Thursday, September 3, 2009
Within reasonable proximity, the ballet is finished! Andre Lewis gave us the gift of having rehearsal directly after class. The dancers ran all the completed material with great gusto and then I frantically gave rapid-fire corrections. Every day there is a huge improvement in the understanding of the steps and the score, but most importantly, the clarity of the focus in the concept is starting to gel. It has been my experience that when dancers feel that they know the entire ballet, they suddenly can apply themselves entirely to the work. They realize how to pace their energetic output.
We moved quickly in finishing up a women’s section. I did my trick of plotting out the geographical use of space by making the dancers move in patterns here and there. Then I saw how much time was available for each change in the pattern and understood what steps to use. Sometimes logic can help make choices – even ones that are not that predictable.
In the lunch break I finished off a few details from Vanessa and Sasha’s duet as well as working with Jo-Ann and Yosuke on their balcony duet. I am now choreographing to similar sections to the same music. One is my ideal plan for performance from the Stage Left balcony and the other is the fall back plan. They are like a close up in film.
I’m cheating right now and writing this a day late. I went home after rehearsal and was asleep by 17:30!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Today we had the greatest praise in our run through; we kept a baby entertained. Tara Birtwhistle, principal dancer with the RWB brought her young daughter to the ballet. Her husband, Dmitri, was in rehearsal taking photographs and so I thought that the whole family should be there. Their daughter didn't make a sound; she stayed quiet and focused on the dancers for all twenty-three minutes! I am also proud to say that Andre Lewis, artistic director of the company also watched and seemed equally enthusiastic.
My goal was to finish the ballet today. That didn't happen, but we completed several sections and made huge improvements in others. The ending of the ballet is now looking like the fun idea that I imagined after we spent the rehearsal learning the music and repeating over and over. Jo-Ann was a great help in making this section work.
Today I made a solo for Sasha who seems to move naturally in the classical idiom. At one point he just continued the phrase that we had set up and his improvisation had the perfect feeling. It has stayed.
I added the three ladies as a setting for Maureya's solo. They had me almost rolling with laughter as they bop their heads near the back of the stage. It will be a good colour at beginning of the third movement!
There was a huge flurry today as we filmed our run through in the morning and then transferred the footage to DVD to send to Clifton, our lighting designer in Brooklyn. I have seen his work, but we have not yet met. In one week he will make the final comments on our work. Almost there!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Today was a long day. I stayed in the ballet building until 22:00 working on the dancers' itinerary sheets for the tour. These pages include all travel, accommodation and scheduling details as well as contact information. It is good experience for me to learn to assemble all the necessary information to go on tour.
I did not have that heavy a rehearsal day, but it seemed that things were at a boiling point all day. I made many phone calls and dealt with tickets. I also spent time in vain trying to email a video from rehearsal. My formatting was not correct.
Vanessa and Sasha worked on their lunch break to add onto their second duet. It is coming slowly. I am always slow at setting partner work, but I do like what they are doing!
I began my full call by making the dancers sit on the edge of a table to come up with a combination. They will be at the edge of the stage and I wanted them to feel a simulation of the situation. We had many laughs and I know it will be a lot of work to pull this section together.
Maureya stayed after the end of the day to finish off her solo. She needs to have expansive movement, despite her height, and she really will devour the space! Each of the women in this ballet has a solo that makes them look different from the others. I'm quite pleased with how aspects of their personalities are stamped on their solos.
Monday, August 31, 2009
I'm thinking of having my phone implanted in my body. This morning was a phone morning!
The finale of the ballet is now in motion. The bits are starting to come together. I'm sure that it will change over the next few days, but it is coming along well.
I have rented a theatre here, the Gas Station Theatre, in order to do a dress rehearsal of "In Tandem" before going to NYC. My friend Stephanie has made all the arrangements for it and I am so excited to see it all move to another level.
The dancers did a bash through today. Vanessa wore the costume and she looks stunning. I'm really happy with Anne's designs. The choreography is not all finished yet, but I played the music straight through. The patches of unfinished music seemed to stretch on for ages and I watched the dancers' expressions as they realized how much more there is to go. They have had first rate attitudes and are really committed to this collaboration. It has made my work into a real pleasure.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I'm still at the ballet more than an hour and a half after rehearsals ended. This website has been driving me mad as the program that I use to write it seems to have a mind of its own!
Huge goals were set for today. I had wanted to finish off a duet for Yosuke and Jo-Ann on the lunch break and then knock off a large chunk of the third movement with Yosuke' Amanda and Jo-Ann. Both rehearsals were productive, but the choreography is not completed.
In the duet, I worked in one of the oddest ways since I rehearsed a group of Germany dancers in the former East Germany. There I made them march up stairs. Here I made the dancers dance on the piano.
I'm trying to make a little duet to be performed from a loft space Stage Left. It is like a loge at the side of the stage. For the rehearsal, I put two piano benches behind an upright piano that we pretended was the loft wall. I got a raised eyebrow and many odd looks through the studio window.
Once the dancers got into the idea, they had many great things to say.
Poor, poor Amanda. I tortured her today by trying to make her do a arabesque dive with a contraction that needs to stay on balance. She will get it!
Eight more rehearsal days to go!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
More material got cut in today's fitting. Jo-Ann tried on the leotard before a skirt was added. It looked so fantastic on her that we have now decided to go sans skirt. I've been assured that should I feel the least bit uncomfortable about the full legs on view, that there will still be time to cover the situation.
Maureya is back! She was released from another rehearsal and so we were suddenly in the studio at work on the beginning of the third movement. She has a young, fresh quality that allows her to easily roll through the technical challenges that I've given her. This lady knows what makes her look good and has maturity to find her own voice in the steps.
Jo-Ann has been a delight in this work. The duet that she dances with Yosuke has a strong, juxtaposition of characters. They each want something else. She has a bold presence and I adore her angular lines. While I was still faffing about trying to figure out when I would give her a solo, she offered to work with me to dream up movement for any part of the piece. She just wanted to work to experiment. These six dancers have really gone out of their way to be part of my process. This is what making a new work should be like, but because we have all known each other for a long time, there are so many unspoken references that allow us to work off each other. On the other hand, it can also swiftly swirl into silliness if I'm not careful!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Anne Armit, costume designer by day, attacked Sasha with scissors. He had been outfitted in a long sleeve black top with pants. When Anne walked in she grabbed the scissors and while lunging into the sleeve material that was millimeters away from Sasha's skin she cried "I'll feel much better when these are GONE! I've never cut anyone yet". The lady who had made the garments pressed herself against the wall as Anne then went for the other sleeve. Next the pants were hacked off and Anne admired Sasha's legs. It seems we're into skin!
Vanessa was next to face the mirror and the scissors. Her costume is going to be stunning. Her skirt was savaged, but we have a clear idea of what it will be. I am completely thrilled with these costumes and it's a bonus to be entertained along the way!
Today my concept for the last seven minutes of the ballet clicked. I now know where I'm going and who's on stage when. Thank goodness!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thank God for the weekend - and a great rehearsal! I've learned that if I stay in the studio by myself too long before rehearsal, I will not be a lot of fun. Today I had enough time to totally rethink my concept for the end of the first movement and yet, not kill it. I had planned a section for three women moving in conjunction with the fast pace of the piano while Yosuke walked backwards in slow motion. Gone! Out! Instead, I have chosen to use the gorgeous music that gives me the image of water freezing for a solo for Yosuke. He is an astounding artist. The choreography that we are making together is unlike anything I've done before and would be impossible for me to do alone. It is so exciting! I'm still using the trio of ladies, but they will dress the stage and ask the audience to look through and around them to see his solo. It will be a high point of the ballet.
Now I'm just enjoying a quiet evening before a big day of visiting friends tomorrow. For my Birthday, I am going to visit Mr. Arnold Spohr. He is my mentor and a key person in setting the course of my life.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Time is ticking. We have thirteen rehearsal days left until we fly to New York! My goal is to be done the ballet in ten days. Half of the score remains untouched! I'm looking forward to the weekend so that I can get my mind around everything that's left. Today was about tightening and smoothing transitions, awkward moments and articulating musicality; the small stuff that takes forever. We did add on, but by that point I was fried. I crawled home in the rain.
Tomorrow is going to be better - no choice.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
It was a great day today! I had my very first full cast call and I was finally able to put the various pieces of the ballet together. There are some sections that the dancers had only walked through and so this rehearsal indicated the pacing of the work as well as letting the dancers see their colleague's work for the first time. The attention and support that they gave each other was astounding! One of the company's ballet masters also watched our bash through which meant a lot to me.
Later in the call I taught the beginnings of a combination of steps. The dancers whip around in an off balance arabesque and throw their arms up in the air in a high release. Then, they drop their right arms in a twisting motion. As I was struggling to describe how the hands should turn, I asked them to move as though they were picking an apple off a tree and dropping it to the ground. It worked.
Once we had set up the combination of steps, I placed the dancers around the room and made them face different directions on a diagonal plane. Then, they did the combination together, but the variety of directions created unbelievable beauty in patterns.
My dear friend Stephanie Ballard, who is a great choreographer and exceptionally talented in keeping me off balance, taped our work. We spent a great evening tearing my work apart and enriching ideas.
My constant thought with this work is to have fun and enjoy every moment. Today's rehearsals were just that.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The mosquitoes are out and I have bites everywhere. This tells me that I should never leave the safety of the ballet studio.
Today I had the luxury of having a free morning and only starting to work with dancers at 3:00. It was a fun day and we worked with great spirit and gusto. Amanda and Yosuke's solo may have inched forward, but it gained in definition while Jo-Ann and Yosuke's duet (the balletic love triangle has sunk in its claws) grew by 200%.
Yosuke is such a beautiful mover. He has that liquid quality that makes each step melt into the next. In his duet with Jo-Ann, I have him partnering her from the floor. He has to make several changes of position in order to complete her line and avoid catastrophe. This man has a way of slinking low to the ground that would make my joints snap and crackle like popcorn. He is also a delight to work with. Today when we were looking at the amount of time we have left to finish this ballet, he offered to come in and collaborate with me to help me make steps for any dancer in the work.
A few weeks ago Karen Kain told me that if I can get dancers to trust me even more, then they will practically turn themselves inside out to find something special. Karen was right. Yosuke and I were also in the same class of men in ballet school. I am proud to see him achieving so much!
Monday, August 17, 2009
This post is a day late going up. Sorry. Last night, when I would have been writing, I was spending a glorious evening with a friend. We discussed family therapy and how it can be dealt with in movement while watching a film about Edith Piaf and dining on excellent Chinese food. It was a good change from thinking about my ballet!
Yesterday's rehearsals were useful, but we didn't forge ahead as I had hoped. I had two fast calls in which we reviewed and enriched material, but added no new seconds to the ballet. Time is ticking very fast!
Time also was ticking as I spend one hour, six minutes and 37 seconds on the phone with my cell phone company, Verizon, which conveniently over charged me by sixty dollars. I did convince them of their error and pointed out that every bill that I've had from Verizon has been full of mistakes. So much for the "No Worry Guarantee"! That is 1:06.37 of my life that I will never get back - ever.
On a lighter note, whenever I am making a ballet, I seem to adopt a song that I must listen to each morning prior to rehearsals. In Russia it was Peggy Lee's Fever. In Philadelphia I jumped around to the theme song from Fame. Here in Winnipeg I've gone even less pop and more kitsch - Saint-Saens' Bacchanal from the opera Samson and Delilah. There is no accounting for my taste as it is what it is.
Friday, August 14, 2009
It felt like Friday today! My first rehearsal was not until 3:00 and so I read in the morning, wrote emails and tried to feel more on top of everything. It was a long week and my muscles felt really heavy - even though I haven't been demonstrating that much. In the past I would always dance full-out through the rehearsals to show exactly what I wanted. With this ballet, however, I am really enjoying the familiarity with my dancers. We are from the same school and know the same references. We have a common language. In my best rehearsals this week, I acted more as an observer who was reading their bodies, weighing potential movements and trying to unlock where their bodies could go. It has been rewarding.
Vanessa and I made a killer solo. I mean "killer" in several ways - because it is hard, but it also really shows her off - she's fierce! It allows her space to move within the technique and we worked as partners on the steps. She easily takes my prompting and thinks inside those ideas. I hope that I will get the opportunity to serve her more in the future!
After a short break, Sasha, Vanessa and I finished off the Pas de Deux that has seemed to take forever to make. Near the end there is a moment where he leans her deep to the side while she is on her back with one leg in the air. Normally the exit from a lunge like that is pretty predictable. Vanessa is a yoga fiend and so I asked her to put her hand on the floor and balance, like in yoga, while Sasha walks around her before pulling her up. It's a bit odd, but when I saw it in the context of the whole Pas de Deux, it made me smile. It will be interesting to see if it is still there by the time we get to NYC!
Yosuke is back from Ottawa, visa approved and we are all very excited that these shows are coming so soon! I now have 8:20 minutes finished. Time for the weekend.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
This morning I enjoyed a truly wonderful tea with Susan Glass, who recently was awarded the Order of Canada for her outstanding leadership and philanthropy to the arts, specifically the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Banff Centre for the Arts. I am so excited that she, and a group of other RWB supporters, will be coming to NYC to see our performances in a few weeks!
After Susan, I had an interview with La Liberte, the French newspaper here in Winnipeg. I like doing interviews!
I knew that I was scheduled to make a solo for Vanessa today and yet I managed to get my wires crossed. Yesterday, when I saw that I had time with Vanessa, I had not yet chosen what part of the music I would give her. I thought about it through the evening and during the morning today. When time was ticking down, I stumbled on how I could move the ballet forward and yet give her a substantial section. With my mind focused on how to solve the Vanessa issue, I didn’t read the rehearsal plan properly. Sasha walked into the studio only for me to greet him with “Sasha, why are you here”? I was not prepared to do the Pas de Deux until after lunch. He knows me well enough to have not been offended, and in the end, we added some great things to the Pas de Deux.
After lunch I went on to have a lot of fun with Vanessa in making her solo! Maureya’s solo was slated for my last call of the day. After great rehearsals before, I think I was done for the day because everything we did was too square - so we left to enjoy the warm afternoon.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
I’m just coming back to life after devouring a Belgian chocolate pudding - rehearsals can be exhausting in the intense heat that we have here in Winnipeg!
Today was both a really productive day and a frustrating one. This morning the rehearsal schedule was finessed at the last moment which meant that instead of 80 minutes of rehearsal with the four ladies, I had half an hour. I must say that the ladies worked with such intensity that we easily reached my goal. We taped a bash through and will set it aside now for a few days to focus on other sections. In this section I am pitting the driving rhythm in the piano and vibraphone sections against the slow modulations of the winds and strings. I asked the ladies to imagine that they are like a sculpture and the viewer is walking around them. As the view circumnavigates the sculpture, more detail is revealed. The dancers have developed something quite interesting that serves as a sharp contrast with the allegro movement that is at the same time.
After the morning’s rehearsal, I waited until the last block of the day to work with Yosuke and Sasha. It was a FUN rehearsal and the movement can be a gyroscopic thrill.
Tonight Yosuke is off to Ottawa for a day to get his American visa for the tour. I’m reading a new libretto for a ballet and I hope everyone else is relaxing in this heat. I may even have a second pudding....
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
I felt like an idiot today! This morning I was so concerned about CBC television coming into my rehearsal, that I forgot my notebook and CD at home. So, after helping my fabulous stage manager tape out the floor plan for the Guggenheim’s stage, I ran home. I arrived at rehearsal slightly frantic, but made a concerted effort to look calm. I had all four ladies today and they are such fun to rehearse. We basically finished the opening of the ballet, while being taped for CBC! I think I have about five minutes done in various parts of the score, but I’m not sure.
Later in the day I was meeting with Kristen, a Development Officer, when Anne, my costume designer, walked by with a wet piece of fabric. We sat on the floor in the administrative hall to discuss the Ombre Dye job and basic concept for the costumes. This was my idea of a great collaboration; two artists taking a spontaneous moment to brainstorm. “More” is what I say to that!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Today was a great rehearsal day! I had 80 minutes to work with Yosuke and Jo-Ann and it was fun. We built on the five second mess that I made yesterday and transformed it into a textured phrase. It was a first for me in terms of how I rehearse. I sat on the floor for most of the rehearsal and made observations. It felt as though we were making it together.
Yosuke has a fluid jump that I will play with in other parts of the ballet, but he is equally adept at shifting from one position on the floor to another. In this Pas de Deux he partners Jo-Ann from low down. This low profile in contrast with Jo-Ann’s angular yet sensual presence is really giving me a lot to play with.
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