and embodied experiences that culminated in the seeing of these pieces.  I arrived alone to the theater, but I was not alone.  There was a sense of community that had built up over the two days and I could sense it all around me.  As I sat and watched, I felt attended to as an audience member.  “The whole” resonated much more than the individual parts.   

October 30th, “Opus”

By Circa

There was choreography.  There was acrobatics.  There was thinking happening.  There was Shostakovich.

I was asked in April if I wanted to purchase any tickets for the CalPerformances 2015/2016 season.  This was the only one I picked for 2015. I chose this show because it looked different, and because I could hang out with a friend I don’t get to see nearly enough.  It was fun even if it didn’t say much.