Resuming activity!
This blog has been dormant for some time, but I haven't!
Lots has happened since the last post!
Let's start with what was an amazingly nostalgic experience.
I went to a dance summer intensive in August 2013 (a year ago already!). I hadn't been to any such intensives in a very long time and I was a little anxious about it. I didn't want to end up in one of those ultra-competitive intensives where the average age is 16 y.o., but I still wanted to be properly worked and challenged. Ideally I wanted some combination of mountain settings and full-on dance... and I found this: http://www.stage-danse-publier.fr/, in the French Alps, with teachers from the Paris Opera Ballet, plus some lovely contemporary classes (amongst many other options!). A quick phone call to check I wasn't going to be the only over 25 y.o. there, and it was settled!
I loved it, through and through. There was so much nostalgia in walking in the studio. It smelled like home, a mix of wooden floor in scorching heat and rosin (and sweat - let's be honest), the afternoon light streaming through the windows. And everyone seemed to be having so much fun, including the pianist in ballet class, who kept drawing upon French traditional tunes and adapting to the vibes he was getting from the dancers (one day that I was wearing red and black, he switched to a tune from Bizet's Carmen when came my turn to go onto my diagonal of piqués!) - I could hardly stop myself from humming along (not an easy feat to hum and dance at the same time - and breathe!) Here are some pictures...
After that, I went to visit some very dear friends in Lyon, and that was lovely, relaxing, and amazingly resourcing. Those were also the first 2-week holidays I had had in a long while, and, well, it was so worth it!
I'm not going back this year, but maybe next year?
Then there are the three projects that I'm currently pursuing, which all started at some point in 2013:
a Kathak-Ballet duet with Anuradha, a new dance piece with Mnemosyne (for which I got some support in the shape of studio time through ODF), and some experiments with ancient dance.
I don't want this post to drag on too much, so I'll just talk a bit about the Kathak-Ballet duet and keep the two other projects for my next post.
Anuradha Chaturvedi of Drishti Dance and I had met and improvised together at a Drawing Dance workshop a while ago; she, improvising in Kathak and I, in Ballet. And that was such a lovely experience, where the shapes and feels of Kathak and Ballet seemed to constantly spark new ideas off each other, that we decided to work on a Kathak-Ballet duet. We called it Presence, and presented it as part of Anuradha's show Aangika in November 2013.
She also kindly invited Mnemosyne to perform Triple-Entendre in the show. And once again I was lucky to have family visit for this, as my mum came all the way from Lorraine to see it!
Presence still feels like work in progress. We would need to clarify our intentions in order to make it work (as astutely remarked upon in this review); it still feels like we're on to something though, and it needs more work!
Here are a some photos by my sweet sister, in rehearsal (she was visiting a week before the show) and of the show by my lovely mum:
Lots has happened since the last post!
Let's start with what was an amazingly nostalgic experience.
I went to a dance summer intensive in August 2013 (a year ago already!). I hadn't been to any such intensives in a very long time and I was a little anxious about it. I didn't want to end up in one of those ultra-competitive intensives where the average age is 16 y.o., but I still wanted to be properly worked and challenged. Ideally I wanted some combination of mountain settings and full-on dance... and I found this: http://www.stage-danse-publier.fr/, in the French Alps, with teachers from the Paris Opera Ballet, plus some lovely contemporary classes (amongst many other options!). A quick phone call to check I wasn't going to be the only over 25 y.o. there, and it was settled!
I loved it, through and through. There was so much nostalgia in walking in the studio. It smelled like home, a mix of wooden floor in scorching heat and rosin (and sweat - let's be honest), the afternoon light streaming through the windows. And everyone seemed to be having so much fun, including the pianist in ballet class, who kept drawing upon French traditional tunes and adapting to the vibes he was getting from the dancers (one day that I was wearing red and black, he switched to a tune from Bizet's Carmen when came my turn to go onto my diagonal of piqués!) - I could hardly stop myself from humming along (not an easy feat to hum and dance at the same time - and breathe!) Here are some pictures...
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| Stage Amphion-Publier Août 2013 Ballet class Photography: Frank Cortot |
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| Stage Amphion-Publier Août 2013 Contemporary class Photography: Frank Cortot |
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| Stage Amphion-Publier Août 2013 Ballet class Photography: Frank Cortot |
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| Stage Amphion-Publier Août 2013 Pointe class Photography: Audrey Ramière |
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| Stage Amphion-Publier Août 2013 Barre à terre class Photography: Audrey Ramière |
After that, I went to visit some very dear friends in Lyon, and that was lovely, relaxing, and amazingly resourcing. Those were also the first 2-week holidays I had had in a long while, and, well, it was so worth it!
I'm not going back this year, but maybe next year?
Then there are the three projects that I'm currently pursuing, which all started at some point in 2013:
a Kathak-Ballet duet with Anuradha, a new dance piece with Mnemosyne (for which I got some support in the shape of studio time through ODF), and some experiments with ancient dance.
I don't want this post to drag on too much, so I'll just talk a bit about the Kathak-Ballet duet and keep the two other projects for my next post.
Anuradha Chaturvedi of Drishti Dance and I had met and improvised together at a Drawing Dance workshop a while ago; she, improvising in Kathak and I, in Ballet. And that was such a lovely experience, where the shapes and feels of Kathak and Ballet seemed to constantly spark new ideas off each other, that we decided to work on a Kathak-Ballet duet. We called it Presence, and presented it as part of Anuradha's show Aangika in November 2013.
She also kindly invited Mnemosyne to perform Triple-Entendre in the show. And once again I was lucky to have family visit for this, as my mum came all the way from Lorraine to see it!
Presence still feels like work in progress. We would need to clarify our intentions in order to make it work (as astutely remarked upon in this review); it still feels like we're on to something though, and it needs more work!
Here are a some photos by my sweet sister, in rehearsal (she was visiting a week before the show) and of the show by my lovely mum:
 |
| Anuradha Chaturvedi and Ségolène Tarte in Presence Still from a rehearsal video |
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| Anuradha Chaturvedi and Ségolène Tarte in Presence Rehearsal photography: -The Sis'- :) |
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| Anuradha Chaturvedi and Ségolène Tarte in Presence Photography: -The Mum- :) |
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| Anuradha Chaturvedi and Ségolène Tarte in Presence Photography: -The Mum- :) |
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| Anuradha Chaturvedi and Ségolène Tarte in Presence Photography: -The Mum- :) |
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