Choreography is one of those arts that is especially difficult to master, because it requires so many different resources for its development. Dancers, music, costumes, lighting, and some place to stage the performance make a challenging list of components. Yet rarely is it creativity or competence in the development of these components that most challenges new choreographers (well, most choreographers). It’s the mastery of the process.
This is probably because most choreographers see the challenge of their work as a straight line in front of them, a list of what has to be done before the piece is finished. Perhaps the single biggest benefit of experience is that this approach becomes more circular. Each of the complex parts of a choreographic work informs the choices made in the others, and when worked through as a list, an essential part of the creative process is lost, and the piece, although perhaps brilliantly conceived, rarely realizes its actual vision.
Of the most successful projects that I’ve participated in, I don’t think a single one actually went onstage with exactly the same music that the choreographer originally brought to me. It turns out to be incredibly valuable to a choreographer to make a complete version of the score, and begin to work with it, at the earliest possible stage of the process. Many choreographers are reluctant to do this, because they feel they haven’t yet found the right music; in fact, nothing will help a choreographer find the right music faster than choreographing to not-quite-the-right-music. It immediately clarifies the details of what the right music has to be.
There may well be an insight in this into the entire process of choreography. In order to make the right decisions, there must be a gradual but steady increase of focus into the details of those decisions. This requires covering the same ground again and again to some degree, some amount of going in circles. If each circle moves you forward, though, it may well be the most creatively effective way to go from a beginning to a successful completion.
This is my probably my favorite track from last year. I thought I'd share it and recommend the entire album.
Dance Chicago begins its unique month-long presentation of dance performances, and on Thursday, November 3, the first of the New Moves series will go on at Stage 773. Following up on last month's very successful run of their full length show What Is Home To You, Renegade Dance Architects will present two works: Ginger Jensen's Search Me and Amy Williams' Here They Come. For more info: Stage 773.
As challenging as it is to express an artistic vision, only slightly less difficult is trying to get anybody to pay attention when you do. One of the important artistic aspects of Thodos Dance Chicago's New Dances series is that all of the best critical voices in the city take the time to see the works and write about them. Here's some of the coverage for New Dances 2011 -- enthusiastic, engaging, and like most criticism, multifaceted:
Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune
Zachary Whittenburg, Time Out Chicago
Laura Molzahn, SeeChicagoDance.com
Hay Perro's Record Release is at Quenchers, Friday March 11. Thunderunderus and I Love Rich! are there too, starting at 9PM. A great chance to check out what The Illinois Entertainer called "the sound Hay Perro has crafted during its five-year existence: intricate heavy-metal — dual-guitar harmonies everywhere — played with madcap punk-rock ferocity." If you want to, you can look up some of our other stories on Hay Perro while you're waiting for the show to start.
South By Southwest runs March 11 through the 20th in Austin, and Black Light Saints will be there to play Cedar Street Courtyard on Tuesday the 15th, after which they head to San Antonio for a show at Limelight on the 16th. Their Impossible Picks album is getting heard alot in alot of places --- I just listened to it again when Britton Wetherald and Dan Agosto stopped by Heart & Soul to do a podcast, which we'll have in a day or so. There's a new release from the band at dopecouture.com called "Research The Obvious" (along with a great write-up) if you can't make Austin or San Antonio.
The new planetclaire.com is live. The relaunch coincides with the release of Claire's latest project, her Hearts and Minds EP. It's a great artist site, mixing the new --- "A Long Goodbye" and "Winds of Change" (written and produced with long-time writing partner Tommy G), and "Wouldn't It" (produced by 'ohana Dreamdance bandmate Johnny Nevin) --- with some classic video from pop legend Tami Show. More from us about Hearts and Minds in a few days, but you can get it now at cdbaby and at iTunes. Even more of Claire's music is at the very cool Planet Claire.
Thodos Dance Chicago's Winter Concert March 4 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, like the performance February 19 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, was a breakthrough success. Hedy Weiss, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, said of the Winter Concert: "It is a must-see for anyone intrigued by Chicago history, by the power of dance to spin a story, and by the sight of a dance troupe clearly in the throes of a major breakthrough." For a closer look at the choreography of the current Thodos Dance Chicago repertory, you may want to have a look at these:
Ann Reinking, Melissa Thodos and "The White City"
Francisco Avina and Stephanie Martinez-Bennit and "Quieting the Clock"
Melissa Thodos and "Getting There"
Wade Schaaf and "Dancer, Net (Solo 1)"
Ron De Jesús and "Shift"
Pittsburgh Connections is the widely respected annual choreography series presented by Point Park University's Pittsburgh's Playhouse. This year's performance premiere's November 12, and runs through the 21st. You can find more information on the shows, which include new works by Dionna Pridgeon, Kassandra Taylor, Gina Patterson and Justin Myles, at Pittsburgh Playhouse. For the first installment of the podcast with Craig talking about his return to Point Park, check out Craig Kaufman's Return to Point Park University, and for more on "A Path Home", here's the full article: Craig Kaufman's A Path Home Premieres.
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Here's a really short podcast that traces the development of the "Wouldn't It" production. It starts with the intro from the final release, but then shows five different stages of the song's development, playing different progressive versions of how the arrangement and production of the track changed. Each of the versions is from the same section of the song, the second verse and chorus, until the podcast closes with the rest of the song from the final release. If you've got a few minutes, take a little trip through the process of how a singer/songwriter and her producer find the track that they want to make from a beautiful song.
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Here's a first listen to three excerpts from Black Light Saints' new EP Impossible Picks ---- "What Happens Next", "Baby Girl" and "Cattle Skull". The record is already getting talked up a lot, both because everybody who's heard it is so into it, and because of the high profiles of the members --- Ephraim Cuellar, Britton Wetherald, and Alex Brandi, not to mention the production by Dan Agosto. More from us in our story about Black Light Saints and from them on their Facebook.
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