thirty words or less.

This 5 minute work is an exploration of the ways in which humans define themselves through the stories they tell about their lives. It is the result of one year of collecting stories from strangers at parties, in bars, cafes, and online and 3 months of following the stories to find choreography. Initially, I was trying to bring the stories to life through movement. I soon realized that it was not the content of the stories that was important, but the process of telling a story. I noticed patterns in the types of details respondents chose to include and in the ways that they formatted their stories (i.e. listing big life events, offering one specific anecdote, explaining their life philosophy). I began to understand how telling stories is a uniquely human habit and this dance was an effort to honor that. To honor the stories that strangers graciously offered me, to honor my dancers as owners of their own unique stories, and to honor the never-ending process of communicating what–, where–, why–, when–, and who– we all are.

Debrief/Assessment

Rehearsal Process 

My rehearsal process was an amazing learning experience.

I learned that it is okay (and sometimes necessary) to change your idea or focus; that you must set goals but accept that the result may not look anything like that goal. 

My initial idea was to explore the relationship between strangers and examine the depth of information that a person is willing to share with a stranger or anonymously. I envisioned a lot of partner work, gestural conversations, contact, and clear characters. I started towards that goal by using the stories and creating movement along with my dancers that communicated the stories. I thought I would use this movement as a base for character development and conversations between characters. I soon realized that I was thinking about these stories more as internal and personal experiences rather than things that connected two people. It was becoming more about the experience of telling a story rather than a conversation. Although I am conscious of this shift in retrospect, I am not sure how much I actually thought about it while in rehearsals. The hours in the studio were spent dancing, finding musicality, and paying attention to lines, angles, and details more than the concept of storytelling.

I learned that you must try 1,000 things that don't work before finding the 1 thing that does and that those first 1,000 things are no less valuable than the final product.

Looking through the videos from each rehearsal, there were so many structures and movement phrases that were tried out and dropped along the way. I loved this process and was grateful to have the time for experimentation. I think this process could be perpetual and while I am satisfied with the work I presented, I think it could have used double or triple the hours in rehearsal to come to a finish.

I learned how much you must rely on your dancers as creative agents and as able bodies. 

My dancers brought so much of themselves to this process and piece I asked them to create movement, to make choreography their own, and to share their own stories within the piece.  I realized that so many little things affect the way a work is made in performed; the time of day, the weather, the many other commitments and life experiences of the dancers. All of these things affect the energy in rehearsal and ultimately the final work. This was not something that I fully considered when scheduling and casting. I realized at the end of the process how much of the piece is really a reflection of the dancers as people and as movers. It is an interesting feeling of both owning a dance and letting it go.

Staging in the Theater

This was the first time I ever staged a dance in a theater with such technical resources and creative freedom. It was interesting to be one of 9 works and see the technical choices of others beside my own. I felt as though I had a very clear ideas of what I wanted going into the week of technical and dress rehearsals and did not have difficulties working with my lighting or costume designers to realize my vision. I was most excited by the opportunity to open the show after intermission. My music began with ambient sounds of people talking and the dancers entered from the audience. This was intended to give the impression of my dance growing out of intermission and existing in a very real-world setting... the dancers could be any of the audience members and the stories could have been any of the things they spoke about during the break. Overall, the addition of lights, costumes, and a professional sound system helped to finish and polish the dance very well. 

Presenting to the Audience

Presenting my work to a public audience was both extremely nerve-wracking and incredibly satisfying. By the time opening night rolled around, I felt as though I had been so concentrated on all of the small details of the dance that it was difficult for me to see it as one cohesive work. I had difficulty being able to imagine how the audience would understand the dance because I could not possibly put myself in their shoes; I had seen too much for too long. I worried that the audience would not connect to the dance and that it was too late for me to do anything about it. As soon as I reflected upon my anxiety, however, I realized how beautiful it was that I no longer had control. My job was done... I had created something... and the way that the audience perceived it and the dancers danced it was no longer really up to me. It was frightening, liberating, and satisfying to let go and to realize that I had an opportunity to watch my work take on a life and responsibility of it's own.
Nonetheless, the audience received the piece well. I received positive feedback and felt at peace after opening night. The piece came to life three nights in a row and then was put to rest. One of the most beautiful things about dance is it's ephemerality. 

Who's Who

Choreographer/Sound Designer

Hannah Ayasse

Dancers

Katie Banks

Gabrielle Garuppo

Linda Ryan

Hana Springer

Phoebe Workman

Costume Designers

Maddison Williams
Emily Yula 

Lighting Designer

Alexa Zanikos

Story Readers

Hannah Ayasse

Richie Damico

Meghana Keswani

Christian Miller

Chinelo Okpala

Joshua Peace

Jennifer Rose

Jon Weigell

Phoebe Workman

Appendices

Costumes

Rendering by Emily Yula

Backstage in costume. Left to right: Katie, Phoebe, Hannah, Linda, Hana, Gabby

Relevant Documents

Program by Kirk Kristlibas

Light Plot by Alexa Zanikos
Cues:

Act 2

Hannah Ayasse - traveler

551 House to Half

Pause 10 seconds Sound Cue Hout

600 Sound Cue J When they are on the stairs

601 and Curtain GO when they get to stage

602 Dancers to Clump USR after trio of Gabby, Phoebe, and Katie - Gabby points

603 standby Gabby, Katie, and Linda face US and walk through and all move SL, call when Hana Runs - not til after circle

604 Move DS with Triple Steps - standby when Gabby sits, after Gabby solo and holds her back

605 When they move further downstage - standby when they sit on floor, call when they swivel to face the side

FOLLOW 606 During talking - follow

607 Blackout “My story IS”

608 Bow

609 Blackout

699 House to Half

{post-studio/pre-stage} Finding My Progression

I am working on discovering how the story of the piece progresses aside from all of the small stories embedded within the piece. I am taking some time to step back and identify who the dance is as a whole. Now that the bulk of the creation is done, I open my eyes a bit and see what I have done. Here are my musings on the chronological steps of the work:

{post-studio/pre-stage} Promotional Flyer

the evening will include no horses and no circus...but yes to a wonderful group of choreographers!

{post-studio/pre-stage} Costume Rendering

My fantastic costume designer Emily Yula sketched a costume rendering for the piece:

I decided to put my dancers in all white as an homage to the "blank page." I want it to seem as though the stories and my dance are being written onto the dancers. As for shape and design, I discussed each dancers character and personality with my designer and then agreed on some garments that would compliment each unique character. From left to right we have; Katie, Phoebe, Linda, Hana, and Gabby.

Rehearsal Fifteen - the final rehearsal

The dance is complete and is now in the hands of the dancers! How exciting - here is the final run in Building J before heading onto the stage. 

Rehearsal Fourteen

We have a complete piece! This was the first rehearsal in which we ran the piece with a beginning, middle, and end that I was fully satisfied by. This was the first rehearsal in which I could envision how this story will be told on a main stage. This was the first rehearsal with multiple goose bump moments. It was also the last official rehearsal.

This piece took all the time it needed and all the time available to come together. Time is pressuring but it is also motivating. This piece took thirteen rehearsals of "hmmm"s, "no"s, "maybe"s, and "sure"s to lead to one big "YES!" We have one more extra rehearsal to clean and clarify and we will use it well.

Here is the weekly run through:

Rehearsal Thirteen

(Rehearsal Twelve was whirlwind of change and experimentation. The video I took was lost... as was my mind)

Nonetheless... I have done a lot of work since my last post!

The sound is close to finished after many hours in front Audacity and my dancers are faithfully chugging along with all of the details, changes, and ideas that I am throwing at them.

Here are the most recent videos:

Run through of what we have at this point:

Alternate versions of the ending and the beginning:

evolution of title brainstorming

the last one is the current winner

A Choreographic Mind by Susan Rethorst

"one has to know and not know, prefer and not prefer, empty oneself and acknowledge one's fullness, be passive and charged. It has to happen to you and from you. It has to be too fast for you to take in, and done in baby steps, one leaking into the other." 

Susan Rethorst's musings on the choreographic process that read true for dance and for life. This philosophy is helping me to remember that in creating art (and in planning for life post-graduation) there is a delicate balance between the action that you can take and the ways things fall together that are beyond your power. Working on surrendering to whatever may come while remaining intentional and thoughtful.

Rehearsal Ten, Adjudication, Rehearsal Eleven

Rehearsal Ten / Adjudication 

Here is the material from rehearsal ten that we presented to the adjudicators last Wednesday:

They saw progression of my concept/idea and selected the work to be performed in DanceWorks on November 12, 13, 14. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to collaborate with costume and lighting designers and have my choreography presented on a main stage!

Rehearsal Eleven 

I am now working on developing the dancers as individual characters through discussion of movement quality and stories (and hopefully costumes will help with the creation of clear characters).

One of the adjudicators mentioned that she felt as though she was missing some information and jumped into something that was already happening. I am now trying to develop a clear beginning to introduce the characters and stories a bit more gently. Half of the work is sound editing.

No video from tonight, just a lot of talking and thinking and playing.

Rehearsal Nine

I am loading up my dancers plates this week with ideas ideas ideas to present at adjudication (in order to show something that is semi-representative of my longterm plan) so that we can edit clean edit clean after adjudication.

This rehearsal, I taught them the rest of a more full-bodied movement phrase to play with at the end and filled in some holes that I had in the beginning. Here is the new material:

And here is the new material integrated into a rough draft run-thru:

Radiolab - "The Story of Me"

"An idea of "self" is really a story that we tell ourselves. It can change from day to day and it allows the human being to exercise that peculiarly human muscle: to experience stuff and then to abstract it into a story- that's self."

A podcast from Radiolab on the human's unique ability to tell stories and construct selves. Argues that story telling is what differentiates humans from all other animals.

Have a listen. 

Rehearsal Eight

I got helpful feedback from the showing on October 7th. The panel told me that both the music and the choreography was very dense and the combination of the two was sometimes overwhelming but made the moments of reprieve all the more gratifying. I completely agreed with this note; I had been feeling  little overwhelmed by the amount of voices I added to the music. Maida also reminded me not to get stuck in center stage. I had not considered spacing very seriously yet so it was good to be have my attention called back. Working with that feedback and my own wishes to make the choreography more relevant to my content, I made the following changes:

-took out the stories in the beginning in favor of a gradual build rather than starting the music and movement with a high level of stimulus and staying high.
-moved the center clump to downstage left.

Here is video:

We have two rehearsals until adjudication (when another panel will decide whether the work will be in DanceWorks of the Choreographer's Concert) and I want to add a large sweeping full bodied movement section on the end, fill some holes/transitions in the beginning and decide on some ideas for how it will end by then. Much to do! 

Rehearsal Seven

We compiled what we have into a semblance of a structure to show on Wednesday at the Works-In-Progress showing and practiced it to music.

It feels closer to me but there still is a certain something missing. I have a feeling I will be making big changes within the next few rehearsals.

Rehearsal Six

We worked with audio recordings of some of the stories for the first time this rehearsal!

Still creating new material...
Still have only a faint semblance of a structure...

One person submitted a story online that began with a quote from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: "The single story creates STEREOTYPES & the problem with STEREOTYPES isn't that they're UNTRUE but that they're INCOMPLETE. They make one story become the ONLY story."

This submission struck me because it posed a question in response to my question. How can one story be the story of a persons life? Of course, it can't... So I am grateful for this submission and I want to use it as an opener or a kind of frame for the piece. The video below is some choreography for that quote.

I also taught my dancers some choreography to the beginning of another story that moved me:

And we practiced the movement we already had to some actual audio recordings:

Rehearsal Five

(time moves fast)

Today we made some final decisions about what stories to include and what to leave out. What an honor and responsibility to be trusted with all of these little pieces of people's lives.

I have a bunch of yung actors signed up to read for me so I will be recording all of the stories this week and working heavily with my sound designer and my trusty computer. Sound by Friday!

Today in dance:

Video one includes some silly thing I made my dancers do where they cover their mouths with their hands and a rough run through of the choreography (rearranged yet again) with the end and a chunk in the middle missing because iPhone storage is the worst:

Video two is a run through of everything we have up until this point without Phoebe:

 P.S. apologies for the unrelenting bass and for standing in front of the camera

from salt. by nayyirah waheed -- endless source of inspiration

Rehearsal Four

Tonight we worked more with stories to create solos and a duet for entrances.

Dancers enter the space dancing to a reading of their story. Set for the improv section, do that, do the choreography to "Home," continuing escalating stories until some sort of end. 

This is essentially the format that I am into at the moment. Not sure yet about the exact movement.

I met with the sound designer to make a plan of attack for recording the stories. The goal is to have sound by Oct. 5th -- this will serve as my map.

Here is a video of what we accomplished today. Slow and steady progress! It's 3 minutes long....?

~harnessing the power of the interwebs~

Today, I launched the online chapter of story collection using social media. I posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit (?!?!... honestly have no idea how that site works but i'll do anything for a hefty sample size)

If anyone out there has stumbled upon this blog... you are also welcome to contribute to the creative process by filling out or sharing this survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1AGTqm-s6UNLG-5GZej1MeNVKFHLM7AxodllvTzLhXmU/viewform?usp=send_form

cheers!

Rehearsal Three

Today we consolidated and built on material from last week.

In choreography class, we did a short structured improvisation exercise. This inspired me to use a similar method to build movement onto the front end of our "Home"/keeping-a-story-inside phrase.

I asked the dancers to:

I then manipulated their movement a bit and asked them to interact with each other and the movement in specific ways. Here is the product of that exercise at 3 stages:

Next, everyone learned each other's story phrases:

We ended rehearsal with a little character development exercise that I hope to build upon in our next rehearsal.

{next steps: i hope to get a sound engineer soon and mix some vocal recordings of my collected stories into music}

Some Videos

Inspiration: dancing to talking

Inspiration: this guy has this quality of movement and I'm likin it ... a lot

Inspiration: Barak Marshall

Inspiration: setting and production

First Week Recap

Rehearsal One:

I used the first rehearsal to familiarize three (out of five) of my dancers with my concept and share the stories that I have with them. They each picked five stories:

- one they could relate to

- one they did not relate to 

- one they saw as "shallow" or "surface level"

- one they saw as "deep" or "vulnerable"

- one extra one of their choice

We played a bit with choreographing movement to the cards and reading them aloud to each other. I didn't take any video and probably will not end up using much of what happened in the first rehearsal but it was really helpful to speak with most of my dancers and get the ball rolling.

Rehearsal Two:

First rehearsal with my full cast! Yay!

And they are...

Phoebe Workman

Linda Ryan

Katie Banks

Hana Springer

Gabby Garruppo

All beautiful ladies, range of heights and movement styles- should be wonderful!

I taught them a phrase to "Home" by Nosaj Thing ( song here ) 

This phrase is based on the things that people do not want to share. When choreographing this phrase, I was driven by the image of a story trying to be told using it's own power and volition but the person who holds the story trying to keep it in. The movement is meant to be stilted and the dancer should look like she is struggling with herself. 

I am also very music driven and the rhythm of this phrase is very specific to this song. I do not plan on setting it to different music.

Here is a video of myself doing the phrase and of my dancers doing it in a fun little sequence right after they learned it.

We THEN broke up into pairs and tandem choreographed some movement to three stories that my dancers selected. The video can speak for itself...

Overall, a good first week. I hope to set sound and music as soon as possible because I am realizing I don't work well without some driving sound/music/beat.