Video stuff

Hey everyone, check out a video of my new piece, Witness. This is a rough draft/sketch of the full piece, which will run about 25 minutes long and will premiere at the TANK, NYC on March 4th and 5th, 9:30pm.

Choreolab and my new favorite word

Kathleen here.  So for the past 5 months, I have been taking a weekly choreography class at Dance New Amsterdam. I registered for the course for several reasons, the main one being that I just want to be exploring my choreographic voice more.  I’ve made enough dances to start to see some patterns, some of which I love, and some of which I think are useless to me and are baggage.

Now I am in the final part of the course, Choreolab.  Jeanine Durning is our facilitator, and she is another one of those game-changing kind of thoughtful artists.  In her own work, she is trying to create dances whose structure mirrors that of her imagination.  That kind of intuitive understanding and (even bigger) acceptance of one’s own creative topography is something that can be hard for me. My brain’s love of systems, patterns, logic, explanations, etc. can overshadow my brain’s imaginative, associative, semiotic, pre-verbal, intuitive gut.

P.S. Wikipedia semiotics and you will discover my new favorite word: denotata. Say it. It’s fun, I promise.

So what do you do to access this gut?  I am writing more–I am doing free-association journaling every morning.  Jeanine has had us do “moving without agenda” exercises every class as well. Essentially it is an unstructured movement improv for 20 minutes, with no music, no outside impulses.  I am also trying to explain less. I really don’t need to know how everything works, and I don’t need to be able to illustrate it all in bullet point structure.

So however you stumble upon this blog post, please share your ways of getting cozy with your right brain!

NYC, I hope you’re ready for all this.

New York News

It is a busy couple of weeks here in NYC, with lots of free shows and events coming up!

Come join us at White Wave’s Dumbo Dance Festival on Friday, September 25th and Saturday, September 26th!

September 25th at 7pm, Stephanie Blackmon Woodbeck’s duet, “So, Come Here Often?” will have its NY Premiere danced by Kathleen Kelley and Anne Lazovik
September 26th at 5pm, you can check out Stephanie’s duet if you missed it the first time around! But, be sure to stick around for…
September 26th at 8pm, Kathleen Kelley’s solo, “A Piece of What, #7”, a section of the Piece of What series.

All shows are free to the public, so please come join us to celebrate these new works.  All performances are held at the John Ryan Theater, 25 Jay Street, in Brooklyn. Check out http://www.whitewavedance.com for more info and the complete festival roster.

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Stephanie Blackmon Woodbeck’s duet, “So, Come Here Often?” will be participating in the free show, Dance Conversations at the Flea on Tuesday, October 6th at 7pm. This lab-like environment will feature the works of 4 emerging and mid-career choreographers. The performance is followed by an open discussion between the artists and the audience, moderated by choreographers Nina Winthrop and Tere O’Connor.

The Flea Theater is located at 41 White Street, between Broadway and Church in Manhattan.  http://www.the

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Another free event THIS Saturday, September 19th, 11pm-3am: Labor Force Dances kick-offs the season with a celebration: Dancer Dance Party held at Bar 4, 444 7th Ave (at 15th St) in Brooklyn.  Come dance like crazy with a lot of dancers and dancer-lovers, listen to fantastic tunes dj’ed by Kathleen Kelley and Anne Lazovik, and support Labor Force Dances by drinking lots of frosty beverages!

10% of the bar receipts will be donated to Labor Force…. just by having that drink or three you would have had anyway, you can help us get rehearsal space for our new work!

Check out this event on facebook.

Movie magic

Kathleen here.  I have been obsessed with Inglourious Basterds since seeing it two weeks ago.  I am particularly enthralled with Quintin Tarantino’s use of kitschy movie magic: old fashioned credits and chapter titles, the Jackie Brown-esque narrator that appears only twice in the whole film,  the little details that make you pay attention.

What I can’t get out of my head is the particular lushness of it.  As a director, he commands that you pay attention, that you buy his storyline, and that you care.  He lets this fantasy plot develop through such gory, bold, luxurious, imaginative detail.  The story takes its time, and does not apologize for taking up 2 1/2 hours of yours.

Ever since taking DNA’s Choreographic Investigation Course with Monica Bill Barnes, I have been really obsessed with art that makes bold choices, like Inglourious Basterds.  Art that is unapologetic, but not dogmatic.  Art that demands you pay attention.

Any thoughts on the movie or otherwise?