"Your explorations are rich and deeply excavated - There were so many layers in the work - the visual imagery felt like layers of an onion, each one transparent and opaque, the stories were compelling."
-Jan Erkert, Director of Dance at U. Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
Shyamala, our tech director Kedar Lawrence, and I set off for our 3 week university tour of "SUNOH! Tell Me, Sister." Our first stop was U. Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, a dance department tucked away in the midwest that is known for its experimentation, improvisation, and choreography. Its faculty includes postmodern luminaries such as Kirstie Simon, Tere O'Connor, Jennifer Monson, and Jan Erkert.
TEACHING
Shyamala and I had the opportunity to teach two master classes on contemporary Indian dance to different levels of modern dance. We combined a yoga/release warm-up with basics of classical kathak and culminated with performing a small section of "Mixed Bag." While the background of the dance majors was dominantly western, they were very engaged and seemed to be familiar with some of the basic components of Indian dance: facial expression, gesture, rhythm. I was interested to find out that performing Mixed Bag in this intimate setting allowed me to make direct eye contact with the audience and play with invading their personal space, thus making the performer-audience relationship edgier than than in a proscenium setting.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Shy and I were also supposed to give a lecture for a Dance History class, but unfortunately this was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. However, we unexpectedly found other opportunities to connect with other artists whose work resonated with the concerns of "SUNOH! Tell Me, Sister."
community work with survivors
Shyamala and I stumbled upon an exhibit in the UI Student Union of a visual artist, Elzbieta Kazmierczak, who works with survivors of domestic violence. Her exhibit, entitled "The Emotional Body: The Journey of a Woman" combines linoleum prints on quilted cloth to create imagery that is both delicate and handmade, yet visceral and powerful. We met with Elka and learned about her work creating an art therapy on campus and working with survivors in the community. Shyamala and Elka had a wonderful time swapping art exercises with each other, as both of them have worked with Window Between the Worlds: Art for Healing.
"Run Rabbit Run" by Elka Kazmierczak
dance telematics
After teaching a master class, I started chatting with one of the accompanists, Jeff Zahos, and discovered that he was taking a graduate course on telematic dance, in which dancers perform together in real time and virtual space using broadband technologies. We later met with John Toenjes, the instructor for the class (and music director at UI's dance dept), and were intrigued to hear about the aesthetic possibilities when the full potential of internet technologies are used. It made me think about the difference between grassroots art that comes out of a lack of resources (ie, Post Natyam's use of free internet technologies to allow us to stay connected creatively due to lack of funding) vs. art that comes out of a plethora of resources (ie, the internet bandwidth and technological resources that being part of a large university allows).
Later, we enjoyed hanging out with some of John's students, Jeff Zahos and Garrison Frick (both musicians), during which we had a free-wheeling adda about collaborating across disciplines and with internet technologies.
IN THE THEATER
Meanwhile, back in the theater, we had our job cut out for us! While used often for showings, the performance space was essentially a large classroom with some lighting instruments and no grid.
Luckily we were blessed to work with a very sweet and helpful tech director, Claudio Ribeiro. With his help, Kedar was able to totally transform the space. We discovered that the one advantage of the wooden floor, while generally making lighting more challenging, was that the words in "Marks" became more legible, thereby opening up movement and imagistic possiblities. For more on the technical aspects of adapting the show to the space, see Kedar's theater blog.
"I very much enjoyed your performance; not only was it a feast for the eyes, it was an intriguing mix for the mind and heart."
-John Toenjes, composer and media artist
-Jan Erkert, Director of Dance at U. Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
Shyamala, our tech director Kedar Lawrence, and I set off for our 3 week university tour of "SUNOH! Tell Me, Sister." Our first stop was U. Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, a dance department tucked away in the midwest that is known for its experimentation, improvisation, and choreography. Its faculty includes postmodern luminaries such as Kirstie Simon, Tere O'Connor, Jennifer Monson, and Jan Erkert.
TEACHING
Shyamala and I had the opportunity to teach two master classes on contemporary Indian dance to different levels of modern dance. We combined a yoga/release warm-up with basics of classical kathak and culminated with performing a small section of "Mixed Bag." While the background of the dance majors was dominantly western, they were very engaged and seemed to be familiar with some of the basic components of Indian dance: facial expression, gesture, rhythm. I was interested to find out that performing Mixed Bag in this intimate setting allowed me to make direct eye contact with the audience and play with invading their personal space, thus making the performer-audience relationship edgier than than in a proscenium setting.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Shy and I were also supposed to give a lecture for a Dance History class, but unfortunately this was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. However, we unexpectedly found other opportunities to connect with other artists whose work resonated with the concerns of "SUNOH! Tell Me, Sister."
community work with survivors
Shyamala and I stumbled upon an exhibit in the UI Student Union of a visual artist, Elzbieta Kazmierczak, who works with survivors of domestic violence. Her exhibit, entitled "The Emotional Body: The Journey of a Woman" combines linoleum prints on quilted cloth to create imagery that is both delicate and handmade, yet visceral and powerful. We met with Elka and learned about her work creating an art therapy on campus and working with survivors in the community. Shyamala and Elka had a wonderful time swapping art exercises with each other, as both of them have worked with Window Between the Worlds: Art for Healing.
"Run Rabbit Run" by Elka Kazmierczak
dance telematics
After teaching a master class, I started chatting with one of the accompanists, Jeff Zahos, and discovered that he was taking a graduate course on telematic dance, in which dancers perform together in real time and virtual space using broadband technologies. We later met with John Toenjes, the instructor for the class (and music director at UI's dance dept), and were intrigued to hear about the aesthetic possibilities when the full potential of internet technologies are used. It made me think about the difference between grassroots art that comes out of a lack of resources (ie, Post Natyam's use of free internet technologies to allow us to stay connected creatively due to lack of funding) vs. art that comes out of a plethora of resources (ie, the internet bandwidth and technological resources that being part of a large university allows).
Later, we enjoyed hanging out with some of John's students, Jeff Zahos and Garrison Frick (both musicians), during which we had a free-wheeling adda about collaborating across disciplines and with internet technologies.
Meanwhile, back in the theater, we had our job cut out for us! While used often for showings, the performance space was essentially a large classroom with some lighting instruments and no grid.
"I very much enjoyed your performance; not only was it a feast for the eyes, it was an intriguing mix for the mind and heart."
-John Toenjes, composer and media artist
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