This weekend, March 26th and 27th at 8:30 PM, we will be presenting Mémoire-en-Ciel at Highways Performance Space in Los Angeles. In 2007 we presented the west-coast premiere of Aqua Madora here, and it’s a great pleasure to be back.
On the program are Undress Me Not by Ana Baer-Carrillo, Pat Stone, and Caren McCaleb; Mujeres de Juárez by Randy Gibson and Ana Baer-Carrillo, and to close the night: the world premiere of Mémoire-en-Ciel by Dani Beauchamp and Randy Gibson.
The first time I ever saw a work by Pina Bausch was back in 2004, Ana, Oscar, Laine and I went to see Für die Kinder von gestern, heute und morgen at BAM. I had, of course, heard of this remarkable choreographer who was the giant of inspiration for pretty much every dancer I had worked with. I wasn’t prepared for such beauty, such humor, and such overwhelming brilliance.
I was deeply saddened to hear of her sudden and tragic passing, as my friend Jen put it: “I guess heaven needed an amazing choreographer.”
They have also posted an interesting blog post about using this as a teaching tool. Which is a big part of what I think is so interesting about it. So many people look at modern dance and don’t necessarily understand what is going on, maybe because there’s no story being told, it’s not narrative etc. A tool like this breaks down the dance into a series of themes and connections, which is what I, as a composer, find so intriguing about writing for dance.
For those of you familiar with the protools, final cut model there is a beautiful score of the dance shown in real time that really delineates how this dance is working, and what exactly is going on.
I never got around to making links this Friday – although I saw some fantastic work this weekend: Welcome to Nowhere on Saturday and Siren on Sunday (which was truly spectacular).
Starting today is an interesting video project, Mondays With Merce, that should prove to be interesting as it progresses. I was particularly struck by the music used during teaching, very straightforward and, therefore, surprising (at least to my ears)
Your performance last night of Arjuna’s Dilema at BAM was a travesty of obvious choices and cliché after cliché. The next time you consider creating a short opera based on the Bhagavad Gita, here are some common pratfalls to avoid:
Try not to cast Krishna as some sort of flouncing Tai-Chi pirate.
Please, dear god, don’t let this pirate “choreograph” the entire piece. Rolling down the stairs, and miming every single possible action do not actually make a dance.
Last night I went to see Rosas Danst Rosas, or significantly less elegantly: Steve Reich Evening, at BAM. The program had a lot going for it, and for the most part it completely delivered.
The program contained two pieces I have heard of and knew well, but had never actually heard: Pendulum Music by Steve Reich and Poème Symphonique pour cent Métronomes by Györgi Ligeti (a Ligeti piece on Steve Reich Evening admittedly a bit odd, but it works as a really nice precursor to drumming). Pendulum Music opened the evening, and it was a beautiful realization with two speakers in a nice beating interval. Once the audience stopped snickering (same during the Ligeti, although that was to the point of shhshing the people in front of us) and we were actually able to listen, it was beautiful. (more…)
Living in Los Angeles I had forgotten how magnificent walking through a city could be. I spent the last five days in Portland, Oregon walking the city’s various districts, museums, and bridges. It’s a fantastic place. Between Powell Books, the exceptional and clean public transportation, and this great Peruvian drink Sacasahuman I had ordered for me, I was sold pretty early on.
But, what I ended up finding most appealing about the city was the amount of innovative and interesting art happening everywhere. In particular, the Time Based Art festival which was in full swing. In venues all around town, in easy walking distance from one another, the festival billed contemporary installation, dance, music, theater, performance and new media works. My truly wonderful, and as of Saturday married, friend Liz Nalley performed at TBA Tuesday night with tEEtH. Amazing! I highly recommend checking them out.
I was sad to leave Portland. And remain still baffled by the contemporary art scene in LA …..
Last night I went to see 