When I was home in Seattle for Christmas break I had the good fortune to get to play around with a tenor gamba that was lent to me. It was terrific fun and I've been looking in to buying one in this country. So, to that end, when Peter went up to the Early Music Shop's main shop near Leeds he checked out what they had and narrowed it down to two. These two are now on their way to my house where I get to play with both of them for a period of 10 days in order to make a decision. So many riches! Two tenors at once!
I'm a little excited.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Squee!
I'm not terribly techno-savvy, so I'm not going to be able to make this look all cool, I'm only going to be able to give you the link: http://www.interlochen.org/video/clips/Academy_Flash.html
but know that I went there, and it looks like it is doing so well (so many fancy new buildings!) and I'm so very pleased for Interlochen.
That being said, for those of you who are tracking my sleep patterns, today I woke up at 5am.
but know that I went there, and it looks like it is doing so well (so many fancy new buildings!) and I'm so very pleased for Interlochen.
That being said, for those of you who are tracking my sleep patterns, today I woke up at 5am.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Contact Improvisation
I've been interested in contact improvisation for a while, and while in Seattle looked up classes in London. I was delighted to find that there was a regular Saturday class and jam session in Dalston, immediately down the road from the house I stayed at over the summer. I'm going to be away the next two weekends (MapMaking part II and Cornwall) and figured I would lose momentum if I didn't go this Saturday.
Contact improvisation is (according to Wikipedia) "a dance technique in which points of physical contact provide the starting point for exploration through movement improvisation. Contact Improvisation is a form of dance improvisation and is one of the best-known and most characteristic forms of postmodern dance"
I had done a bit before in a dance class I took for a while last year that my friend Claudio led. Lots of rolling over your partner's back and weight management issues, balancing against the other dancer. The class itself on Saturday was fairly straight forward (well, if figuring out how to do headstands starting from being draped across your partners back is straight forward) it was the jam session after the class that really got interesting.
There were about 20 people for the class and a slightly different 20 people for the jam session after the class (This whole endeavor went from 11:30 in the morning to around 4 or 4:30.) I decided to stay around for the jam session because we had had a quick free dance with the class and I had ended up with a partner that I failed to communicated well with. It reminded me of the first totally free improvisation I did with actors at Open Call; it was so incredibly painful and self indulgent that it led to fantastic discussions of how improvisation can/could/should work. This was sort of the same thing- my partner and I weren't working well together, but also could NOT figure out how to break apart. Then the class ended, and I wanted to make sure that that wasn't my parting feeling of the class and the whole experience.
So a few things that I learned from watching and then dancing during the jam session:
1.The contact with your partner/partners can be incredibly slight- one fingertip even. Just so that there *is* contact and a clear intention of dancing with your partner.
2. People are as individual in their dancing styles as they are in everything else. For those who have taken Peggy Zhering's classes, you know how she talks about an individuals mark? The same sort of thing happens in dance. There was this one Brazilian woman who was great fun to dance with, all circles and tumbling about. I watched her later with other partners (after I had been completely worn out and left the mats for my water bottle) and the same sort of circular tumbles were happening with all of her partners. There was also this bouncy bouncy guy who was so energetic that you couldn't be calm while with him. I found myself flying through the air at one point while dancing with him... but watching him dance with super calm guy (the one fingertip guy) was sort of surreal, they were just on such completely different energy levels.
3. As with all improvisation (I am finding) it is easiest to do what your partner wants you to do when they/you make your/their intentions very clear. To the point of saying them out loud if that is necessary. I think it is like leading in swing dancing, you know what to do if your partner is leading. If you're both just waiting for something to happen, then it is going to be a frustrating dance. Also, if someone is bold and makes some sort of statement (if you will) then there is a much clearer trajectory. There is space for the dance to come to an end easily and sensically.
4. It is weird trying to ask someone to dance with you in a jam session. Sometimes it was easy: making eye contact and then moving towards the other person. (This got more difficult after I took my glasses off. It was a fairly large room and I just couldn't see!) But sometimes also it was having someone make contact with you or making contact yourself. Which is a bit of a tricky thing to balance. (Sometimes it was accidentally colliding with someone...)
5. Even if it doesn't seem like exercise necessarily, it is. I'm still quite sore two days later...
Contact improvisation is (according to Wikipedia) "a dance technique in which points of physical contact provide the starting point for exploration through movement improvisation. Contact Improvisation is a form of dance improvisation and is one of the best-known and most characteristic forms of postmodern dance"
I had done a bit before in a dance class I took for a while last year that my friend Claudio led. Lots of rolling over your partner's back and weight management issues, balancing against the other dancer. The class itself on Saturday was fairly straight forward (well, if figuring out how to do headstands starting from being draped across your partners back is straight forward) it was the jam session after the class that really got interesting.
There were about 20 people for the class and a slightly different 20 people for the jam session after the class (This whole endeavor went from 11:30 in the morning to around 4 or 4:30.) I decided to stay around for the jam session because we had had a quick free dance with the class and I had ended up with a partner that I failed to communicated well with. It reminded me of the first totally free improvisation I did with actors at Open Call; it was so incredibly painful and self indulgent that it led to fantastic discussions of how improvisation can/could/should work. This was sort of the same thing- my partner and I weren't working well together, but also could NOT figure out how to break apart. Then the class ended, and I wanted to make sure that that wasn't my parting feeling of the class and the whole experience.
So a few things that I learned from watching and then dancing during the jam session:
1.The contact with your partner/partners can be incredibly slight- one fingertip even. Just so that there *is* contact and a clear intention of dancing with your partner.
2. People are as individual in their dancing styles as they are in everything else. For those who have taken Peggy Zhering's classes, you know how she talks about an individuals mark? The same sort of thing happens in dance. There was this one Brazilian woman who was great fun to dance with, all circles and tumbling about. I watched her later with other partners (after I had been completely worn out and left the mats for my water bottle) and the same sort of circular tumbles were happening with all of her partners. There was also this bouncy bouncy guy who was so energetic that you couldn't be calm while with him. I found myself flying through the air at one point while dancing with him... but watching him dance with super calm guy (the one fingertip guy) was sort of surreal, they were just on such completely different energy levels.
3. As with all improvisation (I am finding) it is easiest to do what your partner wants you to do when they/you make your/their intentions very clear. To the point of saying them out loud if that is necessary. I think it is like leading in swing dancing, you know what to do if your partner is leading. If you're both just waiting for something to happen, then it is going to be a frustrating dance. Also, if someone is bold and makes some sort of statement (if you will) then there is a much clearer trajectory. There is space for the dance to come to an end easily and sensically.
4. It is weird trying to ask someone to dance with you in a jam session. Sometimes it was easy: making eye contact and then moving towards the other person. (This got more difficult after I took my glasses off. It was a fairly large room and I just couldn't see!) But sometimes also it was having someone make contact with you or making contact yourself. Which is a bit of a tricky thing to balance. (Sometimes it was accidentally colliding with someone...)
5. Even if it doesn't seem like exercise necessarily, it is. I'm still quite sore two days later...
The Jet lag: it has caught up with me.
I'm having difficulty figuring out what time zone I'm in. I have been reading this lovely book- a workbook for The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. One of the activities that this book is having me do is write 'morning pages' which are 3 pages of longhand writing as soon as you wake up. The idea is just to get as much mental clutter on to a page as possible and then pay attention to those things that crop up again and again. I've been doing it for four days now and so far I have mostly just been having trouble keeping it to 3 pages. We'll see how long that lasts. The book/course lasts for 12 weeks.
That's just a set up though- the real reason I'm telling you this is to illustrate my sleeping patterns for the last few days. I've been very good at writing as soon as I am conscious enough to reach for a pen, which is actually pretty cool. It means I haven't been sleeping in (sort of, more on that later) because I have a reason to do something as soon as I wake up as opposed to drifting off to sleep again.
So yesterday I woke up at 7:30 in the morning after having fallen asleep around 2:30 in the morning. I wrote for an hour and had great plans about what I was going to do with my day when I passed out again until 3pm. Having slept all day, (I stayed in bed literally all day) I didn't fall asleep again until nearly 5am only to wake up and start writing at 9am. This weekend I wqas so pleased with myself, thinking that I had managed to get on a normal sleep schedule with nearly no jet lag. Clearly it was just delayed.
With this in mind, I am determined to fall asleep at a reasonable hour today.
In other news, I walked through a different portion of Abney Cemetery park today and found the BEST NAME EVER. She unfortunately died at 19 months, which is very sad, but this was in the early 1800's so it was a while ago: Loveday Prettiprose. Daughter of Charity and Samuel Prettiprose.
Awesome.
That's just a set up though- the real reason I'm telling you this is to illustrate my sleeping patterns for the last few days. I've been very good at writing as soon as I am conscious enough to reach for a pen, which is actually pretty cool. It means I haven't been sleeping in (sort of, more on that later) because I have a reason to do something as soon as I wake up as opposed to drifting off to sleep again.
So yesterday I woke up at 7:30 in the morning after having fallen asleep around 2:30 in the morning. I wrote for an hour and had great plans about what I was going to do with my day when I passed out again until 3pm. Having slept all day, (I stayed in bed literally all day) I didn't fall asleep again until nearly 5am only to wake up and start writing at 9am. This weekend I wqas so pleased with myself, thinking that I had managed to get on a normal sleep schedule with nearly no jet lag. Clearly it was just delayed.
With this in mind, I am determined to fall asleep at a reasonable hour today.
In other news, I walked through a different portion of Abney Cemetery park today and found the BEST NAME EVER. She unfortunately died at 19 months, which is very sad, but this was in the early 1800's so it was a while ago: Loveday Prettiprose. Daughter of Charity and Samuel Prettiprose.
Awesome.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Back in London
I made it back to the Stamford hill flat, and look: Internet!
The flight went well and was also surprising as I found myself seated next to my friend Brian from GHS and Peabody, it's a teeny tiny little bitty world.
Also, Fresh and Fruity has 10 avocados for £1 today. Just thought I'd share.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
LCDS: the second year
So the thing about walking through the wind tunnels that are the streets in the City, is that when you're carrying a bass it is kind of like para sailing.
That is neither here nor there- the London Contemporary Dance School project has begun again! I'm excited for this year, some of my favorite musicians from past projects (last year's LCDS and Globetown) are back again for this project and we're already having fun.
Interestingly, there is only one female choreographer, last year I think they were all female. The composers and choreographers have been having their initial meetings and showings of their work all this week. This afternoon they're deciding what the pairings will be for the collaboration. I'm happy to find that there is much more talk this year about how to use the instrumentalists in the dance space which would make us more visually integral to the performance. Last year there was only one piece that didn't involve the whole band playing in the back like it was a pit orchestra.
We warmed up together and moved about the space as an entire group to get the session started. Then the instrumentalists gradually picked up their instruments and began improvising. I moved diagonally across the room playing pizzicato on the bass (a not very subtle attempt to get the day started off with a "musicians can be dancers too" feeling) and then realized that what the music really called for at that moment was arco which meant that I had to walk all the way around the room back to the piano in order to get my bow. This I actually tried to do subtly, which didn't work as a couple of the dancers came and walked with me. So: success for the first thing I was trying to do!
We broke into three groups and were given half an hour to make a piece based on "boundaries" and the breaking of said boundaries. Since I had the largest instrument our group got to stay in the room we would be performing in. (The bass is actually fairly portable, but I'm not arguing.) We discussed briefly how many ways we could set up barriers to break such as having the audience sitting in a semi-circle and walking through them. There was a closet off to the side of the room that I really wanted to see if we could use since it was (I'm going to use the word indigenous even though that is sort of out of place, you know what I'm getting at though, right?) indigenous to the room and making things specifically for specific spaces is always fun to do.
Then the composer, Aaron asked me if I could play while the bass was in the air...so we tried that out and decided that it would be easiest if we just used open strings, but we wanted a different feeling than Tonic Dominant Tonic Dominant over and over again so we de tuned my A string so that we had a tri tone double stop in the middle which meant that when we made an ostinato there was this lovely, gritty, funereal air to it.
So. Closet, semi circle audience, hoisted up bass, ostinato.
We started in the closet with the door closed and me playing. This was very quiet through the door which was brilliant because it meant that the door squeaking open was audible. Then Louis (the choreographer) started processing out while I continued playing and Aaron began lifting up the bass, still behind the, now open, closet door so that the audience still couldn't really see what was happening. Then we began processing across the room, causing the audience to scramble out of the way when it became clear that we were headed straight for them. (The bass was at this point nearly parallel to the floor, my right shoulder got very tired from bowing at that angle- directly out in front of me) We walked through the rest of the room and then out into the hallway where we continued for another 10 seconds or so.
Barriers broken: physical barrier of the audience, barrier of the various doors, using a dancer as something other than a dancer, preconception of how the bass could be played, and if we're looking at the dramatic feeling of the piece- the barrier between life and death. So deep. Aren't we cool?
There was more, but I have errands to run so that is all you get for now.
That is neither here nor there- the London Contemporary Dance School project has begun again! I'm excited for this year, some of my favorite musicians from past projects (last year's LCDS and Globetown) are back again for this project and we're already having fun.
Interestingly, there is only one female choreographer, last year I think they were all female. The composers and choreographers have been having their initial meetings and showings of their work all this week. This afternoon they're deciding what the pairings will be for the collaboration. I'm happy to find that there is much more talk this year about how to use the instrumentalists in the dance space which would make us more visually integral to the performance. Last year there was only one piece that didn't involve the whole band playing in the back like it was a pit orchestra.
We warmed up together and moved about the space as an entire group to get the session started. Then the instrumentalists gradually picked up their instruments and began improvising. I moved diagonally across the room playing pizzicato on the bass (a not very subtle attempt to get the day started off with a "musicians can be dancers too" feeling) and then realized that what the music really called for at that moment was arco which meant that I had to walk all the way around the room back to the piano in order to get my bow. This I actually tried to do subtly, which didn't work as a couple of the dancers came and walked with me. So: success for the first thing I was trying to do!
We broke into three groups and were given half an hour to make a piece based on "boundaries" and the breaking of said boundaries. Since I had the largest instrument our group got to stay in the room we would be performing in. (The bass is actually fairly portable, but I'm not arguing.) We discussed briefly how many ways we could set up barriers to break such as having the audience sitting in a semi-circle and walking through them. There was a closet off to the side of the room that I really wanted to see if we could use since it was (I'm going to use the word indigenous even though that is sort of out of place, you know what I'm getting at though, right?) indigenous to the room and making things specifically for specific spaces is always fun to do.
Then the composer, Aaron asked me if I could play while the bass was in the air...so we tried that out and decided that it would be easiest if we just used open strings, but we wanted a different feeling than Tonic Dominant Tonic Dominant over and over again so we de tuned my A string so that we had a tri tone double stop in the middle which meant that when we made an ostinato there was this lovely, gritty, funereal air to it.
So. Closet, semi circle audience, hoisted up bass, ostinato.
We started in the closet with the door closed and me playing. This was very quiet through the door which was brilliant because it meant that the door squeaking open was audible. Then Louis (the choreographer) started processing out while I continued playing and Aaron began lifting up the bass, still behind the, now open, closet door so that the audience still couldn't really see what was happening. Then we began processing across the room, causing the audience to scramble out of the way when it became clear that we were headed straight for them. (The bass was at this point nearly parallel to the floor, my right shoulder got very tired from bowing at that angle- directly out in front of me) We walked through the rest of the room and then out into the hallway where we continued for another 10 seconds or so.
Barriers broken: physical barrier of the audience, barrier of the various doors, using a dancer as something other than a dancer, preconception of how the bass could be played, and if we're looking at the dramatic feeling of the piece- the barrier between life and death. So deep. Aren't we cool?
There was more, but I have errands to run so that is all you get for now.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving was wonderful. We had it at my flat and the kitchen is just perfectly sized for a bustling eight person party where everyone is helping to prepare the food and talking over each other and catching up and generally having a wonderful time.
The party came together rather last minute after many permutations of people, locations, and events. We ended up with nine people over the course of the evening- the old school dinner club folk and some new people as well. Meredith, my old flat mate; Tim, her boyfriend; Dave; Sarah who was visiting from America; “Other Tim”, Dave’s friend and new dinner club initiate; Jon; Latana; my friend Kanika whom I stayed with this summer; and myself.
Everyone brought various parts of the feast. We were too last minute to actually get a turkey to defrost, which is probably a good thing since we ate barely a quarter of what I did purchase which was a giant turkey leg and a couple of turkey breast roasts from the meat section at Morrissons (the very good grocery store a short bus ride away from the flat). Everyone showed up about an hour later than they said they would which worked out just fine because it meant that I had time to clean my room and the kitchen and make sure all the dishes were clean and ready to use and things like that.
Dave, Sarah, and Other Tim showed up with bags of vegetables, stuffing mix, and two bags of marshmallows which- for some reason- in England only come in mixed pink and white varieties which is unfortunate as the pink ones are strawberry flavored and gross as we discovered earlier this week when trying to introduce Dave to s’mores. Jon showed up shortly thereafter and was immediately sent back out into the cold to purchase various things that we kept discovering we didn’t actually need once he had already left the house. (This was an unfortunate pattern; I think we sent him out three times.) We had things boiling on every burner and three levels of things baking in the oven. It was a good thing the turkey wasn’t a real turkey as it was much flatter than would otherwise be the case and meant we had more room to shove other things in the oven like stuffing, cheese balls, parsnips, etc.
Meredith and Tim showed up with a vegetarian shepherd’s pie, the aforementioned cheese balls, and three pies made from scratch including two pumpkin pies that they had made from an actual pumpkin. I was very impressed.
Latana showed up right as the food was being laid out which was perfect timing on her part. We cleared off the side board and had platters, sauce pans, and casseroles full of food all over the kitchen. (Meat and veggie versions of everything.) People were serving across the table so that there was this lovely pattern of arms across the table which went nicely with fretwork’s consort music in the background.
The best part though, was that at the end after all the food and the pies and the ice cream everyone cleaned up! There was a giant assembly line of dishwashers, dish dryers, leftovers patrol, counter clearers, and one very special garbage man. It was brilliant, they even scrubbed the roasting pan-all while screaming/singing along to Ben Folds and Bruce Springsteen. Impromtu dance parties were clearly taking place.
All and all a brilliant success- everyone agreed the food was better this year and thought it was A-okay that we neglected to do hand turkeys.
The party came together rather last minute after many permutations of people, locations, and events. We ended up with nine people over the course of the evening- the old school dinner club folk and some new people as well. Meredith, my old flat mate; Tim, her boyfriend; Dave; Sarah who was visiting from America; “Other Tim”, Dave’s friend and new dinner club initiate; Jon; Latana; my friend Kanika whom I stayed with this summer; and myself.
Everyone brought various parts of the feast. We were too last minute to actually get a turkey to defrost, which is probably a good thing since we ate barely a quarter of what I did purchase which was a giant turkey leg and a couple of turkey breast roasts from the meat section at Morrissons (the very good grocery store a short bus ride away from the flat). Everyone showed up about an hour later than they said they would which worked out just fine because it meant that I had time to clean my room and the kitchen and make sure all the dishes were clean and ready to use and things like that.
Dave, Sarah, and Other Tim showed up with bags of vegetables, stuffing mix, and two bags of marshmallows which- for some reason- in England only come in mixed pink and white varieties which is unfortunate as the pink ones are strawberry flavored and gross as we discovered earlier this week when trying to introduce Dave to s’mores. Jon showed up shortly thereafter and was immediately sent back out into the cold to purchase various things that we kept discovering we didn’t actually need once he had already left the house. (This was an unfortunate pattern; I think we sent him out three times.) We had things boiling on every burner and three levels of things baking in the oven. It was a good thing the turkey wasn’t a real turkey as it was much flatter than would otherwise be the case and meant we had more room to shove other things in the oven like stuffing, cheese balls, parsnips, etc.
Meredith and Tim showed up with a vegetarian shepherd’s pie, the aforementioned cheese balls, and three pies made from scratch including two pumpkin pies that they had made from an actual pumpkin. I was very impressed.
Latana showed up right as the food was being laid out which was perfect timing on her part. We cleared off the side board and had platters, sauce pans, and casseroles full of food all over the kitchen. (Meat and veggie versions of everything.) People were serving across the table so that there was this lovely pattern of arms across the table which went nicely with fretwork’s consort music in the background.
The best part though, was that at the end after all the food and the pies and the ice cream everyone cleaned up! There was a giant assembly line of dishwashers, dish dryers, leftovers patrol, counter clearers, and one very special garbage man. It was brilliant, they even scrubbed the roasting pan-all while screaming/singing along to Ben Folds and Bruce Springsteen. Impromtu dance parties were clearly taking place.
All and all a brilliant success- everyone agreed the food was better this year and thought it was A-okay that we neglected to do hand turkeys.
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