Teaching Dance

Change is definitely in the air. At least for my family and me. This summer has been a whirlwind time of transition. Recently, Jakobi graduated from High School; Melissa, Jakobi and I relocated over a thousand miles away to St. Louis; I started teaching at Webster University; and Melissa started grad school at Fontbonne University. On Tuesday, Jakobi will begin a “gap year” that includes traveling to Europe and (possibly) Asia with his friend Sean. I am excited for him. I believe the trip will be the most eye (and mind) opening experience for him. Working and traveling  in other countries, seeing other worlds and lifestyles, changed my worldview in ways that I now value greatly. He is an “old soul” and I am confident he will garner so much from his gap year. So, while it frightens the hell out of me to imagine him on his own, I think it is an incredible opportunity and I am proud of his initiative. When his adventure is over, he will join Melissa and me in St.  Louis. ...

The CelloPointe concert went well; I am truly pleased with Dona and Morgan’s performance. As for the choreography, there are moments that intrigue me and others that I don’t like. Of course, this is typical. The creative process is, if anything, a process of revision. A piece is only finished when one stops working on it. And, sharing that aspect of dance-making here in this blog is part of my commitment to be open about the process. From my perspective, the successful aspects of the dance were (1) a handful of images I found intriguingly beautiful and (2) the flow of the phrasing. I am not going to point out the specific images I found intriguing here because I would like to get feedback (which I am going to ask for below) and I don’t want to influence authentic responses. What I will share right now, are some issues that I am struggling with in the dance. Below is an excerpt of the dance that includes the pas de deux (Bach Sarabande). Prior to the duet, there is a short solo (Gavot...

Last night was the premiere of a collaborative work between the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra , the Ridgefield Guild of Artists , and the Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance . The event went beautifully and it was interesting to see these organizations working together, especially from the point of view of the Dance Paradigms . A strongly conventional, classical-minded audience supports the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra. The current artists-in-residence at the Ridgefield Guild of Artists, sculptor Justin Perlman and performance artist Adelka Polak , are contemporary artists. My students from the Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance have a strong classical foundation in ballet balanced with experience in modern and contemporary dance, including exposure to contemporary composition and improvisation. I guess the biggest question for me going into this project was whether the gap between the symphony’s classical paradigm and the artists’ contemporary paradigm would be difficult to bridge. ...

I have been so silent on here recently--sorry. I promise that will end soon. I have been preoccupied with a variety of projects/events:  performance and residency at Scotland Elementary School,  rehearsals for a performance with the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra ,  performances of the Ridgefield Rhythm Tap Ensemble,  being on a committee for Advancing Creative Thinking: Imagination to Innovation , students preparing their own choreography for Draw On! at the Aldrich Contemporary Arts Museum , and a whole lot of traveling.  Coming up this weekend is a premiere of a new work I created with Morgan Stinnett and Dona Wiley of Connecticut Ballet . I shared the first rehearsal in the last post …here is a clip from the third rehearsal . This Friday, the new work will debut in CelloPointe   and features choreography by Deborah Wingert , Emery Lecrone , Michele Gargan, and myself. If you are local and enjoy live music and dancing, please join us on Friday Marc...

Today I began rehearsals for a new piece to be premiered in a concert on March 30th. The concert, “CelloPointe”, fuses contemporary ballet and all live cello performances. There is an impressive roster of choreographers, musicians, and dancers on board and I am excited to be involved. My contribution is an original work set on Dona Wiley and Morgan Stinnett—both from the Connecticut Ballet . Dona was a student of mine and I set pieces on her last year for the concert "String Theory." This was my first time meeting Morgan. It turns out that he is from Akron, OH—small world after all. He studied with Nan Klinger, took a class from my ballet teacher Inna Stabrova, and was even in a piece my dear friend Bill Hastings set on the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet. I try to avoid gross generalizations, but Morgan supports the one about Midwesterners being easy to get along with. Both Dona and Morgan are really generous and humble young artists and I really appreciate that. We began g...

In my tagline for this blog I write...”navigating the shifting seas of life as a dance-maker, teacher, and buddhist.” Since different people have different definitions--as well as different (mis)understandings--of what being Buddhist means, it might be helpful (at least for me) to clarify my personal perspective. The teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (a.k.a. the Buddha) have spawned a wide variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices--some religious, some philosophical. From my perspective, I embrace Buddhism as a philosophy, not as a religion. I believe Siddhartha’s original teachings were not meant to be religious or metaphysical. Although, he did allow that an understanding that still included many of the folk traditions, rituals, and myths of the respective cultures was acceptable until a deeper understanding was reached.  So, I don’t buy into the magical/mythical/metaphysical attributes to which some traditional Buddhist perspectives adhere. Rather, I see the metaphysical...

So, how can the Graves framework be incorporated and applied to dance education? I think it can offer an organizational structure for college dance students that will introduce conceptual thinking toward their craft. While not all undergraduate students would care to understand the development of dance beyond the platitudes they often hear, some may gain a greater understanding of the ideas behind the movements.    Of all the arts, dancers are often saved from the rigors of intellectual thought because we are physical artists and not to be labored with such thinking. However, I believe that this is an old Cartesian modernist mind-body prejudice. Presenting the information will at least give those dancers that are interested the ability to grow into knowledgeable, passionate, thinking artists. And for those who would rather not consider it, we would just accept that they are in the state that suits their current psychological conditions. At the dance studio in Long Island ...