The Space/Movement Project

MORE thoughts on why

2008-10-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

To me, originally, the whole point of starting TS/MP was to create a vehicle to create! I was sick of auditioning, and knowing in my heart I needed to make work and get it shown, and I knew there had to be other dancers out there that felt the same. I love that I can create work within this group and have the support to do so, yet I can also accept constructive criticism safely and without taking it personally, and THAT is making me stronger as a dancer, creator of dance, and a human. I also love the emergence of creating a so-called "theme" under which work gets created for our shows. This structure keeps me in check without feeling too restricted. On the other hand, I also feel the supported freedom to branch out on my own choreographic adventures as well, should I choose to do so.

Stacy

thoughts on why

2008-10-29T09:31:00.001-07:00

Personally, I believe that organizational structure on the small scale (and we are definitely the small scale) needs to becreated in support of larger intentions. In other words, the way we set up our organization makes a statement about what we hope to contribute through our artmaking. I believe that the underlying social organization is part of the meaning of the work, and informs the creative process on every level.

Therefore, because of my own personal social intentions, I am not interested in creating or perpetuating a microcosmic social structure in which one person's ideas and intentions get imposed upon the bodies of others. There is enough of that going on in the world. I prefer to work in an organization in which all participants are viewed as equals, and in which everyone has a voice.

I don't like the way in which the competition for funding can push people to compromise themselves, both in terms of withholding support from colleagues/friends and in terms of bringing all of our best parts with us into the work that we do with others (as opposed to holding back our best so that it will only serve to further one's own interests). It is my hope that we are creating a community in which we are all able to focus on diversifying and sharing our strengths.

I believe that my setting as an intention that all particpants have something important to contribute, and that the structure and the proccess should actively invite all participants to bring forth their BEST, the work created is more meaningful. It is my hope that we are actively engaged in researching ways for humans to live which increase the degree to which we respect each other as individuals.

On a less obtuse note, I really enjoy the proccess of linking my work to the work of others. We definitely function as individual choreographers, but we also seek to find cohesive meaning and structure. Learning to hear one's one voice, and be true to it, while at the same time hearing and incorporating other voices, is an excellent practice in mindfulness and self awareness.

I have been so challenged by this work as a group, and those challenges have definitely helped me to grow. I have witnessed myself feeling threatened by the considerable talent of my colleagues, frustrated by the strength of all our voices, proud of the way my work looks and feels within the context of the group. I have also witnessed the implications of this range of feelings on the dynamic of the group and my own well bring. And at every step I have felt so encouraged by my colleagues to work through it all in the name of creating/contributing something larger than ourselves. That is good practice for living, and on some level it is present in the work we create.

August 9, 2008 - Voice of the City festival performance

2008-08-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

Date: 8/9/08 Location: the firefighter's memorial park at Diversey/Kimball
Dancers: Mika, Megan, Larisa, Stacy, Maggie
Duration: 10 minutes
Soundtrack: Beethoven piano sonata

Improvisation around a structure, with the objective of a clear beggining, middle and end, and with the challenge of one injured dancer chairbound.

What I thought worked:

-I thought the playful energy of the piece was really approriate for the setting and the audience.
-I felt that the structure we set was clear and left us a lot of room to create spontaneously, but also shaped the experience nicely.
-I felt very aware of a great, sizzling creative energy between the dancers. We were there to have fun, and I think this was very clear to the spectators.
-The way the music turned out to contribute to the piece was a surprise, maybe an accident or maybe just kismet. That was fantastic. I felt like I was in a silent movie!

What could have been better:
-Personally, I felt really out of practice with improvised weight sharing work and would love to see this come back into our regular practice.
-I thought the things we clarified for ourselves (starting slowly, subtley, and building) were right on and I am pleased we seem to be growing so much in our ability to shape a work on the spot like this. Personally, I felt I got onto the stage and had trouble following through with the slow start and subtle energy. This is something I think I could develop in practice.
-The moments that were best, to me, were the ones when I felt most aware of where the other dancers were in space. I am also aware that at moments I felt lost from you and stuck on my own. I think working on the things I mentioned in the last point would help prevent that.

All in all, I thought this was a great time and I'm so glad we did it. I would love to do more of this kind of work, I think we are getting better and better at it. We were talking on the way over about time passing and the growing breadth of the shared experience we've had dancing together. I felt that energy informed this performance, and made it something more than just a thrown together improv.

Nice work, my friends.

class description - August 3 & 10

2008-07-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

Following our blazing hot, speed driven and high intensity classes with her in June, Larisa returns in August for another two week teaching stint. In contrast to the last one, this time she will focus on working slowly, towards fully inhabiting every minute detail of the dance with full energetic focusand intention. Class will include time for improvisation as well as structured warm up. We will be focusing on opening the pelvis and sternum to unlock the full epxressive potential of these mysterious bones.

We will build towards a long luscious phrase, which we will work on with the intention of sucking the marrow out of it. We will strive to dance as if it were the last day of our life.

Orbit - official change to the piece

2008-07-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

I need to get it in print somewhere. I am officially changing the name of the piece. The new name of the piece is: Orbitism

I was looking for that up until the last moment and I just stumbled onto it. I hope to grow the piece more in the year ahead, but the new title reflects more clearly (and perhaps illuminates better) the underlying thematic content.

thank you,
Larisa.

2008-07-14T12:51:00.001-07:00

Why do we do what we do?

2008-07-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, question of the night.

Why do we go through the struggles of working the way that we do, as a collective?

GO!

Last class for me

2008-06-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't realize it while I was there, but Stacy's class tonight was my last class with TS/MP this summer. That makes me sad!

I was excited to be able to bring some of what I can offer into class. Thanks for inviting that into our time at Rast. Spending time with your breath is important because that means spending some time with the basic sense of yourself. Let it be free and let it carry you where you need to go...

I won't be there for the "creative direction" meeting. If I could throw something into the mix it would be that I feel it would really inform our work together if we made some time to move together as ourselves... exploring how we interact as moving bodies when aesthetics and choreography are not a consideration. I can't wait to hear others' ideas, dreams, thoughts about the next year...

God, it felt good to get disgustingly sweaty these past Sundays with all of you! Although the atmosphere is welcoming and relaxed, the classes also felt focused, organized and thoughtfully conducted. You teachers know what you're doing!
I refuse to get all sappy, but THANK YOU THANK YOU... you have no idea how many times dancing with you ladies got me out of a funk and revitalized my spirit.
XOXOXOXO

Also- my new favorite thing to do when I am in my apartment is practice headstands and handstands... being upside down is so fun! :)

Breathing and Thunderstorms (By Stacy)

2008-06-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

I walked into class last night and everyone was already on the floor, immersed in their own breath and space, with the quiet rumbling of thunder outside. As I took my spot on the floor and began my own breathing, the storm was drawing ever closer. It was a surreal moment that took me kind of by surprise, as mother nature and our energies began to connect. Us trying to breath into all 3 dimensions of our beings, and echoes of rain and thunder surrounding us.
I recently traveled to VA, where time seems to slow down and you have that moment to breath, or at least it feels that way, as opposed to living in the city where time is a constant factor, always rushing about our lives. So these 15 minutes of breathing time and inward focus is so important and so refreshing. Breathe folks, is all I'm saying!

thanks for class Zee (from larisa)

2008-06-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

Thank you for class tonight. I particularly enjoyed the pace of things, and your calm presence at the head.

I'm not sure if it was the day that led up to it, or the breathing space at the beggining of class, but I felt there was a wonderful space in every movement phrase for me to discover myself. There was time and a rhythm that allowed me to really feel what I was doing moment to moment.

I was feeling really moved and emotional as I headed home, thinking about how special I feel our class is, and how much bigger we are as a group than any of us would be alone. I believe that we do best where we make the most space for each of us to bring our strengths forward.

It was good to experience Jenn bringing more of her strengths forward. I really hope that we can continue to bring forward more of this aspect of things, a dedicated part of class for personal psychosomatic exploration. It is something special we have to offer, and I would be really happy to be a part of growing this.

Somehow, and I'm not yet sure I can articulate it, our class is one of the most important things we are doing. The more we can articulate what is working when we work like that together, the more we will understand why this whole project matters.

Thanks to you all for bringing your concentration and dedication tonight. My own concentration felt intesified and magnified because of it.

Notes on class - June 1

2008-06-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

Notes on class, June 1 2008 (by Larisa)

(It was wonderful to see everyone together again, and those who could not be there were missed. It felt like a time dedicated to replenishing, restoring, nurturing… all the things I wanted the month off to be but didn’t feel. I think, for me, it is good to just keep working. But always finding new ways to work, and building nurture and self-care into the package. For me, that might be more sustainable than cycles of busting ass and collapsing.)

So, in case any of you were curious about the progression of class:

I began class with a time for introspective improvisation based on the fundamental connectivities in a developmental progression (a la I. Bartenieff). I made this choice because it felt important to connect with ourselves, especially since we struggle so much with connecting to each other.

Then, with our attention directed inwards, I directed the group to search for something within them that needed nurturing. They were given the options of having the answer arise in words, or in movement. I asked the group to set a personal intention for the new year of work together we are beginning. Again, they were given the option of having the answer arise in words or in movement. If what arose came in words, I asked them to find a movement. If what arose was a movement, I asked them to look for the words it might evoke.

Then we shared these movements and tried them on as a group. I chose to incorporate this into class because we’d just come from a long meeting where we were struggling to work things out in words. While I know this is a necessary aspect of organizational growth, I am sometimes stuck by how consistently we try to solve all of our “business” issues in words. As dancers, I want to open us up to the possibility that might find some of the answers to the organizational issues we struggle with by looking into our bodies as well. Within our bodies lives the wisdom of our lives (and maybe our ancestors lives?) and when we sit down with our notebooks and start talking, I wonder if we are able to keep speaking from that wisdom. Let’s give ourselves the space to “move” some of our problems too. We are, after all, movers first. So I brought it to class.

I would love to hear responses from the folks who were there about what this experience was like for them.

Sounds a bit….dmtheavy? I don’t know. If all of that made you uncomfortable, I will point out that it was 20 minutes of a two hour class and we moved quickly on to plies etc. As for the rest of class:
One floor combination focused on being organized around the core, and being clear about the pathway of the spine (for example, being clear about when the lower body was initiating versus when the head and tail were moving simultaneously). Also, some basic strengthening. Pretty mellow, being our first day back. Next week I would like to add a focus on releasing weight into the floor.

Standing combinations (plies and tendues) contained some longer, dancier phrasework around the theme of being clear initiations, especially feeling the difference between moving from the sternum and moving from the top of the head.

A long, dancey combination… with COUNTS (yes, I did it)! It was fast and furious. We’ll go back to it next week faster and more furiously and we’ll take on the left side. You guys rocked taking that on after a long break. It even included a petit allegro. Notes to self- I need to be more clear about the pathway of the arms in this combination.

Things I felt aware of wanting to work on with this group:

I feel we can all be reaching more through our feet and hands. This is perhaps a core/distal connectivity issue? Out through the top of the head too…

Music for class included (in this order) Goldfrapp, the Beatles, Serge Gainsbourg, Severed Heads, Coil, Can and Blur.

Summer summer

2008-06-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

As the weather FINALLY turns warm, and we have recovered from all our post-show bruises and sleepless nights, we look towards our summer of dancing. What does that consist of, you ask? Well I'll tell you! We have recently started our class back up. Thank goodness for rolling around on the floor, breathing, sweating, and feeling each other in the space together again. That one glorious time a week that reconnects us and gets rid of weekend hangovers :) What does the future hold for TS/MP? Possibilities! New pieces? Informal showings? Rehashing of old pieces? Festivals? The road is wide open! The slate is (kind of) clean! So keep your eyes peeled and for now, come dance with us on Sunday nights!

TS/MP Int/Adv modern class
Sundays 6-8pm
Rast Ballet
1803 West Byron, Suite 201
Chicago, Illinois 60613
773/419.4487
info@rastballet.com