Sotto Voce Opening Night

Several years ago, Krissy Keefer of Dance Mission Theater, brought to the dance community an amazing program called the Down and Dirty Series; DIRT meaning dancing in revolting times.  In these times of hardship, funding for the arts keeps dwindling and getting cut, and new evolving artists like myself find it harder to receive funding and show our work.  Krissy Keefer and the Dance Brigade gave 7 artists the opportunity to show their work in their Theater for 2-3 nights, discounted rehearsal space, free lighting designer and sound tech, a theater manager, box office manager, and 30% of the box office.  What an amazing opportunity!!!

When I applied for the Down and Dirty Series, I wanted so much to be able to show my work in a bigger stage.  All my pieces, I believe, moves big and the spatial patterns that I envisioned for them needed a stage like Dance Mission Theater.  When I received the acceptance letter that Nol Simonse and I were sharing 3 nights at the theater, I was honored, excited, and nervous all at the same time.  Yes, I will have a bigger space but will I be able to fill the house with an audience?

I did the usual mass e-mail, full calendar, Dancers' Group, website advertising but I was still scared we wouldn't see any results.  So it seems that because neither Nol Simonse  and I are on Facebook, no one really seems to care about looking at the paper or email blasts anymore.  I've been resisting Facebook for so long and wondered if I should join.  I still resisted and yet was still very nervous for opening night of Sotto Voce (the title of our show).

Until about 5 minutes before the show started on opening night, I hid backstage and had knots in my stomach due to the fact that I thought maybe only 30 people would be sitting in the audience, 7 of them on the dancers' comp list.  And as I entered through the side door of the house, I look up to see that although not a sold-out house, we had a full house.  It was a beautiful sight to see friends, the dance community, and new faces in the audience.

It's funny what will make you nervous.  I wasn't nervous for my pieces at all or the tech.  Harry Rubeck, who lit my piece was so amazing to work with.  What was supposed to be a low-tech down and dirty show, turned out to be more.  He lit my pieces with so much artistry and brought out the vision I wanted to portray in my pieces.  It was a dream come true to see the dancers move to their fullest potential.  They deserved no less and they were lit beautifully.

We will see how tonight and Sunday night will go.  But I do thank Dance Mission Theater, Krissy Keefer, and the wonderful and positive staff for all they have given me.  Although under the radar, Project. B. shared our voice in a big way.

If you weren't there last night, I hope you will join us for tonight's 8pm performance or Sunday night's 7 pm performance of Sotto Voce at Dance Mission Theater.

Sotto Voce

As a dancer, it is such a privilege to be able to be part of the creative process, perform it, and continue to perform it.  I sat down with several of my peers last summer as they spoke about their way of working and choreographing and what suited them as far as what steps they take to continue their creative process.  


One hated the idea of reconstructing a piece and spoke about how he liked to move forward.  Another, loved to look at an old piece and remold it, rework it, and see where it could go next.  As I move forward, I've had the opportunity to show my pieces several times in different venues.  The first time I showed Triquetra was definitely very special because I created it on three specific women who portrayed exactly what it is I wanted to manifest.  They showed it two more times in 2010 and felt that each time they performed it brought more life and meaning to what they were dancing.  It's almost as if their roles/ characters grew with more understanding and more maturity.  In 2011, I changed the casting and had a male counterpart.  Although the piece itself was compositionally the same, the meaning and energy changed.  It had a different voice and yet, I still liked it.  


I thought that my second piece, Souterrain was a piece that I wouldn't reconstruct again because I had such a hard time creating it.  However, I was given the opportunity to show two sections of the piece April 2011 and really enjoyed it.  It was nice to be able to leave the piece for several months and take a breath from it.  Seeing it again the second time was definitely more enjoyable and found that if reworked, this piece is entertaining and is a different side of Project. b. that I should continue to show. 


For the Down and Dirty Series, my dancers will have another chance to perform the work I've created in the first year of Project. b.'s existence.  Sotto Voce, the name that Nol Simonse and I came up with for this shared program, means soft voices.  It encapsulates the sense of strength both Nol and I reach for in our subtle and deftly crafted dances.

Project.b. will be showing a piece from my first home season, Moveable Feast as well as Souterrain, a  dance describing the interconnectedness of our random actions, and Triquetra, a trio of femininity, family, and identity.

I hope you will come join us on July 29-31 at Dance Mission as Nol and I explore new depths with physicality and care.

Moveable Feast: In Retrospect

graphic artist:  marco gallerizzo
photo by:  margo moritz

Project. b.’s first home season was sold out both nights and was featured in the SF Bay Guardian’s Critics’ Pick (Rita Felciano)

In creating and presenting this work, I found that the process was a relatively complex but rewarding experience both for me as the choreographer as well as the dancers and the audience.  

The concept itself proved to be beneficial to me as a choreographer.  It was a different way of working and looking at my movement in several forms.  It allowed me to step back and see what was strong and what needed work.  It allowed me to challenge my dancers and to see their strengths and what roles fit them best.  It also allowed my company to grow as a strong unit because it meant that they needed to help and work together in a way they didn’t work before.  

The visual artists that joined me on this project fed me with a lot to think about and to be inspired with.  I was able to continue working with 2 out of the 3 artists (Margo Moritz and Marco Gallerizzo) that I originally planned on working with and then added a new artist (Michael Sugrue) to the mix.  Both Margo and Marco’s triptychs greeted the audience as they entered the lobby of the Garage.  I felt it created a mood that represented Project. B. well and also helped to carry the concept of Moveable Feast from one art form into another.  Between each section of Moveable Feast, the audience was shown a 30 second video created by Michael Sugrue; again with the concept that he create the same work different ways.  As a whole evening, everyone appreciated these videos, or what I called the palate cleanser, in order to refresh the mind before seeing another dance piece.  

I added another element that I didn’t originally have on my project description.  I was able to collaborate with composer, Jesse Olsen Bay.  By adding his work to the mix, the process became even more inspiring.  Instead of my composition fitting into a recorded piece of music, Jesse and I were able to collaborate.  It was another level to the concept of Moveable Feast.  What at first were just inspirations of sounds from movement, became a marriage between music and movement.  This particular piece had the theme of building and layering.  The movement composition started with a solo that grew to a quartet.  The music composition started with one idea, sound, and instrument that layered into a final piece of music that incorporated all of this from each section.  

During the Q&A portion of the show, many people commented on the process.  The process of the dancers learning different parts.  The process of the dancers changing their perception on how to execute the movement three different ways.  The process of the same piece reconfigured yet creating a mood or an idea that made each piece stand out separately from the one before it.  

The questions that were asked gave me a sense that the audience captured what I wanted to convey in presenting Moveable Feast.  People talked about the work and was excited to give their ideas and share their opinions about each section.  I believe I was able to intrique, satiate, and inspire the audience through this work.  

Moveable Feast Q&A

Marco Gallerizzo's triptych in the lobby of the Garage

Moveable Feast was sold out again tonight and the glitches that took place on opening night seemed to work itself out this evening.  It was a much more solid show overall and made it even better that the house was filled with dancers, friends, and family.

The Q&A portion of the show was very insightful as to whether or not I was able to execute my concept of Moveable Feast.  I think the best analogy that an audience member made was that "Moveable Feast" was like a favorite food.  Once you know you like something, you begin to search for that same ingredient configured differently.  In this case, he mentioned a section of movement that the dancers executed three times that evening.

Another audience member used the word "nourished"  That as a non-dancer, she felt that seeing three versions of the same movement in different moods nourished her mind and her soul.

So, I am very satisfied with the outcome of Moveable Feast.  I felt that along with the visual artists, collaborating artists, dancers, and I accomplished our goal.  Hopefully, our audience will take what they found profound in this work and use it as a basis to critique dance in the future.

And now on to year two!

Moveable Feast Opening Night

The time has finally come for the opening night of Moveable Feast.  To be totally honest, tech-ing the piece was kind of a nightmare.  As much as you try to prepare and organize for something, there are just things that are out of your hands.  It's a lesson that I'm sure I will be hit with on a constant basis now that I am running a dance company.

What I was able to control went really well, I thought.  The dancers looked beautiful and of course, very professional.  They were on top of it and they made that part of the tech process so much easier.

The last several days, we transformed the Garage into a space that represented Project. B. well.  Margo Moritz hung her artwork in the lobby and created an ambience that felt very welcoming and visually pleasing.  Marco, also hung his 3 framed posters of Project. B. that greeted the guests as they purchased their tickets and drinks.

Opening night was a little rough because of tech.  The breaker to the lights kept malfunctioning and the lighting board seemed to not cooperate.  Aaaah!  At 7:30 pm the guests were standing outside the doors of the Garage just waiting to enter the space.  Joe let everyone in around 7:40, however, there were still technical difficulties.  Although people were standing shoulder to shoulder in the lobby waiting to enter the house, it was really nice to see that we were SOLD OUT!

All in all, the show went well.  I took a breath when the lighting board decided to erase the last three cues of the last piece and Mike, the lighting designer, had to switch to a manual board.  At that point, the upstage lights cut out!  Luckily, they still had downstage lights that created a box and for the most part, lit the last section of the last piece.  The dancers kept dancing, the music kept playing, and the audience didn't notice the malfunction.

The videos were also a hit.  A couple aaahs and giggles and claps came following each video.

I think people enjoyed the show.  I spoke to a few guests afterwards and was very glad to hear the questions they had for me, the thoughts that were provoked from the whole evening's concept, and that they left thinking and exploring more about my process and about each piece.  That's really what I wanted to accomplish.  I think opening night went well considering all the technical glitches.

Did Moveable Feast give the audience the chance to explore the notion of perception and viewpoint?  Did the audience see what it is that might nurture their minds and feed their souls, and provide them with newfound energy and inspiration?  I think so.  At least the questions I received, the conversations I heard and had with guests afterwards made me believe so.

On to tonight.  We have sold 3/4 of the tickets already.  Let's hope walk-ins will sell out the house again:)

Central Market Arts Festival Website

Just learned about a photo of my piece Triquetra on the main page of the Central Market Arts Festival website.

Check it out!  www.centralmarketarts.org

FYI, Central Market Arts is dedicated to a common vision of promoting SF's Central Market District as a vital arts district and creating an open forum for dialogue about arts in our community. Central Market Arts' mission is to serve as a unified voice for arts of every discipline through cooperative marketing efforts, government advocacy, and the production of a yearly capstone event.

San Francisco Bay Guardian Critics' Picks

Rita Felciano, a respected dance critic who has written for the Village Voice, Dance View Times, as well as for many others around the Bay Area has chosen Project. B. as one of the Critics' Picks for the Bay Guardian.  Here's what she had to say:)  It's our first time receiving any press so I am so excited that it was a positive one!

DANCE

Project.B.

If you have seen Tanya Bello dance — Shift Physical Theater, Robert Moses' Kin, and Janice Garrett + Dancers come to mind — you won't have forgotten her. She probably was the shortest (but also the fastest and fiercest) tearing across the stage. Bello is small but she dances big. Lately she has taken advantage of the Garage's RAW (Resident Artist Workshop) program to hone her choreographic skills. Moveable Feast, her first full-evening work, is plugging into her experience working with choreographers both here and on the East Coast. The idea is to show three versions of one piece in which components — lights, dancers, sets, music — get shuffled around. In the end the audience decides which one worked best.(Felciano)

May 10-11, 8 p.m., $15

Garage

975 Howard, SF

(415) 518 1517 www.brownpapertickets.com 

http://www.sfbg.com/listing/24