Today was an interesting day to say the least.
This morning we had a massive set of auditions that went from 7:45AM to 12:30PM. We were auditioning for three different pieces that were for three separate choreographers to set new works on ADF students. The three choreographers were Reggie Wilson, Jodi Melnick, and Helen Simoneau. The first audition that my group had was with Helen. We had a five minute warm-up which then proceeded into an hour audition. She taught a "contemporary-esque" phrase that we repeated several times. There was a lot of weight changing and it played a lot with the shift of weight in the pelvis and how the rest of the body responded. I really enjoyed the sequence. We were in Southgate, which is a fairly small studio,with around 100 people however, making this a very intense and sweaty audition.
We then proceeded to go to our next audition which was in Brodie Gym. This was the first time I had stepped foot in Brodie, and let me tell you- I hate that facility. It is not appropriate for dancers to be in, at all. The gym is first of all ALWAYS freezing. I had to put a jacket over my clothes the whole time. Also, it's annoying because there is a mini-marley set up that is on top of some wood to act as a separate flooring situation- but the wood isn't sprung, it's just like someone picked up a panel of wood and put it down on the floor that's already there and taped marley on top of it. For those of you who do not have any knowledge about the difference between flooring, it is actually an essential part of a dancer's priorities and worries. The other half of the gym is just gym flooring which means it is concrete, and is not ideal for dancers because it can cause a lot of injuries from the hard, un-malleable floor. Typically, dancers dance on wood-sprung floors, which are more flexible which can take some of the pressure off of dancers when they jump and have to land. Anyways, we learned a combination from this woman, Jodi Melnick who has a Trisha Brown background in dance, a style I am not particularly familiar with. I am not sure I liked it very much and didn't think that my audition process went well.
Then, we arrive at the Ark, which is a beautiful facility in itself, but the facility is relatively small for an audition ( although not as small as Southgate) and is not air conditioned. However, we arrive there and find that Reggie Wilson, the choreographer of the third Footprints piece, doesn't really have much prepared because he isn't sure what he wants to produce as a new work. So he first makes us walk/run around the room for about 20 minutes just moving our bodies and getting all the kinks out. Then he teaches us this cha-cha phrase which then turns into the structure for his actual phrase, except he then embeds different movements of the body, while moving into the cha-cha sequence's spatial pattern. This audition was definitely the WORST for me out of the three that I did. Me and Kyoko (sp?) were trying to figure out the other side, but we misinterpreted what Reggie meant when he told us to figure out the other side. Typically when a teacher tells you to do that you automatically think "reverse it", but since the cha-cha pattern goes in a counter-clockwise circle, the pattern never reverses, it just happens with a different facing, so while we are making it even more complicated for ourselves, the actual pattern is a lot more simple than we thought. So once it became time to show I was totally "lost" when it came to knowing what side I was facing. I tried my best and tried to accommodate and follow off of others when confused, but it was still a challenge because my body was now programmed to do something else than what my mind was telling myself to do.
So then auditions were over for Footprints. It was a morning of sheer STRESS, so getting to my next two classes definitely was a relief. After a short lunch break, the Green Group headed over to the Ark to take a ballet class from Jeffrey Bullock, and a Limon based Modern class with Gerri Houlihan, the co-dean of ADF. Gerri's class is SO fun. I loved it so much, but it was not as technically difficult as I was craving, however her training in Jose Limon technique was apparent and embedded in each combination she did, however it wasn't a strict Limon class which was nice. Jeffrey's ballet class was also a good change- since we had ben taking mainly Modern Technique classes, it was a nice change of scenery. I actually did really well in my turns and approach to the class!
At this point of the day, I was exhausted...but in a good way. However, our next location was in the Arts Warehouse- which is literally a 15 minute walk, uphill! It was like a trek to get there in time! I met a new friend and we talked for a while on the trek there and by the time we arrived, we were so exhausted- and we were about to take African and Hip-hop! Hip-hop was a challenge. The class was given by LaShawn Jones. She taught us about how to properly "pop" and "wave". It was challenging, and something I should work on- but definitely attainable. She said something in class that really stuck with me, she said: " You're not going to take 6 weeks of this and tell the world you are a master of hip-hop, but you will improve and get better and can at least say that everyday was a journey..."
Or something like that.. haha. Then we had African with Sherone Price. I don't even know what to say about this class. It was really difficult, something I didn't feel comfortable doing- but also was a thrill, because I found it to be a really informative and really fun class. I think if I took this class I would gain so much knowledge about the culture as well as gain so much power, stamina, and strength. This class is definitely going to kick my butt.
Then after class we walked back to see the Teaching Tribute Award be presented to Ana Marie Forsythe, who is pretty much in charge of the Ailey School, and is also "The Master" of Lester Horton technique. Important people were there! Including but not limited to, Robert Battle, Melanie Person, and Clifton Brown...I feel special being only a few feet away from this beautiful people. The ceremony was a nice end to my long, tiring, day. It was a nice way to be inspired by these people and what they have brought to the dance world- a nice opening to the festival.
After the ceremony was over, my roommate and I went to Whole Foods and got $3 bottles of wine! How crazy is that...and it was actually pretty decent! We went to see the Cast List posted for Footprints and she got a callback for Jodi's piece, and I didn't get any...but it was alright! Because the $3 wine and Ben And Jerry's Fro-yo made up for it!
The thing I am loving most about this festival is all of the opportunities and all of the different people you meet here! Without trying I have met at least 10 new people today. It's crazy. And you know what, tomorrow is a new day and a whole other set of auditions for MFAs are tomorrow. And I get to sleep in :) !
<3
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