August 21, 2007 6AM
by Livia Vanaver
Bill, Elijah and I are en route to San Francisco to visit Livia Blankman (otherwise known as “Little Livia”...from NYU and NYC dances studio days) and Chris Bigelow, both of whom were in my graduating class at School of the Arts (now better known as Tisch). We got an early start on the trip, leaving last night after a dress rehearsal of Gwynnie (Larsen) and her Airealistic crew in Burbank. One of the absolute joys in my life is to connect and reconnect with people in the past, especially those who, like Gwynnie, have grown up in the Caravan and are now out in the world doing their own dance thing so beautifully. Gwyneth will be 30 in October, so this has been a long time now watching her grow since age 5, into the amazing woman and performer she is today. Aminah, the director of the project we saw last night, was from the original production of Stomp in NYC. Talk about full circles....In 1994 when The Vanaver Caravan and Caravan Kids & Youth Dance Company (Gwyneth included), were doing a 3 day series of performances down at the South Street Seaport, we decided to go en
masse to see Stomp. 25 of us flooded the Orpheum Theatre and were absolutely inspired and entranced...as this percussive production is so close to our rhyhmic/dancing hearts. We all went backstage afterwards to tell the cast how thrilled we were to be there and also to invite them to come down to South Street to see us perform on their dark night. Well, they came to see us the next day and were excited about what we were about in turn. The nex week we received a huge box in
the mail with 25 Stomp T-shirts and a warm note from Aminah. We never saw them again....until last night, when I reminded Aminah of that “cultural exchange”. I love these full circles that make life so abundant.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Redlands Bowl
August 18th, 2007 2 AM
by Livia Vanaver
Just finished a week out here in Redlands California culiminating with one of the most unique concerts of Pastures of Plenty that we’ve ever performed. When we first got this booking, I remembered seeing an old photo in the hallway of Mohonk Mountain House,(where we have performed annually since 1975) depicting Smiley Heights and the City of Redlands below. In reviewing the contract and detailed information in the Redlands Bowl packet, I noticed it was built on Smiley Heights. I
immediately spoke with Gerow Smiley and Pat Smiley Guralnik (Board of Advisors) and they confirmed that this is indeed a big Smiley territory, that Gerow spends several months of the winter here and that we must visit the Smiley Library when we got out there. The Smiley family is indeed a big presence in Redlands since the 1800’s as they are in the Hudson Valley, and we were proud to be an unofficial part of the family performing at the Bowl. For 84 years the Redlands Bowl (the oldest free theatre in the country, existiing on donations by audience and supporters alone), has been offering stellar concerts every Tuesday and Friday of the summer months. The cypress tree flanked amphitheatre itself is gorgeous and seats 6,000 including the grassyTanglewood-like seating, where people arrive 2 hours in advance of the show and set up their tables, chairs and candlelit picnic suppers. It is very hot in Redlands during the summer! Luckily a cool breeze brought the over 100 degree temperatures down enough for us to achieve our quick costume changes. We knew that our Pastures of Plenty show would appeal to this crowd and indeed this was true. The audience sang on all the songs and eagerly took a ride with us from the Dust Bowl ballads to Peace Pin Boogie, to This Land.....and enjoyed Woody’s wilndow into America HIstory and humanity, through his prolific music. The dancers had a blast performing in this magical space! We clogged out into the audience at the end and brought the children of Redlands up on stage with us for the finale. They were well prepared for this, as we spent the week prior to the show in the Redlands elementary schools offering school assembly concerts. We reached over 4,000 children during the week who now know that:
- This Land is Your Land is not an old country song,
- that Woody Guthrie wrote thousands of songs in his lifetime,
- that the dust storms REALLY happened ( just like Hurricane Katrina, and other natural disasters),
-that you can tell stories and express yourself through music and dance. (Some teachers are even tollowing up by having the children create their own dances to describe historic events that they are studying).
Last week we toured the Redlands Schools with Bill, myself and12 of the Caravan Kids (ages 11-16).. What an extraordinary experience for the CK to be 3000 miles away from home.... in intense desert heat The Caravan Kids fundraised to cover the costs of this trip and it was thanks to many of you for helping this to happen! They were absolute pros and were such good representatives of The Vanaver Caravan spirit of sharing. Julie Rose, Sarah Underhill and Greta Baker...three of the
amazing Caravan Moms group were there to drive, chaperone and stage manage. I think we were all impressed by how the CK rose to the occasion....waking up at 6 AM and performing 2-4 shows per day! We were all so taken by the warmth and receptivity of the Redlands elementary school children who listened attentively and participated so fully in the programs and then ran to hug us affectionately at the end. Marsha Gebara, the program director at the Redlands Bowl arranged all of this as part of their community outreadh, and was a wonderful hostess...meeting us each morning and guding us to the schools. We stayed in a beautiful motel with a pool and sauna where we alternately warmed up and cooled off for the day. The beach in Malibu bookended the trip as we worked hard and played hard with our usual serious fun. Having our newest Company members: Evita Arce, Michael Jagger (recently seen on, “So You Think You Can Dance?”) and Nathan Bugh spiced up the Swing dance sections of the show as we inserted one of their trios into Woody’s Rag,. Again, as I write about all of this...I
am struck once again with how grateful I am to have the opportunity to tour with this extraodinary group of dancers and musicians. Check out this website for a great preview article from Redlands. One of the TV stations did a 4 camera shoot and is creating a special about our show last night in the Redlands Bowl that should be out in the Fall. Let us know if you’re interested in seeing this. We’re all off to some days off and preparing for the Fall.
Monday, August 20, 2007
From California to the New York Islands...summer tour comes to a close
8/20/07
by Rachel Prince
We have just returned from the last portion of our summer tour which took us to Redlands California. The Caravan Kids, and Youth Company spent a week teaching and doing residencies with the adult company joining them on the last night for a 3,000 person concert in the historic Redlands Bowl (apparently a stage often visited by music legends The Greatful Dead, and many others). Check out the below article which describes the Caravan Kids, and Youth Company's wonderful work in the local schools...
"Lesson in dance and music"
DAVID JAMES HEISS , Staff Writer for Redlands Daily Facts
Article Launched: 08/14/2007 03:15:34 PM PDT
http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/news/ci_6621130
REDLANDS - A dozen young people tapped their way onto the stage at Bryn Mawr Elementary School Monday afternoon, twirling and spiraling to music inspired by folk singer Woody Guthrie. They danced up a sandstorm, and through dance built a house and told stories about building planes.
A dozen 11- to 15-year-old members of the Vanaver Caravan Youth Company of New York gave Bryn Mawr's students a first look at Friday's scheduled performance of the Redlands Bowl, and will continue to visit schools today and throughout the week.
Bill Vanaver, leader of the group, explained to Bryn Mawr's students that "We're a caravan. Caravans are groups of people who travel, and we certainly travel all over the world sharing our music with people." He sang and played banjo as his youth company leaped, twirled and flailed their hands and arms to enact Guthrie's songs. Sometimes they clogged, sometimes they danced barefoot.
Livia Vanaver explained that, "In 1930 when your great-grandparents were still young parents, people in areas like Oklahoma were hit with a big dust storm. People had trouble breathing, and in the distance they saw what looked like new mountains - but of course, they weren't mountains, they were dust storms. Big piles of dust covered their houses and their tractors. And when it was over, they became the poorest of the poor, and many of them moved to California."
As recorded Guthrie music played, the youth company members twirled with their arms high in the air and slightly bent to imitate blowing in a flurry of circles like a dust storm, as a couple stood braced in the center of the fury, watching the intensity around them.
Bill explained that the youth group's movements were "not folk dancing. It's a form of modern dancing, a style that's newer than ballet."
The Vanavers encouraged students to participate in singing along to Guthrie songs such as "I'm Blowin' Down This Old Dusty Road" and "This Land is Your Land" while Bill played the banjo and Livia played the triangle.
"Woody Guthrie wrote hundreds of songs for children," Livia said. "One of them was called Ship in the Sky,' about all the daddies who helped build airplanes."
The youth company acted out dance movements to vignettes of different children's perspectives on how their fathers helped build, fly and land planes safely.
In another song, "Bling, Blang" youth company members swung hammers and twirled around building an imaginary house.
Alyssa Frey, a fifth-grader, thought the performances looked fun.
"I would like to dance. It seems like something like that could be possible. I really liked their dancing," she said. "They were really good."
"It was good dancing and good costumes," said Heidi Grable, a fifth-grader. "With their arms outstretched, it really looked like they were building and flying."
Fifth-grader D.J. Phelps said, "I liked the banjo. It was good how they talked to you and explained what was going on. I learned a few new songs, and I liked how they built the house. You could tell they were hammering and using saws."
"I liked the way they danced," said fifth-grader Andy Martinez. "It looked like they had to practice a lot. I think the children should've sang."
The Vanaver Caravan's visit to Bryn Mawr was part of the Redlands Community Music Association's Music in the Schools program. They will conduct similar programs this week at Crafton, Franklin, Smiley and Lugonia elementary schools.
"Young audiences react differently than older audiences, and they pick up on things that adults sometimes don't get," said Vanaver Caravan member Anna Rose, 11. "And, they aren't judgmental."
"Some of the dances inspire them and they can relate," said another member, Juliet tenBroeke, 12. "I saw kids pointing out things that they could see and tell they could understand, like when we were (acting like we were) on a swing set."
The Vanaver Caravan will present "Pastures of Plenty" at 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 17, at the Redlands Bowl
by Rachel Prince
We have just returned from the last portion of our summer tour which took us to Redlands California. The Caravan Kids, and Youth Company spent a week teaching and doing residencies with the adult company joining them on the last night for a 3,000 person concert in the historic Redlands Bowl (apparently a stage often visited by music legends The Greatful Dead, and many others). Check out the below article which describes the Caravan Kids, and Youth Company's wonderful work in the local schools...
"Lesson in dance and music"
DAVID JAMES HEISS , Staff Writer for Redlands Daily Facts
Article Launched: 08/14/2007 03:15:34 PM PDT
http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/news/ci_6621130
REDLANDS - A dozen young people tapped their way onto the stage at Bryn Mawr Elementary School Monday afternoon, twirling and spiraling to music inspired by folk singer Woody Guthrie. They danced up a sandstorm, and through dance built a house and told stories about building planes.
A dozen 11- to 15-year-old members of the Vanaver Caravan Youth Company of New York gave Bryn Mawr's students a first look at Friday's scheduled performance of the Redlands Bowl, and will continue to visit schools today and throughout the week.
Bill Vanaver, leader of the group, explained to Bryn Mawr's students that "We're a caravan. Caravans are groups of people who travel, and we certainly travel all over the world sharing our music with people." He sang and played banjo as his youth company leaped, twirled and flailed their hands and arms to enact Guthrie's songs. Sometimes they clogged, sometimes they danced barefoot.
Livia Vanaver explained that, "In 1930 when your great-grandparents were still young parents, people in areas like Oklahoma were hit with a big dust storm. People had trouble breathing, and in the distance they saw what looked like new mountains - but of course, they weren't mountains, they were dust storms. Big piles of dust covered their houses and their tractors. And when it was over, they became the poorest of the poor, and many of them moved to California."
As recorded Guthrie music played, the youth company members twirled with their arms high in the air and slightly bent to imitate blowing in a flurry of circles like a dust storm, as a couple stood braced in the center of the fury, watching the intensity around them.
Bill explained that the youth group's movements were "not folk dancing. It's a form of modern dancing, a style that's newer than ballet."
The Vanavers encouraged students to participate in singing along to Guthrie songs such as "I'm Blowin' Down This Old Dusty Road" and "This Land is Your Land" while Bill played the banjo and Livia played the triangle.
"Woody Guthrie wrote hundreds of songs for children," Livia said. "One of them was called Ship in the Sky,' about all the daddies who helped build airplanes."
The youth company acted out dance movements to vignettes of different children's perspectives on how their fathers helped build, fly and land planes safely.
In another song, "Bling, Blang" youth company members swung hammers and twirled around building an imaginary house.
Alyssa Frey, a fifth-grader, thought the performances looked fun.
"I would like to dance. It seems like something like that could be possible. I really liked their dancing," she said. "They were really good."
"It was good dancing and good costumes," said Heidi Grable, a fifth-grader. "With their arms outstretched, it really looked like they were building and flying."
Fifth-grader D.J. Phelps said, "I liked the banjo. It was good how they talked to you and explained what was going on. I learned a few new songs, and I liked how they built the house. You could tell they were hammering and using saws."
"I liked the way they danced," said fifth-grader Andy Martinez. "It looked like they had to practice a lot. I think the children should've sang."
The Vanaver Caravan's visit to Bryn Mawr was part of the Redlands Community Music Association's Music in the Schools program. They will conduct similar programs this week at Crafton, Franklin, Smiley and Lugonia elementary schools.
"Young audiences react differently than older audiences, and they pick up on things that adults sometimes don't get," said Vanaver Caravan member Anna Rose, 11. "And, they aren't judgmental."
"Some of the dances inspire them and they can relate," said another member, Juliet tenBroeke, 12. "I saw kids pointing out things that they could see and tell they could understand, like when we were (acting like we were) on a swing set."
The Vanaver Caravan will present "Pastures of Plenty" at 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 17, at the Redlands Bowl
Monday, August 6, 2007
Reflections on a summer of travel...and it's not over yet!
August 5, 2007
by Livia
Reflections on a summer of travel
July in Europe. This is the first time since 9/11 that we have been back to Europe as a full Company. We Caravaned with 30 people that included 16 Company members, 6 Youth Company Dancers, assorted family and 2 companions! We were thrilled to be invited back to the Rudolstadt Tanz and FolkFest, remembering our fabulous time there in 1998 where we premiered "Pastures of Plenty: Tribute to Woody Guthrie". This time, the Festival requested a program of our mixed Americana work, since the country they were honoring this summer was the USA. We brought with us our signature clogging pieces, a great rendition of Grine Kuzine (yiddish theatre song from our mini-musical, "Streets of Gold"), "Vigilante Man" and "Hanged Man's Reel" later additions to our Woody show, and 2 swing/Lindy Hop dances featuring some of our newest Company members. Visit the photo gallery by Andreas Heidrich http://www.vanavercaravan.org/rudolstadt.htm, a fabulous German photographer, who captured the essence of our mainstage performance on the Market Stage.
Company members like Bill, Elijah, Rachel Prince and myself who had been to Rudolstadt in '98, knew what to expect. The whole medieval town becomes the festival grounds....from the theatres and churches and town halls, to the castle courtyard to the marketplace, to the park (with the best Kinderfest I have ever seen...run by dedicated clowns who work with children and also with the disabled population in Germany all year round. Here children and families are totally engaged in creating interesting and unique crafts, and enjoying entertainment activities). We all danced till the wee hours of the morning with the other 70,000 attendees. In fact the Tanzelt tent was so packed one night that I could only teach dances that went up and down! The first Bal du Folk (open participatory dancing in this huge dance tent) took place beginning at 1:15 AM and lasted till 3 AM! When I saw that on our itinerary, I originally thought they meant 1:15 PM but it's military time in Europe, folks...silly me! Our wonderful band: David Bernz (guitar) Harry Aceto (bass) Sara Milonovich (fiddle), Bill on Banjo and in addition, Lori Morris (saxaphone) and Rich DeCrosta (trumpet) delighted the crowd. Our dancers mixed and mingled and got everyone going on Virginia Reels, Cajun train dancing, Swing, Clogging and even a polka. We arrived late on Thursday night were taken to a converted convent about 2.5 kilometers from the Festival. We woke up in the morning overlooking the beautiful countryside and listening to the voices of a Georgian women's choir that was sharing the lodging with us. After rehearsing in a large, airy room upstairs we prepared to go down to the Festival. We brought with us a plaque from the Ulster County Legislature naming The Vanaver Caravan as Cultural Ambassadors of Good Will from the People of New York State and presented it to the Lord Mayor of Rudolstadt at the opening ceremonies. Susan Zimet from the Legislature had presented the plaque to us at our concert in June at the Colony Cafe. This is exactly the kind of work that I love to be doing with the Caravan; forging meaningful relations worldwide. It's so important to our work to be doing this globally as well as locally. We were then featured in the opening concert on the Market Stage, which was a prelude to the Festival. One of the best parts of performing at international festivals is meeting and interacting with other performers from all over the world. The highlight of the Festival for many of us was Saturday night in the Food Tent, which is always packed with performers share delicious homemade German food in between working. Bill walked past the Georgian women who were seated and eating, and started to dance Lesghinka ( a well known Georgian dance). They immediately responded by singing and clapping one of their songs. He picked up their drum and began drumming the traditional Georgian rhythm that accompanies the song. The girls from Belarus who were sitting across from them, started dancing and singing one of their pieces. Marina & Gaby began dancing Flamenco against their rhythms and Evita and Michael began doing balboa (a fast form of swing). The rhythms and clapping picked up and Nathan began tapping and doing foot percussion against all of this.. You can see this clip...although a bit dark...on You Tube. On Sunday during our performance on the Kinderfest stage, Bambi, chief clown and director, interrupted us towards the end of our show. "We have a special surprise for The Vanaver Caravan", he said. We turned around and all of the performers from Belarus flooded onto the stage to give us a gift of their dance and song. This was a result of the connection in the Food Tent. Dance and music are universal languages. These are just some moments illustrating that truth. We're hoping to return to Europe next summer for some different festivals.
Nine of us went on to Sweden for a week, where we were guests at Herrang, the summer Lindy Hop haven of the world. We were invited to perform and teach 3 workshops of very different dance forms on "Cultural Day". Talli Jackson and I taught a Contact Improvisation class in the morning, Elijah taught a South African Gumboot dance workshop in the afternoon and we all taught Clogging in the evening. What fun and again...what cultural exchange!! People at Herrang dance even later into the night than in Germany, as it never really gets dark in Sweden. I don't think we collectively have stayed up dancing for so many hours as a Company. None of us slept very much on this tour. One of the best aspects of being at Herrang, was to be in the presence of Frankie Manning (93), the guru of Swing, whose teaching of this style of dance is like no one elses....so much skill mixed with love and compassion for so much of what he created in this form. Herrang was packed with some of the most wonderful teachers of this form from all over the world.
We actually took two Companions on the tour and would love to find a way to expand on this for the future and take more people along. May Peace Prevail on Earth. Livia
by Livia
Reflections on a summer of travel
July in Europe. This is the first time since 9/11 that we have been back to Europe as a full Company. We Caravaned with 30 people that included 16 Company members, 6 Youth Company Dancers, assorted family and 2 companions! We were thrilled to be invited back to the Rudolstadt Tanz and FolkFest, remembering our fabulous time there in 1998 where we premiered "Pastures of Plenty: Tribute to Woody Guthrie". This time, the Festival requested a program of our mixed Americana work, since the country they were honoring this summer was the USA. We brought with us our signature clogging pieces, a great rendition of Grine Kuzine (yiddish theatre song from our mini-musical, "Streets of Gold"), "Vigilante Man" and "Hanged Man's Reel" later additions to our Woody show, and 2 swing/Lindy Hop dances featuring some of our newest Company members. Visit the photo gallery by Andreas Heidrich http://www.vanavercaravan.org/rudolstadt.htm, a fabulous German photographer, who captured the essence of our mainstage performance on the Market Stage.
Company members like Bill, Elijah, Rachel Prince and myself who had been to Rudolstadt in '98, knew what to expect. The whole medieval town becomes the festival grounds....from the theatres and churches and town halls, to the castle courtyard to the marketplace, to the park (with the best Kinderfest I have ever seen...run by dedicated clowns who work with children and also with the disabled population in Germany all year round. Here children and families are totally engaged in creating interesting and unique crafts, and enjoying entertainment activities). We all danced till the wee hours of the morning with the other 70,000 attendees. In fact the Tanzelt tent was so packed one night that I could only teach dances that went up and down! The first Bal du Folk (open participatory dancing in this huge dance tent) took place beginning at 1:15 AM and lasted till 3 AM! When I saw that on our itinerary, I originally thought they meant 1:15 PM but it's military time in Europe, folks...silly me! Our wonderful band: David Bernz (guitar) Harry Aceto (bass) Sara Milonovich (fiddle), Bill on Banjo and in addition, Lori Morris (saxaphone) and Rich DeCrosta (trumpet) delighted the crowd. Our dancers mixed and mingled and got everyone going on Virginia Reels, Cajun train dancing, Swing, Clogging and even a polka. We arrived late on Thursday night were taken to a converted convent about 2.5 kilometers from the Festival. We woke up in the morning overlooking the beautiful countryside and listening to the voices of a Georgian women's choir that was sharing the lodging with us. After rehearsing in a large, airy room upstairs we prepared to go down to the Festival. We brought with us a plaque from the Ulster County Legislature naming The Vanaver Caravan as Cultural Ambassadors of Good Will from the People of New York State and presented it to the Lord Mayor of Rudolstadt at the opening ceremonies. Susan Zimet from the Legislature had presented the plaque to us at our concert in June at the Colony Cafe. This is exactly the kind of work that I love to be doing with the Caravan; forging meaningful relations worldwide. It's so important to our work to be doing this globally as well as locally. We were then featured in the opening concert on the Market Stage, which was a prelude to the Festival. One of the best parts of performing at international festivals is meeting and interacting with other performers from all over the world. The highlight of the Festival for many of us was Saturday night in the Food Tent, which is always packed with performers share delicious homemade German food in between working. Bill walked past the Georgian women who were seated and eating, and started to dance Lesghinka ( a well known Georgian dance). They immediately responded by singing and clapping one of their songs. He picked up their drum and began drumming the traditional Georgian rhythm that accompanies the song. The girls from Belarus who were sitting across from them, started dancing and singing one of their pieces. Marina & Gaby began dancing Flamenco against their rhythms and Evita and Michael began doing balboa (a fast form of swing). The rhythms and clapping picked up and Nathan began tapping and doing foot percussion against all of this.. You can see this clip...although a bit dark...on You Tube. On Sunday during our performance on the Kinderfest stage, Bambi, chief clown and director, interrupted us towards the end of our show. "We have a special surprise for The Vanaver Caravan", he said. We turned around and all of the performers from Belarus flooded onto the stage to give us a gift of their dance and song. This was a result of the connection in the Food Tent. Dance and music are universal languages. These are just some moments illustrating that truth. We're hoping to return to Europe next summer for some different festivals.
Nine of us went on to Sweden for a week, where we were guests at Herrang, the summer Lindy Hop haven of the world. We were invited to perform and teach 3 workshops of very different dance forms on "Cultural Day". Talli Jackson and I taught a Contact Improvisation class in the morning, Elijah taught a South African Gumboot dance workshop in the afternoon and we all taught Clogging in the evening. What fun and again...what cultural exchange!! People at Herrang dance even later into the night than in Germany, as it never really gets dark in Sweden. I don't think we collectively have stayed up dancing for so many hours as a Company. None of us slept very much on this tour. One of the best aspects of being at Herrang, was to be in the presence of Frankie Manning (93), the guru of Swing, whose teaching of this style of dance is like no one elses....so much skill mixed with love and compassion for so much of what he created in this form. Herrang was packed with some of the most wonderful teachers of this form from all over the world.
We actually took two Companions on the tour and would love to find a way to expand on this for the future and take more people along. May Peace Prevail on Earth. Livia
Friday, August 3, 2007
Summer evening show
Nathan, Amber, and Ginger get hyped up for the evening's peformance at Sullivan County.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Summerdance
July 26, 2007
by Liva
I find myself right in the middle of SummerDance at Stone Mountain Farm, nestled in this magical land where close to 4 dancers are sweating and expanding their dance horizons each day. That's the word for the day....expansion. We have such wonderful teachers this year...Mirah Moriarty and Rodrigo Esteva are teaching release technique and the students are getting to explore dancing on low levels and with courage, weight and balance challenges and a sense of freedom that they never knew they had. NIna Jirka, our amazing ballet teacher originally from the Kremlin Ballet in Russia is herself, exploring ways of teaching the basics of placement and groundedness in order to fully embody the ballet vocabulary. She uses yoga as well as her own forms to diligently demand excellence and attention in the moment from each student. Kieran Jordan, Irish/modern/sean-nos dancer from the Boston area, is here this week only to share her wealth of knowledge of Cape Breton step dancing and sean-nos (old form of Irish music and dance) combined with innovative movement ideas. Toby Stover and Fode Sissoko are working with the students on West African Drum and Dance focusing this week on a Congolese dance. The day is so full and that doesn't include the 1/2 mile walk from the stage in the meadow, to the unique studio above the horse barn. Rustic, unique, envigorating, fresh are just some of the words that come to mind. I myself love watching and helping to shuttle the students back and forth when there's a downpour. Amber Wirthmann has done a great job as program director and there's a whole new crew coming on for next week.
by Liva
I find myself right in the middle of SummerDance at Stone Mountain Farm, nestled in this magical land where close to 4 dancers are sweating and expanding their dance horizons each day. That's the word for the day....expansion. We have such wonderful teachers this year...Mirah Moriarty and Rodrigo Esteva are teaching release technique and the students are getting to explore dancing on low levels and with courage, weight and balance challenges and a sense of freedom that they never knew they had. NIna Jirka, our amazing ballet teacher originally from the Kremlin Ballet in Russia is herself, exploring ways of teaching the basics of placement and groundedness in order to fully embody the ballet vocabulary. She uses yoga as well as her own forms to diligently demand excellence and attention in the moment from each student. Kieran Jordan, Irish/modern/sean-nos dancer from the Boston area, is here this week only to share her wealth of knowledge of Cape Breton step dancing and sean-nos (old form of Irish music and dance) combined with innovative movement ideas. Toby Stover and Fode Sissoko are working with the students on West African Drum and Dance focusing this week on a Congolese dance. The day is so full and that doesn't include the 1/2 mile walk from the stage in the meadow, to the unique studio above the horse barn. Rustic, unique, envigorating, fresh are just some of the words that come to mind. I myself love watching and helping to shuttle the students back and forth when there's a downpour. Amber Wirthmann has done a great job as program director and there's a whole new crew coming on for next week.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
First Post on Springtime beginnings
The first posting on our new blog, we wanted to get Livia back behind the keyboard to share all her observations, inspirations, and stories from the road. Take it away Livia.
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