I’ve been collaborating with 16 dancers to create work for Nachmo 4. This year I’ll be presenting the work to the public at an informal showing on February 16th at Green Street Studios.
With only one rehearsal left (out of 5 total) I am feeling more anxious and excited as ever to share new work. I am trying to suppress the sometimes incessant inner questioning: am I creating the work I’m supposed to with the ‘right’ music and structure and story and movement? Will people ‘like’ this work? What will they think (if anything) at all?
In rehearsal yesterday we took all of the pieces we created through structured improvisation and stitched them together, all of us surprised when the music ended and we were ‘finished’, after an hour of allowing aural and visual cues to lead the way and a flow sense of mind making decisions of what to put where when and why.
The where and when are the easy decisions for me. The why is much more elusive, harder to articulate and define. Last night I attended the Dance Complex’s Shared Choreographer’s Concert, a program that pairs choreographers with mentors over 3 months to develop new works. To conclude the show, choreographers answered questions from the audience. One question was how the mentoring process changed or influenced their work, and a choreographer responded that the mentorship focused her attention on why she was making decisions about time and space – understanding why dancers were doing what where, who enters and exits, what music to use and what risks to take.
Is articulating and understanding why each move exists where and when necessary to make work that resonates with others? Or can I trust the different way of knowing that I tap into when choreographing?
– Jessica
Choreographer In The Cubicle 