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
Monday, August 20, 2007
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.
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