Tidying Up: Preparing for Philadelphia Dance Premiere

Spent Saturday's rehearsal cleaning and polishing the opening section. It looks tighter than before! I love it when reality approaches vision. It takes time, but it can happen.

I have noticed that I use the term spend to describe the rehearsal process lately: I spent rehearsal Saturday, I will spend rehearsal Thursday, etc. Now that we are halfway to our Philadelphia performance in May (halfway from this summer, when we set the date), the rehearsals feel dear, like dollars and cents that will run out. Time is our nestegg: the only way I know of to cultivate quality is to spend all of the time that it takes. It takes years. We are working hard on "January Night" right now, on schedule to finish the piece by May 29. Yet I know that the piece will not be at its very best until a year or so from now, when we have performed it more than once, when the dancers' bodies have become so familiar with the movements that they can perform it without thinking. At this point, the sensual experience of performing will become much more real for the dancers and, consequently, they will become more present onstage. Still, it will be good even at first. We are taking the time to insure that.

This week, I will spend Thursday's rehearsal working with Florencia and Alex on their sledding phrases. This section is athletic and should be continuous: a burst of ongoing energy that grabs the audience's attention at first, then, over time, fades into the background. Then, Amanda's slow sleepwalking will become foreground.

Saturday, I will work with Alex and Amanda to build their sleepwalking duet. This is the next big (1-2 minute) chunk. The challenge will be to make it surprising. How do we invent new ways for them to fall into each other?

Human Landscape Dance and Anne-Marie Mulgrew and Dancers Co will perform in The Philadelphia/Washington DC Exchange May 29 at 7:30pm and May 30 at 3pm at the Painted Bride Arts Center, 230 Vine St in Philly. Come join us!