Last night after Hee Ra's class at DNA, I got to check out the Performance Project, featuring work by Kendra Portier and Sasha Soreff (I only saw half the show because I was in class, so I'm not sure what other choreographers performed last night)

It was really great on a personal note to see two of my Hunter classmates Rachel Goldstein and Andrea Cassidy performing in Portiers work again. Rachel, Andrea, and I had the pleasure of dancing for Kendra this past academic year at Hunter College as part of the department repertory, sponsored by the Harkness in Dance Residency program. 

You can check out KP's work HERE. In fact, you really should check it out. Like now. 

The work I saw last night was all Kendra-she has such a distinct style, but it allows each dancer to really shine through as well. The atmospheric sounds and beats made me think I had happened upon this band of serious women who had tasks at hand-serious sensual tasks that were physically necessary to their lives. This is essential Kendra. Having been in her work, and having seen her previous work with Launch Movement Experiment, I can see the work oriented sincerity and the playfulness that exist in her motifs. I recommend you check out the performance project, which runs tonight and tomorrow at DNA.

SOOOO, today it's FESTIVAL!!!

This means I get to go around the corner from my house and take class in my neighborhood bar. That's right, it's bar(re) HOW COOL IS THAT?! 

I'll be all warmed up from the Contact Jam at Eden's Expressway  beginning at 1pm. I love my dancing life.

Have a super saturday peeps.

xo
m.e.

At four pm today, I was sitting and chatting with Mariangela Lopez in the hallway outside Eden's Expressway. She was nice, petite, and full of smiles. Little did I know that this woman would soon TERRIFY ME.

Well, not really terrify me, but really challenge my comfort zones in a really productive and wonderful way. Mari focused on movement-the movement that we do as children, full of curiosity and wonder, and completely void of judgement. 

This is harder than it sounds. Leaving judgement behind to revert to former childlike bliss sounds wonderful, and I feel like I caught it in moments, but it was all together just really...scary!

Dance can be like that. Completely terrifying. I think that lots of people are terrified by dance because they don't think they can dance, or they don't think they look good while dancing. I know I can dance, and I think I look just fine doing it, but what was scary was suspending judgement of my own towards what I really wanted to do-rather than just popping out what I was 'supposed' to do. Because while dancers are used to taking risks, we are also used to being very very obedient. 

The workshop is still open, and runs for the next three Sundays in May. Registration can be found here. I cannot be in attendance this Sunday due to work, but I will see Mari and everyone else for the remaining two workshops. Please come join us! Many of the registrants are not dancers, but rather people interested in movement experiences. Come join the fun!

I am a current intern at Movement Research and for the next three weeks I get to take morning class with this amazing man, Luis Lara Malvacias. He is so goal oriented but so playful and clear that you can't help but have a really focused and fun time while dancing. We had 15 students pre-register for todays class from The School of Dance in Ottawa, so we had quite a packed house! 29 total students in little old Eden's Expressway! It was interesting to see the type of training in their bodies I used to think was so desirable. They were absolutely well trained, but absolutely over trained; and they absolutely gave a huge effort in class to get it RIGHT. 
It was kind of lovely to see that energy again, and to know that the precision in weight I seek and see in dancers I admire comes from understanding the body in motion and it's weight and not from muscling it around to force it do to what you insist. I love how much enthusiasm younger dancers have, and though I'm only 29, I can begin to feel my maturity and always developing passion. I don't think i'm quite conveying this the right way, but the sort of hyperactive nature they possess makes me nostalgic and grateful that I'm not quite that way anymore all at the same time. 

Luis is a smart teacher, and is confident without pushing into arrogance. He is open and makes you want to dance smarter. 

I stayed for the Alexander Technique class with Cori Olinhouse of Trisha Brown. She has a private practice in brooklyn and has her B.A. from Bennington. She really had a vivid and logical way of explaining Alexander Technique. I find that most Alexander classes can be so abstract, I'm not even sure what I'm meant to focus on. I can feel changes in my body, but I'm unsure of what my job as a student is while in class. She really helped me find some patterns I might have and discussed the possibilities of directional pathways with us. I really recommend her classes. 

Karen and I are going to brave another night at Yankee Stadium. Hopefully the weather will hold out and they will play!! 

For a complete guide to Movement Research classes, and for upcoming performance dates and applications, please visit www.movementresearch.org.