Let me preface the following story with a quick thought: I am so grateful to be living in a city where live dance performance is so prevalent an event and so revered an art form.  With my dad in “Sales,” my family moved from West coast to East coast… to Midwest and back to the West coast.  Despite my sporadic relocations to various US cities, dance was rather sparse – my mom and I were lucky to catch a touring theater company or to make the drive to a bigger city for a ballet company’s annual “Nutcracker.”  In brief, live, professional dance performances were few and far between.  But as a brand-spanking new resident of the island Manhattan, I can (graciously) boast having attended more dance concerts and viewings over the past six months than in my previous twenty(-ish) years of existence.  From musicals on Broadway, to the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City, to ballets at Lincoln Center, to concerts at the Joyce, dance is around every crowded New York City corner (not to mention in every newspaper, on many taxi cab/Grey Line advertisements, etc.).  Oh, and student tickets are always available – I’m thinking I’ll stay in school forever.

It’s times like this that I realize I’m living in the right place, a city where dance is truly respected for all that is has been, is, and can be.  Working with the Heidi Latsky Dance Company has helped me to recognize that even more.  At each of our company meetings regarding securing rehearsal space, composing grant proposals, etc., the whole HLD team ends up engrossed in a controversial discussion about dance as a political and progressive tool.  My artistic side both challenges and complements my critical intellect.  Yes, I am surely in the right place.

All right now, on with my actual story.  Last night I attended a performance by Parsons Dance Company at the Joyce Theater in SoHo.  David Parsons’ choreography fuses modern dance technique and awareness with theatrical charm (theatrical in terms of “theater” as opposed to “exaggerated”).  The concert included older Parsons repertoire as well as two world premieres, thereby exhibiting both the evolution of the company’s work and the traditional Parsons aesthetic.

However, I noticed that the joyful spirit and fluid composition of the Parsons repertoire was somewhat disconnected from the middle piece, “A Stray’s Lullaby,” choreographed by Katarzyna Skarpetowska (former Parsons dancer, freelance choreographer, native of Warsaw, Poland).   This guest-choreographed piece, which seems to illustrate the struggle of laboring families during the time of the Dust Bowl/Great Depression, reminded me of John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”  The work is staged on four dancers, two male and two female, and includes either a solo or duet that essentially “tells” each dancer’s “story.”  An article in the New York Press explains,

“‘A Stray’s Lullaby’ is an intimate work, set for four dancers who portray down and out characters on the margin of society. Their journey is a personal one and presented without comment, yet it is clear they are on a quest for salvation. Their stories are the rich and wise examples of our own vulnerable natures. The piece offers no clear solution, it only opens a window on the way we face our private demons and how we strive to improve our human condition.”

This storyline clearly breaks away from Parsons’ own choreographic motifs: circularity, love, joy, etc.  Yet, what struck me the most about “A Stray’s Lullaby” was the first solo of the piece, performed by Christina Ilisije. Ilisije, dressed in dreary beige slacks, a cream tank, and black lace up shoes, “danced” to a song with a twangy singer, strumming banjo, and rather dismal lyrics.  She maintained a strict diagonal plane of movement across the stage and often repeated a phrase of traveling movement, as if struggling to get from one side of the stage to the other.  While the first work of the evening, “Round My World,” incorporated fluid, circular, natural movement from the dancers, this piece required Ilisije to contort her body in order to create intense, twisted, and harsh choreography.  The New York Post describes, “The foursome moves unsteadily at first to traffic noises that change to scratchy-voiced blues. As the lights change from golden to a smoky haze, one woman dives and claws her way through.”  Ilisije contorts her limbs into uncomfortable shapes (both for her and the audience watching), falls gawkily, and limps across the stage by literally dragging her legs. 

I was surprised that in my online research of “A Stray’s Lullaby,” I could not find any articles or reviews that really critiqued the movement of the piece, as it is so unusual and disturbing, but also beautiful at the same time.  From my cheap seats in the side balcony, I scanned the audience to notice their reactions.  No one was ruffling through their programs or checking their text messages on their phones.  No one coughed or mumbled to their neighbor either.  The entire theater was completely attentive and engaged with the solo performance, admiring the juxtaposition of beauty and deformity within one dancer.

The hamster wheels in my mind began to race.  Why is it that this onstage soloist depicting unnatural bodily movement is admired while everyday men and women who are born with or develop such movement styles are not?  Why is a limp so intriguing and innovative onstage but so unsettling and awkward on the sidewalk?  Why is it acceptable to watch this movement onstage but it is disrespectful to stare in real life?

Good day, blog readers! My name is Mary and I’m thrilled to be joining the HLD team as a new intern for Spring 2012.  How did I stumble upon this opportunity?  Well, I’d call it fate.

For the past two years I attended Scripps College in Southern California, the women’s college of the Claremont Consortium.  ‘Tis a coincidence that I danced on the daily in ballet and modern class with Ava and Anna, HLD interns extraordinaire from this past summer.  While Scripps did allow me to pursue a double-major in Dance and Writing for Social Change (self-designed), I struggled to find a way for my two passions to marry and guide me toward a meaningful and exciting career path.

That “marriage proposal,” if you will, came true during my sophomore year when Heidi Latsky’s Company came to Scripps.  As fate would have it, the “GIMP Project” and the mission/vision of Heidi’s company was integrated into three of my academic classes: “Humanities Fellowship, Engagement: Mind, Body, and Soul,” “Core III: Cultural Representation Through the Arts,” and “History of Dance in Western Civilization.”  Sadly, HLD did not incorporate into my “Psychological Statistics” class…If it had been, I probably would have paid more attention!  Nevertheless, I was still thoroughly inundated with all things HLD for three days filled with critical readings, class discussions, analytical essays, performance viewing, master class, and dinner with the company.

What intrigued me the most about the Heidi Latsky Dance Company was (and still is) their vision for dance to promote conversation – between the performers, amongst the audience, and even breaking through the fourth wall (discussion between performers and audience).  I had previously viewed dance as an “art” that could not be defined, described, or critiqued in words.  My liberal arts classes would often revert to the questions, “What is art?” “Is everything art?” “Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?” and so on.  Overwhelmed by the philosophy of it all, I nearly gave up.  Why should I form a solid opinion about what dance “is” if people will end up arguing with me?

“The GIMP Project” changed all that for me.  After HLD’s performance at Scripps’ packed theater, questions and ideas just seemed to pour from my mouth.  No one left during the “Question and Answer” session following the performance. Rather, hands kept popping up throughout the sea of quiet, curious students.  It was clear that “The GIMP Project” inspired us to speak, to listen, and to think.

Language is not a limitation to control dance.  Rather, dance inspires the development of new language (thoughts, questions, controversies, praises, etc.).   I can have an opinion about what dance “is.”  Vocalizing my opinion and hearing those of my peers will only breed moreknowledge and understanding of difference, not less.  As our thoughts and feelings shifted and strengthened, embers of social change were ignited.

As cheesy as it may sound, I pretty much just followed my heart since I first saw HLD perform at Scripps nearly fifteen months ago.  Over the summer I interned at the National Dance Education Organization in Washington, DC and learned about the (still) controversial categorization of dance as a form of physical activity versus dance as an art worthy of academic study.  The experience greatly expanded my knowledge of dance arts education in the United States and strengthened my newfound ability to talk about dance in writing.  Yet, I have to admit that sitting at a desk forty hours per week writing about dance made me a little stir-crazy to actually get back to dancing myself..

Now that my program has ended, I hope to integrate my passions for writing and dancing.  After the holidays, I anxiously returned to New York City, excited to attend Broadway auditions and resume my undergraduate career as a transfer student at New York University. However, I was wary that I would be “engaged” forever, living my dancer-life and my writer-life but waiting for the two to finally marry and become one.

The performance, once again, infused in me a desire to talk and learn about the piece.  As I snuck out of the theater between performances, before Casebolt and Smith was scheduled to take the stage, I spotted Ms. Heidi Latsky herself.  Without even thinking, I walked right up to her and asked,

Heidi is teaching two workshops at the Aaron Academy in New York City this week to begin an outreach program that we hope will reach multiple schools around the New York City area!

On December 6th, HLD heads to Rutgers University to perform GIMP-tickets and more information are available on www.rutgers.edu.

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody! Any exciting dance-related (or not dance related!) plans you want to share?

Heidi talks about GIMP, her process, working with different kinds of performers and dancers and the FISA Foundation 100th anniversary performance.

Check out the link below for this video, by Martha Rial!

http://vimeo.com/31353235

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11290/1182674-437.stm

More reviews are still coming in, so look at our blog often, and don’t forget to  look at heidilatskydance.net for full information on the Pittsburgh performance and more!

Please stay updated on HLD news by visiting our website and Facebook page, and don’t forget to read the blog!!

We are performing “GIMP” there on October 15th in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the FISA Foundation in collaboration with Pittsburgh Dance Council (a division of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust) and the August Wilson Center for African American Culture.

Visit http://www.heidilatskydance.net/heidilatskydance/schedule/ for details

To purchase tickets ($15), visit http://www.augustwilsoncenter.org/events/index.php !!

www.markhammarkofdistinction.com

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Don’t forget to keep voting for Heidi to recieve a $25,000 grant! www.markhammarkofdistinction.com

www.markhammarkofdistinction.com

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