spring dance trac schedule

Find us on the HIGH 5 REVIEW!

2010-09-16T10:00:00.001-07:00

heyo,

Quick update on this blog.... and where to go in the future for updates.....

As of today, this blog will remain here to redirect people and as an archive, but we won't be updating it anymore. We are happy to announce the building of our new online arts-paper --- The High 5 Review (www.high5review.org). There will be a TRaC section in the newspaper that will pick up where this blog left off. Expect weekly posts about TRaC ongoings, TRaC reviews, event announcements, and much much more!

Events like first friday Pizza and a Movie Nights will continue to be announced on Facebook (become a fan of High 5 here) and the High 5 Review. Both will have updates for free tickets to shows, news about special TRaC events, and random posts about random arts opportunities for teens.

And if you're not on High 5's e-mail newsletter, you're missing out on new shows, reviews and event announcements every week! Sign up here to get the inside beat on all things art in the city: www.high5tix.org/mailinglist

We'll see you out there at the shows!
(and on the High 5 Review)

Apply for Dance TRaC

2010-02-16T15:20:00.000-08:00

Applications for spring Dance TRaC are now available for eligible high school students at www.high5tix.org/TRaC.

Come together with people from different backgrounds and schools who want to explore the arts and sharpen their critical eye. Imagine yourself and these 12 peers attending world-class performances, meeting professional artists and critics, and breaking it down in weekly two-hour workshops. All while improving your writing!

What else will you do in Dance TRaC?

Attend at least 5 performances
Experience the NYC arts world with behind-the-scenes access
Learn from high-profile professional artists and critics
Expand your critical writing and dialogue skills
Publish reviews read by thousands
Meet like-minded peers from all over NY and NJ
Master New York City’s public transportation system
Discover more about yourself!

ArtsConnection/High 5 partners with Dance Theater Workshop to bring you the best in the dance and performance from around the city. The Dance TRaC schedule is as follows* (subject to change):

TRaC Kickoff Party, 4:30 - 6:15, March 16

8 Classes on Fridays @ Dance Theater Workshop, 4:30 - 6:30

March 19, March 26, (off March 31 for Winter Break)
April 9, April 16, April 23 (off April 28 for Spring Break)
May 7, May 14, May 21
+ the 5 or 6 performances TBD

The TRaC Finale, 2:00 - 4:00, May 22

Download a TRaC flier and application today at www.high5tix.org/TRaC. Or attend our Open House on February 25th to get more information. Applications are accepted on a first come, first served basis. (Yes, all former TRaC participants may take another TRaC class. Yes, you must resubmit an application).

Applications are due on March 4th.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

2009-12-02T08:02:00.001-08:00

This week we reconnect for class at the usual place and time followed by a return to City Center to experience a whole different crowd at performances by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater of three works MEMORIA (26 minutes), the world premiere of Judith Jamison's AMONG US (PRIVATE SPACES: PUBLIC PLACES), and the classic and celebrated work REVELATIONS (38 minutes).

Multi-TRaC class will also be attending the performance.

THIS WEEK: Tere O'Connor Dance

2009-11-09T07:23:00.000-08:00

As Jean-Luc Godard was to cinema at the height of the New Wave, so Tere O’Connor is to phenomenological dance in his rejection of what he calls “narrative ideologies” or “abstraction as a cliché.”

“My work is not a journey toward aboutness,” O’Connor told Gay City News. “It’s more a kind of immersion or reflection on things without singular meanings.”

O’Connor has been creating important experimental work in New York for almost 30 years, putting theory into practice in the service of allowing dance to exploit its inherent properties.

For his latest work, “Wrought Iron Fog,” the artist is subjecting language to his choreographic process. “The overall experience,” he explained, “is more important than the hieroglyphic elements. I’m allowing experience to teach me how to make that frontal in the work, instead of letting people getting lost reading sign systems. Dance has a different grammar.”

“Inside of dance,” O’Connor asserted, “philosophy and psychology and systemic elements shape the surface. Instead of designing of shapes over time, there is a process that gives birth to dance. There can be elements of the known on that surface, but they are not strung together on a narrow accumulation of time.”

Cultural bias, the artist believes, inclines audiences to approach dance in a manner he called “looking for the ghost of the choreography.” He explained, “People go in trying to read dance like a book. It is not a book. It may have pages, and words are there, but reconfigured.”

O’Connor suggested, too, that dance has more to offer than an artistic experience. “I would like the power of this form to be unleashed,” he said. “It’s the great diffuser of monothematic dogmatic ideologies. It uses complication as a way to undermine linguistic logic, and shows its otherness. It’s a journey away from language, toward letting go of the naming of things. It’s an other experience that has its own value.”

“Dance,” the choreographer-philosopher concluded, “is looking at a constellation of consciousness and daily necessity; a work derived from total experience. I want to erase episodes, to create a sensation cloud where you can fall in and engage with your own narrative.”

Flatland

2009-11-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

Vanessa Justice’s Flatland is a world of many dimensions. Maggie Bennett, Kendra Portier, and Alli Ruszkowski weave their way through the many nooks and crannies of Flatland with one part grace, two parts pulsation, and all parts surreal. Throughout the piece, the movements appear to be very much a part of a ritual that we, the audience, are not invited to, but are simply observers.
Using black-and-white clips from the movie, Eraserhead, Justice’s women run, scream, and convulse around a shadowy room. There appeared to be no narrative, which left the piece simply to be interpreted by emotion alone. The hour-long piece produced at times terror, confusion or incredulity, or amusement. The mood was often tense, only relieved by the sudden bursts of lively music or at an instance when the three women stepped up to the audience and offered “the best seat in the house,” so that we might be “comfortable.” However, this display of including the audience only served to alienate the audience more, almost mocking it for watching the women move. Once an audience member was placed in the seat, the women promptly went back to ignoring the audience.
However surreal the show was, it was nevertheless interesting to watch as the women made their way through Flatland, a world where anything could happen—and be almost normal.

Erica Reyes

Guest Speaker Elizabeth Zimmer

2009-11-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth Zimmer has been writing about the arts since 1971, beginning as a freelancer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A native New Yorker, she has worked as a writer and editor for The Village Voice, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, and dozens of other publications; she currently contributes to The Australian, Dance Magazine, and New York's free daily paper Metro. She teaches writing to aspiring critics of all ages, and has studied many forms of dance; she has performed in the work of several New York choreographers, and mounted her own show, North Wing, at Here.

Elizabeth will be coming in to speak this Friday, November 6. Please bring your written reviews with you.

City Center Bail Out, er um, Stimulus

2009-11-04T06:06:00.000-08:00

City Center was daunting: large and stuffy and crowded with wine-sipping sycophants...but we did run into Elizabeth Zimmer in the lobby. When we got upstairs to our seats, we endured a mean usher, twice, and then after accommodating the Eurotrash, had to deal with their incessant seal-like clapping. What put it over the top for me was the presentation itself. Enough that there were there ballets in one program - that's to be expected, and we had discussed protocol about leaving at intermissions at a multi-presentational format, i.e. allowed.

But first, Christopher came out and talked about the company and the process and a film that he then showed about the company and the process. And THEN the first ballet began, and the choreography was masterful, and the dancing exquisite, but the underlying stereotypes of gender and behavior really insufferable, especially, I felt, coming from an openly gay ballet master. This is one of the essential problems of ballet, the deeply rooted conservatism. Still, it was excellent for the students to also have this experience. With one exception, the urge to vacate was palpable.

(Afterwards, I considered why our experience at NYCB last semester was so positive and concluded, that one, we had a pre-show talk with the education director, who was very hospitable, and two, the program included some contemporary work that all of the students were impressed and inspired by (Preljocaj). While we had discussed the significance of Balanchine, those works often do read as culturally out of touch, especially when they are live.)

Jason Samuels Smith

2009-10-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, October 24, you'll be meeting Brian at the Kitchen at 2:40 sharp for what should be an incredibly entertaining show.....

The Kitchen
512 West 19th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenue)
Close subways: A, C, E, L, and 1 train.

Jason Samuels Smith: Charlie’s Angels

In less than a decade, Emmy award-winning choreographer and hoofer Jason Samuels Smith has emerged as a leader in the tap dance world. For the New York premiere of his new dance work, Charlie’s Angels, he considers the complex intersections between inspiration, re-interpretation, and creative process, using Charlie Parker’s revolutionary harmonic ideas and tonal vocabulary as a point of departure. Revisiting Parker’s early influential recordings, Samuels Smith relates them to the history of tap dance, as well as to his personal development as a choreographer.

Developed in collaboration with and performed by three of the most innovative women tap dancers in the world, Chloe Arnold, Michelle Dorrance, and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, and also featuring Samuels Smith, the piece recontextualizes Parker’s music in the present moment. Samuels Smith takes us on a ride through fast tempos, virtuosic technique, and improvisation based on the harmonic structure that has become the legacy of bebop music.

Curated by Rashida Bumbray

Produced by Divine Rhythm Productions and Dulé Hill

Vanessa Justice Dance

2009-10-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

The first dance performance immediately follows the first class!

Vanessa Justice Dance
performs FLATLAND @ Joyce Soho, 8 pm
155 Mercer Street (between Houston and Prince)
You'll be near the R,F, V, B, D and 6 trains

About the show:
FLATLAND casts a surrealist tone with implications of anxiety and beauty. Inspired by Edmund Burke's On the Sublime (1756), this evocative, layered work creates an alluring tension while juxtaposing different forms and mediums (dance, film, animation). The dance hatches a dream-like world of precise and pulsating movement set against white-washed walls and featuring sound from David Lynch's 1977 movie Eraserhead. Considered an open-text choreography, the suggestive work makes layers of association to allow it to be received uniquely by each viewer. FLATLAND further develops Ms. Justice's interest in a poetics based on perception. She is honing a relational approach to choreography where divergent sources of information meet and create a context for interplay.

Dance TRaC begins!

2009-10-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

The adventure begins, with Brian McCormick as your fearless instructor! (Click here for images of Brian, probably pontificating about something.....)

First things, first. Where to meet????? Dance TRaC meets on Friday afternoons, 4:30-6:30, at the home of our partner, the Dance Theater Workshop (commonly called DTW by those in the know.)

Directions:

Dance Theater Workshop is located at 219 West 19th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues in the Chelsea district of New York City.

Subway: 1/9 to 18th Street. 2/3, F, L and A/C/E to 14th Street.

This is what the entrance looks like:

See you there!

Julia's responses & reviews

2009-05-18T04:35:00.001-07:00

Living outside the…… box of anything I have seen before……
By Julia Lisa

Monstah Black, the Artistic Director and Performer, created not only a mesmerizing dance show but also an inspiring vocal and audio piece. Moving and harmonizing with the recorded music (Monstah wrote and produced) is no easy feat. These modern/experimental/weird dances turned very erotic at times and had a Rocky Horror vibe. I wanted everyone to get up and do the Time Warp. I also got this vibe from the footwear of Monstah. He wore fabulous sparkly super platforms or no heeled platforms that made him stand on the balls of his feet and look like a dinosaur.

These dance pieces addressed issues like gender politics, and aspects of living or finding a way outside the…(box). Many dances seemed to be about freeing the oppressed in these situations by taking off restrictive clothing and opening umbrellas. In one part the “box” was represented with masking tape squares on the floor and walls, where the dancers confined themselves. I was left with the question, “How do we get in the box in the first place?”

Monstah’s three Starclusters help perform these stories, his female back up dancers, who resembled punk pixie ballerinas with their bright pinks and purple tutus, leggings, and sparkly faces. But my favorite dancer was Jupiter, Andy Miyamotto, who reminded me of Aaron Yoo from Disturbia and Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist. He came out first and started giggling and quietly dancing like he was listening to the radio, making everyone in the studio audience laugh. Through most of the show you could find him off in the corner dancing his heart out by himself, like a DJ watching over a dance club doing his thing.

Through these performers I have come to the conclusion our society has built the box around us, and Monstah has smashed his way out.

DanceBrazil
Julia Lisa
3/22/09

DanceBrazil at the Skirball Center at New York University, combined dance and capoeira, the traditional dance/martial arts form developed in Brazil by slaves to practice fighting. Strong, sexy, Brazilian dancers now perform it.

Act I: Ritmos (rhythm) was a colorful, energetic, and fun taste of Brazil by Jelon Vieira. The capoeiristas playfully danced and fought with each other through tight, precise choreography. The timing had to be, and was impeccable. Dancers flipped and kicked so precisely, just missing the others heads. Ritmos had a realistic feel to it, like being on the streets of Brazil with the dancers being part of a well-trained street crew. At times they would try to top each other’s moves and show off for the audience. Other times they moved completely in sync. The mix of Latin and African (Afro-Brazilian), capoeira, and break dance styles were accompanied by a lively band of Brazilian musicians (led by Tote Gina), whose rhythms from the drums seemed mimicked in the movement on stage. These sexy, powerful dancers maintained extremely high-energy throughout this piece. Their controlled movement and bare bodies displayed their incredible strength. The male dancers wore no shirts most of the time and the two women wore only bras with white or bright color pants. The nearly naked, muscular dance gods enthralled the audience. Ritmos had a variety of solos, duets and group numbers of continually fascinating, fierce, lyrical movement.

Act II Premiered Inura (manifestation) by Carlos Dos Santos, Jr. This piece was more of a modern, contemporary dance style with a tribal premise. The program said, the piece conveyed the power; sharing; teaching; understanding; respect; desire; humor, and manifestation. The intense live music of Inura by Tania León created a spiritual atmosphere, which the dancers adapted to their movement. The two women wore goddess costumes, one of gold and one of blue. With the help of the strong-bodied men these goddesses executed the most incredible lifts as if they were weightless. One man laid down a reflective board that he then proceeded to dance on. A beam of Burke Wilmore’s light fell from directly above casting a glow about the dancer, who created the most beautiful shapes with his body. Projected on the back wall throughout this piece were drawings of eyes and faces, like those found in a tribal temple. These images by artist Guilherme Kramer set the stage for the spiritual energy.

These two contrasting pieces complemented each other, and captured the audience. I imagine a common thought while leaving the theatre was, “I have to work on my abs.”

‘Sooner Than You Think response
Julia Lisa
3/22/09

“Places and spaces and all the rest is fiction.” These first words projected on screens started Jeremy Nelson & Luis Lara Malvacias’: Sooner Than You Think. I wish they referred to the end of this monotone piece. This interesting phrase had nothing to do with the hour of unrelated elements; a recurring video of trees and telephone poles through a moving bus window; four flats that the performers moved around to make different shapes; weird movement that had no clear meaning; and sporadic beeps and tones for music. It seemed like a bunch of mismatched puzzle pieces had been forced into a picture, creating nothing.

Having about 10 possibly very talented dancers rolling a ball across the floor, walking in circles, and writhing on the floor was a waste of dancers. One of them had the stage to himself, and just hit his head against a wall over and over. I wished that had been me. I sat there, in pain, trying to think of what they could be going for and what I could possibly say that didn’t involve my dislikes. I found the performers must be very dedicated to the art of dance to endure this piece. They also have amazing memories to remember the “choreography,” which had no corresponding music or story. They also committed themselves to the work 100%, taking it very seriously, never smiling. In what could have been interesting, one of the two main performers had a “scene” where he had a breakdown in gibberish. Even though he spoke nonsense, the audience could still understand what he felt, just as it would be in a dance. It was the most exciting part. But they moved on without relating it to the rest of the piece.

Surprised, I discover that the music was live. Ivo Bol sat in the back of the theatre with his laptop putting together sounds. Unlike traditional dance pieces where the dancers move to the music, this piece did the opposite.
The first 5 minutes of “music” I found interesting. The sounds of a campfire crackling and burning with the chirps of crickets played. For the last five minutes I found myself praying for it to end and wishing for a wall against which to hit my head. Whatever Nelson and Malvacia had aimed to achieve seems to have missed the mark. But seeing bad shows made me appreciate the good shows even more.

The New York City Ballet Review
By Julia Lisa
5/11/09

A night of concentrated dance, contemporary discoveries and classic fairytales enchanted an audience on May 8th. Friday evening at the New York City Ballet in Lincoln Center featured 3 wonderful and unique ballets.

George Balanchine, who is now held up as the greatest choreographer ever, created The Four Temperaments, first performed in 1946, based on the four humors corresponding to a different personality type. Today the choreography consists of the same brilliant moves, but the kicks and leaps are higher and the turns are tighter. The ballerinas wore traditional leotards and tights in front of a backdrop of Mark Stanley’s colorful lighting. Balanchine wanted the audience to focus on the dancing without distractions. When the mellow temper came out alone on the stage the piano soloist, Susan Walters played the somber tune. Mellow man struggled with himself to join the three vibrant circling women and would be pulled down to the ground by his mood. This piece had no purposeful story but enthralled the audience.

La Stravaganza by Angelin Preljocaj has been around little more than a decade. This more modern ballet, danced barefoot and with electronic music and sounds, still has a strong balletic foundation. 3 contemporary couples in earthy tones and 3 right out of the 17th century in colorful peasant garb explored sensuality, relationships and violence though their segregated dance styles. But curiosity for the other party led one girl to discover true love. The sounds of birds chirping and water trickling opens the dance as 5 of the earthy dancers intertwine hands and move mesmerizingly like flowing water while our Pocahontas stand off watching. When the couples from the 1600s appeared from beneath a rising upstage curtain as if they just touched down from their spaceship the music became very robotic and futuristic. These historic aliens caressed each other’s feet and rolled around on the floor. Preljocaj composed his classic merger of fantasy and reality in La Stravaganza.

Chaconne by the brilliant Balanchine premiered 33 years ago on this very stage. According to the program Chaconne comes from a phrase used by composers in the 16 and 1700s to end an opera in a festive mood and this dance certainly lived up to its namesake. With a large ensemble of lords and ladies in whites and mints this classic courtly ballet ended the night in a delightful flourish. The ballerinas spun on perfect point as the strong-bodied men supported them.

The evening offered wonderful and diverse program that the New York City Ballet is known for.

Jay's Responses: InDance (Joyce SoHO); NYCB @ Lincoln Center (Koch Theater)

2009-05-18T04:33:00.000-07:00

In Dance
By Jay Reist

In Dance’s performance has many original interpretive creations. I walked out loving it and would see it again in a heartbeat. All the pieces have a mysterious sensuality that links them together in perfect harmony. Inverse, the first creation of the night is filled with jungle-like pulses and sways from the dancers. The lighting is forest-inspired with many deep, vividly rich colors. The second creation, BOX, has bright lighting against the black stage. The movements are very quick and precise. The costumes contrasted each other, one dancer in black and the other in an Indian cultural costume. The live music was splendid and brings more life to the meticulous movements. OWNING SHADOWS shows an erotic version of the tale of Ramayana. MEA CULPA is another entertaining creation. IT is the depiction of the god Siva the Destroyer. The dancing was very sexy and playful and had a very ballet-gone promiscuous theme. BOLLYWOOD HOPSCOTCH is extremely entertaining with a S & M theme. It incorporated typical Bollywood film clips with some Bollywood-style dancing. I recommend In Dance to anyone looking for a alternative look at dance and at Indian culture.

New York City Ballet Response
By Jay Reist

New York City Ballet’s Spring Season holds a variety of ballet pieces. The first piece, Four Temperaments has the original choreography by George Balanchine with love orchestra music written by Paul Hindermith. The costumes are very formal; black and white. I have seen ballet before, mainly “Nutcracker” style dances, but this is very new to me. The dancing, you could say is traditional but I did see movements that I would never see anywhere else. Each variation holds a new emotion that is portrayed by the dancer’s movements. La Stravaganza is an original piece by Angelin Preljocaj, a choreographer new to the New York City Ballet. It portrays the relationship between native people and European colonists. The dancing is a breath of fresh air to ballet, with its deep stretching and partnering that displays an intimate relationship between dancers. The music is recorded, bouncing between techno and classical. Chaconne has original choreography by George Balanchine with live orchestra music written by Christoph Willibald von Gluck. It is a “traditional” ballet piece, with defined hierarchy and even princes. It shows a lovely tale (with many frills and white) between royal characters. This is my second time attending New York City Ballet and I may return in the near future.

2009-04-17T06:48:00.001-07:00

THE BARNARD PROJECT AT Dance Theater Workshop

Featuring, as Claudia Larocco said, the youthful energies of Nicholas Leichter, seen here rehearsing at Mark Morris studios in Brooklyn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1_O0fEJq90&feature=channel

This guy (Nicholas Leichter, will be coming in to talk next Friday, April 24, along with Monstah Black. The two are collaborating on a piece "Killa" for 13 performers including Leichter and Black that will have its world premiere June 24, 26, & 28, 2009 at The Joyce Theater in New York City.

inDance

2009-03-29T10:33:00.001-07:00

http://www.indance.ca/home_new.html

inDANCE is a Toronto-based South Asian dance company established in 1999 as a vehicle to encompass the entire range of artistic director Hari Krishnan's creative output: choreography, performance, touring, and teaching. The primary mandate of inDANCE is to form creative partnerships with Canadian and international collaborators, including choreographers, dancers, musicians, designers, scholars and presenters.

The company's objectives are two-fold:

To produce work that is bold, full of risks and adventurous. Dancers who work with inDANCE come from a variety of dance backgrounds and bring to the company technique and aesthetic expertise that moves the company in ever-expanding directions. The company produces invigorating and progressive dance productions that challenge dominant discourses about culture. The experimental approach of the company addresses and entertains a diverse range of audiences.

To present exponents and scholars of historically-oriented Bharatanatyam in Canada, thereby exposing audiences to the specific origins and historical contexts of the form.

Show #3 - Masha (of Music TRaC) takes some shots

2009-03-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

After the show, we gathered on the steps to break, it, DOWN.

Eric made outlandish claims even he doesn't believe.

Andrey and Brian are suspect. (Not suspects.)

Julia saw the light, and it all comes together.....

New York Times review

2009-03-20T09:40:00.001-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/arts/dance/20nels.html

Sooner Than You Think (this sunday at 2pm)

2009-03-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

2009-03-19T06:26:00.001-07:00

DanceBrazil - video 1 from DanceBrazil on Vimeo.

2009-03-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

DanceBrazil March 19-22 at NYU's SkirballCenter.

DanceBrazil, from Bahia, under the artistic direction of Jelon Vieira, presents "Inura" at the Skirball Center with choreography by frequent DanceBrazil guest artist Carlos Dos Santos and a commissioned score by Cuban-born composer and conductor Tania León; and "Ritmos" (2008), Vieira's homage to Capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art unique to his home state of Bahia, and the Samba, Brazil's iconic popular dance.

On March 20, stay for a Q&A with the artists themselves after the performance. Participants include Inura Composer Tania León, Inura Choreographer Carlos Dos Santos, Ritmos Composer and Music Director Tote Gira, as well as Ritmos Choreographer and Artistic Director Jelon Vieira.

2009-03-19T06:14:00.000-07:00

Dance Theater Workshop
presents
Monstah Black and The Sonic Leroy
in
Living Outside The…….
as part of the
Studio Series
March 13-14, 2009 at 7:30pm

New York, NY, February 10, 2009 – At the close of his 100-hour residency in Dance Theater Workshop’s Studio Series, Monstah Black & The Sonic Leroy bring falsetto vocals, digitized beats, and an elevated shoe clad persona to the stage. In Living Outside The……., Black creates Electro Afro Punk Funk sound and a visual performance that explores gender fluidity and racial assumptions with movement, theater, glitter, and glam. Living Outside The……. features Black along with the performers of Motion Sickness - Toija Riggins, Sarah Van’t Hull, Ashley Brockington, Kendra Jeniece Ross, Christina Reeves, Andi Miyamotto, Jill M. Vallery, and Melana Lloyd, with styling by Black and accessories design by Torkwase Dyson. Music has been produced by World Eater Recordings, DJ Krunchy, and Monstah Black.

“Black erupts in a fit of spread arms and leg swirls that set pulses, ours and probably his, racing.”
– Capital Fringe

Performances will take place at Dance Theater Workshop in David R. White Studio on the third floor, March 13-14 (Friday – Saturday at 7:30pm). There will be a Post-Performance talk with Marya Whethers on March 14 (Saturday). Tickets are free with a suggested donation of $5 at the door. Tickets can be reserved in person at the box office or by calling (212) 924-0077. Dance Theater Workshop is located at 219 West 19th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues.

http://www.dance-tech.net/profile/MonstahBlack

important TRaC announcement

2009-03-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Important safety video up on the Main TRaC Blog! Make sure to check it out....

www.High5TRaC.blogspot.com

Have a safe day.

~eric

2009-03-17T07:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the performance schedule for Dance TRaC spring 2009:

1. FRI, March 13 @ 7:30 pm DTW: MONSTAH BLACK
2. FRI, March 20 @ 8 pm NYU’s Skirball Center: DANCE BRAZIL
3. SUN, March 22 @ 2 pm Ailey Theater: JEREMY NELSON & LUIS LARA MALVACIAS
4. FRI, April 3 @ 8 pm Joyce SoHo: InDance
5. WED, April 22 @ 6:30 pm DTW: BARNARD DANCE PROJECT
6. FRI, May 8 @ 8 pm Lincoln Center: NEW YORK CITY BALLET

Dance TRaC 2009 has begun!

2009-03-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

Dance TRaC begins this Friday at the Dance Theater Workshop. Dance Theater Workshop is located at 219 West 19th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea district of New York City. Take the any of the following subways to 14th Street: 2/3, F, L and A/C/E. Or take the C, E, F or V train to 23rd.

It is imperative that you get to Dance Theater Workshop by 4:30. Brian McCormick, your instructor, will meet you in the lobby, then you will go up to the room you’ll be meeting in on the 2nd floor.

Any problems you can contact your instructor Brian McCormick at bjjmcc@aol.com.

NOTE: Your first show will be immediately following class on Friday. Monstah Black and The Sonic Leroy w/ Motion Sickness will perform Living Outside The........, which part of Dance Theater Workshop’s Studio Series at 7:30pm. Bring some food and/or money for a snack, just in case.

Dance Critics on Dance Criticism

2008-12-09T05:20:00.000-08:00

Dance Magazine

I completely agree with Deborah Jowitt. I'll let readers decide about Joan Acocella and Alastair Macaulay...

Gerald Casel Dance this Friday!

2008-11-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Save The Robots! borrows its title from a 1980’s after-hours club in the Lower East Side of NYC. This physically powerful dance is an abstract response to the loss of artistic expression and integrity brought on by gentrification. Contemplating life in a big city-particularly the vulgarity and clumsiness of ’starchitechture,’ the ubiquitous Starbucks and American Apparels, this piece asks questions about how people are considered in the creation of urban spaces. It navigates through the porous and often emotional area between public and private space.

Friday | Nov 21 | 8.30 pm
Click here to see the show info listed on the Dance New Amsterdam page!

280 Broadway, 2nd Floor (entrance on Chambers)
New York, NY 10007

An Afro Latin Halloween

2008-10-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

Reminder: There will be no Dance TRaC class this Friday, October 31st. It's HALLOWEEN!

So.....

We'll see you on Saturday, November 1st for Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's Dia de los Muertos!

On Saturday, Nov. 1st, the whole Teen Reviewers and Critics program will come together along with over 100 other High 5ers to celebrate la Dia de los Muertos with Arturo O’Farrill's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, a Grammy-nominated ensemble, melding rhythms from African and Latin American countries with jazz harmonies from the United States. The concert features the world premiere of the Day of the Dead Suite, the extraordinary Aztec Suite and special guest performers including Folkloric Dancers.

Before the concert, Arturo O'Farrell is holding a High 5 exclusive workshop on Afro-Latin Jazz, so we'll be heading over to the show by 6:30 p.m. Come prepared to jump on stage and learn first-hand what it takes to be a Afro-Latin Jazz All-Star....

WHEN: Saturday, November 1st. 6:30 - 10:15 p.m. (with two intermissions)

WHERE: SYMPHONY SPACE at 2537 Broadway and 95th Street in Manhattan

DIRECTIONS: Take the 1, 2 or 3 subway to the 96th Street stop. Exit train and walk south on Broadway. Symphony Space will be on your right-hand side. OR Take the B or C subway to the 96th Street stop and walk west until you hit Broadway.

Costumes
are
optional.....

:)

see ya'll on Saturday, muertos!

~eric

Luciana Achugar - Performance

2008-10-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 24 (tonight) we go see Luciana Achugar's "The Sublime is Us" at Dance Theater Workshop (the same place we have class).

The show starts at 7:30 and runs about an hour.

Fall 2008 Dance TRaC begins!

2008-10-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

Make sure to think outside the box....and the lines.... and rules.... and pre-conceptions.
Open your mind!

and enjoy.

~eric

(for more BANSKY - the graffiti artist who painted the above - click here.)

Update

2008-05-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

I know It's been a while so lets see if I can get you up to speed.

Over spring break we saw Akram Kahn at City Center, well a few of us at least. We went with the people at Visual TRaC. We had mixed opinions about the piece but that only fueled our discussions further. At some point in the past month we tried to tackle the question "What is dance?" We compared all the dance forms we saw this spring. Streb's Action Mechanics, Grupo Corpo, Jonah's motion capture, and most recently Akram Khan's dance theater piece. Can walking, sports or Streb be considered dance? what are their qualified features?

Safe to say we exhausted the subject but could not come up with a definitive answer, and it seemed that, that was a better solution than a strict definition.

Following on the philosophical trend on May 6th we saw Nora Chipaumire at DTW which featured our very own B-Mac as the post-show moderator. The following friday we were scheduled to have Nora come and talk to us but due to scheduling mix-ups it was just us, that didn't prove for much of a problem. We then tackled the process of how dancers gain exposure, how they get shows and who has the power to choose what will be presented to the public. This led us to this week's discussion of how we decide what is "good" or not? Is it based on our opinion of the piece, do we use other people's opinions to influence our decisions or do we base it on what we know and have been exposed to previously? Also do we have to like something to think it's "Good" how does that influence our reviews and opinions. This was a heated conversation at times and at others we had so many questions to ask that most went unanswered.

I think this just goes to show how many different opinions there are and that there is never one right answer, especially when critiquing something. We all have different view points and writing styles and that just makes what we write and say more important and unique. Let's face it who would want to live in a world where everyone agrees and has one view point.

Next Week we are at DTW as usual, no more shows :( , but we have guest scholar Charmaine Warren.

See You Then

P.S. Hopefully we can get out a news letter listing upcoming dance performances that we can possibly all go to together.

at STREB S.L.A.M. in Williamsburg

2008-04-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

Check out Emily's update and the Jonah Bokaer reviews below, too!

Catching Up

2008-04-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone this is your new Blog Captain Emily this is my first post. And I will be honest this is my first time ever posting on a blog so bear with me .

March 28th Elizabeth Zimmer a known dance critic for the Village Voice and now the Metro ( that free paper that you get on the subway every morning ) came in and did an intensive writing workshop working with our reviews of Jonah Bokaer, which I will post soon. She was very impressed with the class and even said "we took the criticism better than some of the other writers she has worked with". Great Job everyone.

April 4th Jonah actually came in and talked with our class about his piece and he also gave us a rundown of how Image Capture works and what he uses it for. It was a large component of the piece that we saw and it seems that this technology will contribute greatly to dance and how it evolves in this age of technology. There are programs that make choreography as simple as clicking a mouse, which brings a lot to the table for non-dancers and perhaps injured or retired dancers. It was a possible glimpse into the future by a the person who is making the future present now in dance.

Jonah also talked about Chez Bushwick, an arts center in brooklyn that has free and very low cost performances, and also performance space to rent for only 5$ an hour. Also there are shows that anyone can sign up to showcase their work no matter the art form. This is great for you artists out there who wouldn't mind an audience.

After class we went upstairs to DTW's smaller performance space to see a work in progress by Ursula Eagly.

Also last week on April 4th after class we went upstairs to DTW's smaller performance space to see a work in progress by Ursula Eagly. Which you should all read about in our reviews in the coming weeks.

Note to Dance TRaC, Please complete your Ursula review and send it to me as soon as possible, the choreographer contacted me and would like to see what we wrote. Thanks

And Finally, On friday we saw STREB"s Slam Show #11. Which we will all write reviews for and I will post shortly along with all the other ones.

So till next time.

Ciao

Jonah Bokaer reviews

2008-04-11T12:07:00.001-07:00

Check out your reviews of Jonah Bokaer's "The Invention of Minus One" on the Reviews page of the High 5 website.
These are the ones I got. If you'd like to submit yours, send it to Eric. If you'd like to edit anything or submit a revision, feel free!

Cathy's review
Emily's review
Jennifer's review
Kesi's review
Michelle's review
Rachel's review

Brooklyn, we feel ya.

2008-03-21T14:34:00.000-07:00

Dance TRaC OUTING #2!

Grupo Corpo perform BENGUELÊ AND BREU this Thursday night at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

BAM!

Make sure to get there by 7:00 to meet Brian! The show starts at 7:30.

BAM is within walking distance from the 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, N, R, M, G, B, D, and C trains.

Click the map below for more specific directions.

enjoy!

~eric

Dance TRaC meets Jonah Bokaer, tonight!

2008-03-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

From the hyped- press release:

Named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 To Watch” in 2006, award-winning media artist and choreographer Jonah Bokaer debuts the world premiere of his new multi-media dance work The Invention Of Minus One in a co-presentation by Danspace Project and the Abrons Arts Center.

With this full length evening of technology-infused work, Bokaer endeavors to propel dance and motion capture into new realms of innovation. The program opens with False Start, a solo animated, choreographed, and performed by the artist with the use of state-of-the-art digital choreographic software. Bokaer examines the erasure of the moving body and the trace of its presence, while paying homage to Jasper Johns’ renowned painting of the same title. False Start completes a trilogy of solos of similar aesthetic concerns that includes Charade (2006) and Nudedescendance (2005).

The program also features the world premiere of The Invention Of Minus One, an epic investigation resulting from one year of motion capture research on the moving bodies of four dance artists. The Invention Of Minus One is performed by award-winning dancers: Holley Farmer, Rashaun Mitchell, and Banu Ogan. Music by Christian Marclay, virtual décor by Michael Cole, lighting by Aaron Copp, and original costumes by Isaac Mizrahi complement the work.

(I found this write-up on Craig's List. Has anyone ever gone to Craig's List to find out about shows before??)

Check out the New York Times Review from Friday's paper.

enjoy!
~eric

Spring TRaC Application now available!

2008-01-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

Another season of Dance TRaC is around the corner!

Go the TRaC Homepage at www.high5tix.org and download the Spring 2008 TRaC Application. Also available are a flier for the new TRaC season and an invitation to the Open House on February 13th (4:30 - 5:30). Please download those and distribute to any friends or teachers or mentors who you think would be interested.

I hope to see you all at the Open House - if not before! It's only a month away already. As many of you know, having been to a TRaC Open House before, I'll need some volunteers for speaking on the alumni panel. Volunteers? Contact me if you're interested. The rest of you can just hang out, snack, and mingle with any teachers or students who are interested in learning more about the program.

And of course you should bring a friend or two! Maybe they're interested in signing up for Spring TRaC and don't even know it yet....

Looking forward to the new season!

~eric

Parsons Dance

2008-01-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

Join High 5 Tuesday January 8 for a peformance of the Parsons Dance company. Great technical dancing and charismatic performers. A pleasurable experience is practically guaranteed!

Ailey

2007-12-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

Although I only stayed for the first piece on the program, it was enough to illustrate the awesome talents of the Ailey dancers. Moreover, the piece, "Love Stories," which ostensibly depicts the history of the company, has a particularly cool section choreographed by Philly native Rennie Harris. The hip-hop and break dancing is quite a bit removed from the typical Ailey vernacular, and they cut loose. It's an awesome, spine tingling combination of moves and performance that is universally accessible--the crowd went wild!

2 questions to always consider....

2007-12-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

#1
What is the art trying to accomplish?

#2
Does it succeed?

Keeping the art in mind, you can never go wrong in your reviews. You will avoid the pitfalls: "i didn't like it. it was good. i liked it. it was bad..." blah, blah. The interesting stuff is in the WHYs and the WHATs! Why did it succeed in parts, but not as a whole? What was it (the dance, the play, the painting, the song) trying to accomplish? Did it do more or less? Are you cool with where it went?

And tell us what you think! A little interpretation/a little context (do some research!) is always nice for your readers. Remember to keep them - US, your readers - in mind.... Or, just write for you. I carry a small notebook with me everywhere I go. Writers write. You are all writers because you write. That's the only requirement. :)

Open hearts, open minds.
The most important thing I want you to take away from TRaC is to be open to things foreign to you. Crain your neck, your ears, your brain to understand. Get excited, and bring people along!

Art is communication and communion.
That's what makes this fun....

happy december.
~eric

Pappa Tarahumara @ BAM

2007-11-28T11:25:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 30th...

SHIP
IN A
VIEW

...immediately following class at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. BAM!

This is from the company's website:

What's in the name?

There is an area in Mexico called "the Land of Tarahumara".
This region, located in the mountains, is well off the beaten track, and a fascinating place known for its culture and local customs. The decision to name the group after the Tarahumara Indians reflects our respect and fascination we feel for them.

However, we have not directly incorporated Tarahumara culture as such into our pieces.
What we have aimed for is to try somehow to capture and present the special wonder of Tarahumara culture, inexpressible and uninterpretable in modern rationalistic terms.

Check out their website at www.pappa-tara.com. This is the BAM event page for Pappa.

See you in class on Friday....
eric

Monica Bill Barnes is stopping by!

2007-11-12T14:49:00.001-08:00

Before she comes in, make sure to check out her bio at www.monicabillbarnes.com

There's also this video of The Happy Dance (or what started out ok), in case you were interested in seeing some of her other work.

enjoy!

~eric

Sam Kim review in today's NYT

2007-10-22T15:48:00.001-07:00

Sam Kim reviewed by Roslyn Sulcas

2007-10-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

Classical Ballet Choreographers

Throughout the history of ballet it is the choreographers who have shaped what audiences see and who have steered the development of the art and entertainment that is dance. Classical Ballet, the longest established form of Western theatrical dance, has attracted the largest audiences, highest paying patrons and largest amounts of government funding. The lavish productions that began in the Renaissance and Baroque eras began a tradition of social kudos and spectacle that has continued through the 18th 19th and 20th centuries in Europe, America and even here in Australia. Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker was perhaps the most recent ballet-block-buster to be originated locally, and the Australian Ballet continues to stage traditional classics such as Coppelia, Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and so on. It seems that the general public love the tradition and to this day staging a classic is the most guaranteed way for a ballet company to generate a full audience.

Since Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes began revolutionising ballet in the early 20th century, there have been continued attempts to break the mould of classical ballet, and currently the artistic scope of the technique and its related art forms (music, décor, multimedia) is more all-encompassing than ever. The definitions of what make a dance piece a work of classical ballet are constantly being stretched, muddied and blurred until perhaps all that remains today are vestiges of technique idioms such as ’turn-out’.

Even so, the dance we have today is founded on the work of choreographers through the centuries who refined and developed technique and aesthetic, each within their own culture, each building on the work of those who went before. In this article we look at the people who laid the foundations: Petipa, Ashton, Balanchine, Tudor, Robbins, Bejart, Forsythe, Kylian.

Petipa 1819 - 1910
Born and trained in France as a dancer, Marius Petipa worked in Spain, America and his home country before leaving for Russia at the age of 28. He became Choreographer-in-Chief at the Imperial Theatre in1862. Petipa’s most famous works include:
La Bayadere, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Giselle, Jardin Anime, Paquita, Pas D’Esclave, Princess Aurora, Raymonda, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake
Petipa’s work was formal, symmetrical and requiring a high degree of technical skill. This was partly a reflection of his working environment – the Russian court, which demanded formulaic plots used as a backdrop for big ensemble spectaculars and star dancers displaying technical fireworks. His story lines were grounded in legend, the baby Aurora being endowed with beauty, an even temper, singing talent, etc. etc., (hardly what you would call useful life-skills). The dancing style too was formal, the ballerina remained bound tightly upright in her corset-like bodice, her stiff tutu severely limiting any contact from her partner below her waist, reflecting the chaste values of a fairy-tale. Ultimately Petipa fell out of favour because his noble classicism and consciousness of form became out of date. However he is, to this day, considered the father of the Russian ballet and indeed of all classical choreographers.
ABT Website, Deborah Bull ‘Dance Ballerina Dance’, a Channel 4 Production

Frederick Ashton1904 - 1988
Born in Ecuador, Ashton later studied dance in England under Leonide Massine and Marie Rambert, both formerly of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. With Marie Rambert he helped to found the Ballet Club, (later Ballet Rambert,) and joined the Sadler’s Wells (later the Royal) Ballet in 1935 as choreographer and dancer.
Some of Ashton’s most famous works include:
Façade (1931), Cinderella (1948), Ondine (1958), La Fille Mal Gardee (1960), Marguérite and Armand (1963), The Dream (1964), The Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971)
Ashton is possibly the first of the great English choreographers, known for developing what is now called the ‘English Style’, characterised by fleet footwork, lyricism, and wit. With Ashton’s choreography, body bends and swoops entered the dancer’s vocabulary. However Ashton was in line with tradition with his highly romanticised plots dealing with the sometimes saccharine emotions of fantasy. His movement was new and beautiful but the values even of Ashton’s later choreography reflect the pre-1950s ideals.

Balanchine 1904-1983
George Balanchine was born and raised in Russia, and trained as a child at the Imperial Ballet School. His father was a composer and Balanchine learnt the piano from the age of 5, one of the keys to his later choreographic success. He came to the United States in late 1933 following an early career throughout Europe (which included the Ballets Russes), and founded the School of American Ballet, and soon after, the American Ballet Theatre. Balanchine was a highly prolific choreographer, with more than 200 ballets to his name.

Some of Balanchine’s most famous works include:
Apollo, Harlequinade, Jewels, Prodigal Son, La Sonnambula, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Symphonie Concertante, Theme and Variations, Who Cares?, Tarantella
Balanchine was something of a revolutionary, always surprising people with his work. He exposed the female form onstage like never before; the costume for many of his works is pink tights and a black leotard. In sympathy with this, most of his ballets were plotless, mirroring the complex structure of the music he favoured. The choreography requires, according to British Ballerina Deborah Bull, ‘All the steely strength I could muster.’ Balanchine took Classical Ballet Technique to a new level, speeding up the jumps and direction changes, and developing new ways of training with which to achieve this. He was also in the habit of including risky off-balance moves for the ballerina whom his choreography revolved around, however she was always kept safe by her partner, behind her.
As the major figure in 20th-century ballet, Balanchine established the modern style of classical American ballet and freed ballet from the symmetrical form that had dominated the 19th cent.

Antony Tudor 1909-1987
In 1928 Tudor discovered dance thanks to a performance of Anna Pavlova in London. He decided to attend the lessons of Marie Rambert and became a member of her company, the Ballet-Club, in 1930.
1931 marked his first choreography, Cross Garter'd, after Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". Tudor also danced with the Sadler Well's Ballet until 1935. In 1938 he created the London Ballet, with the help of Agnes De Mille.
In the following year he was invited to New York City by the Ballet Theatre, and restaged some of his ballets for this company. He created there some of his best ballets:Pillar of fire(1942),Dim Lustre(1943),Undertow(1945),Shadow of the Wind(1948), and became famous as a "psychological choreographer". In 1950 Tudor became the head of the Dance School of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and gave classes at the Julliard School. In the 50’s and 60’s he worked with the NYCB, the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Australian Ballet and once again the Royal Ballet. In 1974 he was associated to the direction of the American Ballet Theater, and created for it The Leaves are fading (1975) with Gelsey Kirkland, and Tiller in the fields (1978).

Jerome Robbins 1918-98
Robbins began his career dancing in musical comedy (1937), and in 1940 he joined the Ballet Theatre. The first ballet he choreographed, Fancy Free (1944), was expanded into the musical On the Town. He later gained distinction as the innovative choreographer of several Broadway musicals, including High Button Shoes (1947) and The King and I (1951). Among the musicals he directed were Peter Pan (1954), West Side Story (1957), and Fiddler on the Roof (1964). In 1989, in Jerome Robbins's Broadway, he restaged excerpts from his earlier hits. In 1949 Robbins became associate artistic director of the New York City Ballet; from 1983 to 1990 he was co-ballet master in chief with Peter Martins. Many of his 66 ballets continue to be performed by the New York City Ballet, including Dances at a Gathering (1969) and Goldberg Variations (1971)

Maurice Béjart
After a study of psychology and aesthetics, Bejart eventually became a member of the Ballets de Paris in 1948. A year later he left for London to join The International Ballet Company. During this period Maurice Béjart started creating his first choreographies. In 1954 he experienced a turning point in his career. He discovered the musique concrète by Pierre Schaeffer, the principles of which he began to apply to dance. Consequently Béjart became one of the renewers in this field. After performances for the Belgian television in 1959, he received a commission to create a ballet on Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps , the success of which led to the establishing of the Ballet of the 20th Century, the following year. Bejart’s work is known for spectacle and visual fireworks, provoking extreme views at both ends of the scale. In 1987, the Ballet of the 20th Century dissolved and a new company was formed by the now renowned Bejart - partly using the same dancers - under the name of Béjart Ballet Lausanne.

William Forsythe
William Forsythe was born in New York where he received his classical ballet training. He danced with the Stuttgarter Ballet. He has been artistic director of the Ballett Frankfurt since 1984 and Intendant of the Ballet Frankfurt since 1989. His ballets form part of the repertory of prestigious companies all over the world.
Forsythe’s work represents a melting pot of dance styles performed en pointe, but with the feet often in parallel, and ‘the pelvis seeming to have an independent existence. The Classical Ballet technique is still there, but reversed, fragmented, and inside out’ according to Deborah Bull. In contrast to Balanchine’s off-balance choreography, Forsythe’s work puts the woman in control, deciding when and how much she falls off-balance and almost daring the man not to catch her. In fact Forsythe insists the male dancer learns the steps of the female so that he understands the kind of support she needs. Also notable about Forsythe is his choreography for men; he is not afraid of giving them delicate and poetic movement of the sort often reserved for women. Altogether a choreographer to take us into the 21st century.

Jiri Kylian

In 1973, Jirì Kyliàn joined the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) in The Hague as a guest choreographer. Here he made a successful debut with Viewers, the first of almost 50 In 1975, he left the Stuttgarter Ballett in Germany for good to work exclusively for the NDT.
In 1978, Kylian achieved an international breakthrough with Sinfonietta, which he set to music composed by his compatriot Leos Janacek. In a very brief time, Kylian created this work for the renowned Spoleto Festival in the United States In the same year, Kylian was appointed Artistic Director of the NDT.
Through the years, he has moved away from lyrical works to abstract and often surrealistic ballets. In October 1994, the NDT made a highly successful tour of the United States and Canada. Apart from developing choreographed works, Kylian has also built up a unique organizational structure within the NDT, adding two new dimensions to the Dutch ballet company. The world-famous NDT I has now been joined by NDT II (experimental dance performed by dancers aged between 17 and 22) and NDT III (dancers who are aged 40 and older and work on a project basis).

Note that Kylian is usually considered to be a contemporary choreographer. However his work is grounded largely in Classical technique and performed frequently by classical or classically-trained dancers, such that I have included him in this section.

You may also want to look up: Kenneth MacMillan, Michel Fokine, Roland Petit, James Kudelka, Nacho Duato, Trey McIntire, Stanton Welch

sparkle motion

2007-10-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

dirty vegas mv

2007-10-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

fat boy slim mv

2007-10-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

ok-go music video

2007-10-19T11:13:00.001-07:00

1st Class Details!

2007-10-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

When and where to meet tomorrow....
You'll be meeting tomorrow in the lobby of The Dance Theater Workshop at 219 West 19th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues). There is a huge banner hanging along side the Dance Theater Workshop, which we call DTW, that you can't miss.
In fact, this is it (just look for the lights in the sidewalk..:)

By Train:
You can take the 1 or 9 train to 18th street OR the 2,3,F,L, A,C,E train to 14th street. A great resource to figure out how to navigate the city is www.hopstop.com

Make sure to arrive 10 – 15 minutes early!
When you get to the Dance Theater Workshop (DTW), sign in at the ticket window on your left, then wait in the lobby. Brian McCormick, your instructor, will bring you all up at 4:30.
The first performance you will see is next Friday.

(I suggest printing this out so you have all the information at hand.)

Brian McCormick is your instructor! And this is his contact info....
Brian will provide you with his contact info at class. Program our numbers into your phone! Call if you have trouble finding the Dance Theater Workshop. Text if, for whatever reason, you are going to be late. And don't forget to include your name!

And don’t forget to bring a pen and a notebook!

Enjoy
~eric

The State of Criticism

2007-10-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

Who are the leaders in advocating and constructively critiquing New York dance?

What is New York dance?

Explore these and other exciting questions this semester with "the governor" (that's me!)

No shortage of opinions or insight here. All views and perspectives are welcome.