Last week I was able to further investigate and dig into parT III, my duet with Meghan Carmichael. I was grateful to have her here as I was able to further refine/define our relationship. Over the past few weeks, I have stripped away much of this duet.  The original duet had dialogue between me and Meghan. Feeling like the text was not supporting the movement, I removed it all from the piece. In doing so, the piece felt strange; strange in that I was not sure what the duet was saying anymore. The text had done it for me. With it cut from the piece my task was to make the movement and gestures inform the viewer… What remains feels more authentic and intentional.  By adding slight gestures and delineating the space the duet has shifted and feels like an entirely new piece. Some of the movements are the same but the intention and movement quality has changed. It now feels like it occupies a specific moment in time, that these two women have a specific relationship that unfolds.

Ali Kenner Brodsky and Meghan Carmichael in parT III in DanceNOW Last Week

This final week for me has been about processing.  Processing the work that I made with my company the first week, the changes in the duet last week and where I see the work and myself headed as I prepare to leave Bates.

I have also been playing around in the studio and generating more material to pull from. I have some solo work that I am interested in expanding and have been noodling around in the studio working out some new movement phrases.

This post was written by Chava Lansky.  Chava is the BDF Social Media Intern for the 2016 summer.

The first week was filled with feverish creation! I used my previous material as a jumping off point for the creation of the current piece. I took phrases and/or specific movements from the previous material and worked to shape it. A lot of material was “left on the cutting room floor.”

Ali performs for the Young Dancers during an open rehearsal.

How I work:

I made a bunch of phrase material, taught it to the dancers and then manipulated it. I am interested in gesture and how to use it so it feels like it is integrated into the movement rather than placed on top. I am very specific in how the movement is performed and how it is shaped.

My goal for the week with my dancers was to dig and craft. It was important to me that I walk out of the week with the piece structured and the work developed. As the piece developed the story started to emerge. I found it difficult to be in it and direct it so I ended up taking myself out of much of the group work. What unfolded was that I became “other” to the quartet. I am now working on how I relate to the others, what our relationships are, what I am to them and vice versa. This is inherent in the piece already but I am going to work on further defining it and figuring out some transitions. Meghan comes back on Thursday. We will be working on further refining the duet for DanceNOW.

This post was written by Chava Lansky.  Chava is the BDF Social Media Intern for the 2016 summer.

Ali’s focusing her residency on PARt, an all female quintet. Though she’s been working on the piece for a number of years, this time at BDF is allowing her to dive back into the material.  Ali describes this process as “throwing all the pieces in the air to see where they settle.” Ali and her dancers have the opportunity to take classes with the Young Dancers Workshop in the mornings, and rehearse in the afternoons. Later this week they will open up their rehearsal to the Young Dancers and BDF community. Their work will culminate in a showing of the third section of the piece titled, parT III as part of the DanceNOW concert in Schaeffer Theatre on July 9.

Check back on the blog over the next few weeks for updates on their progress!

This post was written by Chava Lansky.  Chava is the BDF Social Media Intern for the 2016 summer.