Anna Gibbons

This year I have the joy of working with the same two choreographers I worked with in last year’s show. Rehearsals have been simple because I know what to expect from each of the choreographers in regards to their choreographic style. Their styles are anything but similar to each other. One choreographer’s moves and shapes have a structured look, whereas another choreographer has a very free and non-specific style of movement. The structured style of movement closely follows counts and has specific movement and shapes that are taught. This style can be simpler for me, because there are specific guidelines that I follow as a dancer. On the other hand, the choreographer with the free and non-specific style of movement poses a bit of a challenge for me. She has a style that is specific to her, and as her dancer you want so desperately to match it. This can be difficult because there are no specific “dance terms” or counts to help achieve this. You watch what is given and try to mimic and perfect it up until the show opening. This year I am not just experiencing the choreographic style of the two choreographers that I am accustomed too, but am also learning from another choreographer that has a drastically different style from the previous two. This third choreographer has had much success with her Broadway style dances, creating a light and playful air in her choreography. This style has challenged me to search deep within myself for that style of jazz I left back in the “competition years.” The style is sophisticated and playful and I have loved being challenged in this new way. I believe that it is the different experiences and styles you are exposed to throughout your career that helps you become a successful dancer. I have these three choreographers to thank for their different styles and creativity.

Photo: Prem Ananda

Rebecca Jensen

Mike Esperanza came and taught us a fierce piece, Cellar, this weekend! It was a long weekend of dance, but all seven of us tried our best to focus, work hard, and take in the corrections.

This is the first dance I've ever been in that's more than 7 minutes. It took us two and half days to learn, and our bodies are sore. His teaching style was very commendable...productive, focused, and silly. I am happy to see how much work was done, especially with all the laughing and giggling. At the end of each run, Mike and his assistant had nearly 20 minutes of corrections. At one point, I questioned myself, "where is my notepad?! I need to write down all these down so I don't forget!" It is all very detail-oriented. One of my biggest corrections was clarification of my thumbs. Yep, my thumbs. I've got the dinosaur thumb sticking out...7 years of competition dancing will do that to the fingers, I suppose.

This weekend's choreographic process was unlike all the others: short and concise. He knew exactly where, when, how and why he wanted us. Granted, it was easier as a dancer to pick up the choreography, he had all the answers to all our questions. However, I know this dance did not come straight-out-the-box for Mike...he's changed and rearranged the dance a number of times...I think Orchesis Dance Company's version of Cellar might be his third or fourth version? Cellar is clear evidence that dance is always a working progress. I'm excited for our future rehearsals, we've got a lot of work to do. Come February, our hard work will be gold---let's hope it's 18K.
Note – Mike’s dance is now officially titled “Slang.”

Photo: Sara Tollefson

From Diana

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the object it loves.” Carl Jung

“The very act of putting my work on paper, of, as we say, kneading the dough, is for me inseparable from the pleasure of creation. So far as I am concerned, I cannot separate the spiritual effort from the psychological and physical effort; they confront me on the same level and do not represent a hierarchy.” Igor Stravinsky

“Unless you have been thoroughly drenched in perspiration you cannot expect to see a palace of pearls on a blade of grass.” The Blue Cliff Record

Photo: Sara Tollefson

Lauren Bastrire

"You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.” Ralph Marston
PHoto: Keith Mosher

Guin Chan

While many of us would say dance is a cathartic process and a form of release, it is often easy to lose sight of this mantra. In the midst of midterms, club meetings, and everything else life decides to throw on top, dance rehearsals begin to look more and more like a burden and less like a reason to breathe.
Tuesday or Thursday Orchesis class rolls around, and I can feel myself wishing I was home working on the mountain of endless projects and book problems. It takes a second to remind myself that at dance I have to check my problems and responsibilities at the door, and realize that this 4 hour block is time for myself. I choose to be here because of how much dance does to keep me sane.
This year, it seems that many of the student directed pieces are much more focused on a collaboration between the choreographer and the dancers. It is a journey that is tedious and demands more attention than the standard choreographic process of learn and digest. After a week long frantic scramble to meet deadlines and group members, it can be difficult to contribute any sort of valuable input or even to wait patiently as the choreographer plays with various ideas. Again, it takes a deep breath and a mental check that this is all a learning process. In the end, by harnessing the creative energy of the dancers in the room, each person in the dance should feel more connected to the piece since a part of them is cemented into the choreography.
Just reading the other dancers blog entries should provide an idea of how much of the choreographic process is centered around collaboration. No one can definitively say there is a choreography technique that champions the rest, it is all subjective. I know that even in my own opinion, I cannot declare a preference for one despite my occasional frustration with a collaboration route. Ultimately the piece will speak for itself and whether the process it chose worked in its favor.
Regardless of how much work I have piling up, or how much I hate or enjoy learning choreography, being in the studio and doing what I love most will make up for everything. It takes an occasional reminder, but it is a constant in my life for a reason.

Photo: Prem Ananda

Sara Markham

Each week I get to experience very different choreographers, dancers, and styles as I learn the pieces to be performed at Continuum.

Rebecca’s piece has a flirty style that has quick, detailed actions. She gives the overall layout of movement to all the dancers, and uses repetition and setting counts to put the choreography into our bodies. Emphasis on sharpness or the breath of a motion helps us understand how things are to fit the music and idea of the whole piece. Her style is new to many of us, and her constant push for us to push ourselves has helped in understanding how the style can work on our individual bodies.

I am also working with Rebecca in her collaborative piece with Darren. Their process is completely different with each of them teaching separate pieces of the puzzle. Later the parts come together to make a whole layered piece of quirky movements. The two working together create a mix of ideas ranging from small fast flicks to full-bodied motions cohesive in their similar style based in contemporary.

Rachel’s piece is unlike others with her stylistic process being more about testing out different movement ideas against one another. Different combinations of motion on the dancers’ bodies help her decide what she likes and how it can fit together well. Staying consistent to her theme of evolution, her testing, modifying, then setting in her choreographic process, as luck would have it, almost mimics the idea of evolution she is portraying in the piece.

Finally working with Diana I have experienced a choreographic process that includes learning combinations initially and then taking them apart to use certain pieces, shapes, or repeated sections from those patterns. She has a complicated vision that uses moments of stillness, striking movement, and overlapping patterns to create a distinct style and product.

All the choreographers have individual processes that require their dancers to change their method of learning to fit their method. Involvement in more pieces this year has allowed me to experience a challenging and much wider range of choreographic development. The different methods of learning help me be more aware of the tedious process that we artists (choreographers and dancers) balance with our lives outside of the studio.

Photo: Sara Tollefson

Stephanie Alvarez

I don't think I have ever felt so busy and so stressed out of any quarter I've had here at Cal Poly. This quarter has been absolutely rough; being a 4th year and having to deal with classes, my senior project, volunteer work, dance, friends, and on top of all that work I have become completely overwhelmed with everything. I usually know how to balance all my activities and social life well but for some reason this quarter I feel as if I have no control over it. I know it's my own fault that I took on more than I should have, but I couldn't help it; when I watched all the choreographers show a sample of their piece I just wanted to be in everything, so I took on more dances than I could afford. To be completely honest, I regret that choice -- not that I don't want to be in all the dances I'm in (I love them all!), but the fact I feel I am in the studio constantly...at least 75% of my week. It's gotten so bad to the point where I feel like I don't want to be at dance anymore. It's like I'm not even happy when I'm at dance and it makes me sad because before dance was the only thing that could make me feel truly happy. I miss having that feeling and I hate the fact I dread going back to the studio after I was already there for 3 hours and would rather be lazy and have free time. I hate the fact I feel as if my social life has taken a toll since I am always at dance or always tired from being at dance, making me not want to hangout with my friends. I'm just sick of hating it all and I want to love dance again...

I know I sound like a negative Nancy talking about dance right now, but I just want to show reality: that dance doesn't always make me happy. Sometimes I get really tired of it and pissed off about being there, but that's just how it goes. Sometimes you just get burnt out from it and there's nothing you can do to change it.

I know right now I'm not the happiest flower in the bunch but hopefully next quarter my feelings about dance will change. I'm actually sure they will since my quarter won't be as hard and I will not take on as much work on as I did this quarter, meaning more free time to myself. This quarter has been a learning experience for me and now I know I not to take on more than I should. I keep reminding myself that I'm almost graduated from college, meaning that dance in my life may be coming to an end. I keep telling myself this is my prime time for dancing and I need to enjoy and love it as much as I can before I blink and I'm not dancing anymore. I just try to remind myself everyday of that feeling I get when I'm on the stage in front of an audience, and try to keep on dancing, reminding myself at the end of January, I'll be there.

Photo: Prem Ananda and unknown - Chad Hall homework