Frame Dance is burning it up like crazy this week. Check out our week(end) schedule:
Tonight (Wednesday) at 8pm, we will screen Framing Bodies: LOVE ME in the Fringe Festival at The Barn.
Tomorrow (Thursday) from 7-9pm we will be dancing Under the Blue Trees with the Houston Arts Alliance.
Friday at 6:30pm, we will screen Framing Bodies: LOVE ME in the Fringe Festival at The Barn.
Saturday at 5pm, we will screen Framing Bodies: LOVE ME in the Fringe Festival at The Barn.
Hello Framers! We are so proud of #framer Jacquelyne Jay Boe who is creating a 50 minute piece in the Fringe Festival called What Lies in Wonder. She has a blog that tells you a little more about the mysterious characters and I encourage you to check it out! And of course, check out the shows at The Barn:
Wednesday at 6:30
Saturday at 9:30pm
Sunday at 5pm
What is it about Sunday nights that makes you question the purpose of your life? A weekend full of too much fun? Aimless socializing? The impending work week ahead of you? Guilt from a work-less weekend?
When is it that you really feel alive? What are you doing? Where are you?
For me it’s at the beginning of things. I’m not sure if this makes me an optimist or if it means that I have ADD (which I do NOT, by the way. Squirrel. ) I often talk about how my favorite part of any process is the beginning. You know, if you have to choose between being a Starter, or a Process Person, or a Closer, where do you fall in the cycle? I think I want to be a Process Person, and I certainly LOVE struggling my way through the progress of things, but if I’m honest with myself, it is the beginning–the idea– that gets me the most excitement and feeling of purpose. So I often find myself on Sunday nights without the hope of something new. If I started something new every week, nothing would ever get done, and then what would that make me? A flounder-er. That’s right. A flounder-er. All kidding aside, we can only have a favorite part of the process if we journey through the rest of it. So I love the beginnings because I know it’s going to take me on a long and often arduous journey. Frankly, I care least about the finish. In fact, all my life I have had very little interest in how things turn out. I’ll read 80% of a book, I’ll fall asleep right before a movie finishes. It’s not that I don’t care about what’s happening. I think that I care too much about what’s happening to seal it up artificially. I’m fine with it floating in the ether. I’m happy that what I’ve experienced exists…as it is…without some false summary.
I think finishes will come organically. (yuck– that word is overused.)
So I’ll focus on the process. It’s the longest part of the journey. It’s the majority. It’s where direction is determined. It’s where you have the most room for play. It’s elastic.
But this week, I will search for new beginnings in the midst of the process. New ways to challenge myself. Find freshness in the mundane. What’s that saying…? Stay the course. I think there’s comfort and and an irritant in that. On the one hand, I appreciate how knowledge and habit can keep you going further than you think you can go, but on the other hand, how absolutely dreadful to STAY on a COURSE. I’m too much of a wildcard for that.
But that’s my goal: to find newness in the middle of things. Ask me how I’m doing on Friday.
xo and to art,
Lydia
Hi Framers. I’m excited to do Links We Like this week. A *little* known fact about me: I LOVE games. Love them. So, I’m throwing a wrench in the LWL for this Friday in two– 2 — T. W. O. ways. Answer in a comment.
1) They are images, not links.
2) Your challenge is to correctly name the choreographer/company in each of the images below. Ready? Go.
Hello Framers!
I wanted to let you know some of the extremely exciting things going on with the company in the next couple of weeks. The first one is coming up fast– next week! We are dancing Under the Blue Trees.
If you live in Houston, I’m sure you’ve seen or driven past the blue trees along Memorial Drive. They are a temporary art installation by Konstantin Dimopoulos. Next Thursday night, along with Divisi Amped, we will be performing in and around them. I hear it will be magical.
Then, on October 23, we are performing in a fashion show. Yes! It is true. A Fashion Fete. Fashion Fête is a performative event unlike any other in Houston: men’s and women’s fashions by national and international designers from Houston’s most fashion-forward boutiques, paired with original wearable accessories created by some of Houston’s most collectible artists. I can’t give away too many secrets, but we will be performing with The Manichean.
And thirdly, on December 11, we are performing in a show by Liminal Space. By combining elements of classical, popular and improvised music, Liminal Space seeks to develop and present a contemporary alternative within the Houston community, and to serve as a bridge to connect those on the fringe, distanced by the boundaries of genre and style. I went to their concert last night, and it was fantastic! It spanned humorous, to powerful, to subtle, to complex. In the December concert we will be performing a piece to Steve Reich’s 2×5. It’s a bit of a beast. I think I agreed to do this piece because I knew it was going to challenge me choreographically so much. Look it up, and you’ll see what I mean.
It’s so funny, I thought we were going to have a relaxed fall so that I could focus on editing the next installment of Framing Bodies. I was wrong. Sometimes things come up and you have to jump. Not to worry, I’m still working on Framing Bodies: SHAMED. I’m just not editing 4 hours a day as I thought I would. I’m thinking of a February premiere of that film. Between Fashion and Blue Trees and Reich, we’ve got a lot to do!
Fall Fun, come join us at any and all of these events! We really do love to see you.
To Art,
Lydia
Just one today. An important one.
Hello Again. I feel like I have so many updates!
So this summer we rehearsed and shot (partially) the new Framing Bodies film called SHAMED. I am in the middle of it and realized I need to sit with the material I have before getting the final shots, recording the stories, and jumping into editing. The Framing Bodies series that we do is often so vulnerable and intimate in content that it really takes a lot out of me. I want so desperately to do justice to the stories and experiences of the cast, that I do often have to sit and surrender to the process of the work invading me before I can begin to manipulate and piece together a product. I originally had plans to screen it in October but that is not going to happen. I’m thinking February.
We were invited to create a piece for Liminal Space‘s December concert. They are a new contemporary music ensemble in Houston, and you would probably know that we are a fan of new music and of local composers– so of course we were interested in working with them! The piece I am making for the company is to Steve Reich’s 2×5. It is pretty daunting, but I am also extremely excited about the challenge. (Dancers: start working up your stamina, this WILL be exhausting.)
Before the concert in December, Liminal Space has a show this month. I will definitely be there, and encourage you to attend as well!
The electric guitar and percussion duo Liminal Space Contemporary Music Ensemble will open its 2013-14 season with a concert titled Time and Tension: an Evening of Electro-Acoustic Music, on September 25, 2013 at Studio 101 at 7:30 pm. The program consists of pieces that incorporate various electronic elements including the use interactive technologies, fixed media, and delays. Included on the program is Dutch avant-pop composer Jacob TV’s comedic take on American infomercials The Body of Your Dreams, Robert McClure’s Integrated Elements for gyil (African xylophone) and fixed media, Nathan Davis’ Diving Bell for triangles and live electronics, and Samuel Carl Adams’ ethereal work for percussion, guitar, and live electronics Tension Studies. This concert also features the world premiere of Hugh Lobel’s The Lotus City Songbook, Vol. 1, a work commissioned by Liminal Space as part of its New Music Initiative. The ensemble will be accompanied by percussionist Brandon Bell. Studio 101 is located at 1824 Spring Street, Houston, TX 77007. Tickets are $10 online and $15 at the door, and can be purchased at www.liminalspacemusic.com.
Hailed as “important news for Houston’s contemporary music scene,” by ArtsJournal critic Theodore Bale, Liminal Space seeks to develop and present a contemporary alternative within the Houston community through diverse programming, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the use of intimate and non-traditional concert venues. As co-artistic directors, composer/guitarist George Heathco and percussionist Luke Hubley have led Liminal Space through an exciting and active inaugural season which included thirteen successful performances, which included participation in the Houston Fringe Festival, a celebration of John Cage’s centennial, music for a collaborative, a multi-media puppet play based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, an evening of works by Frederic Rzewski, and a concert featuring the music of Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Lang. The ensemble’s second season will include an evening of electro-acoustic music, a collaborative performance of Steve Reich’s 2X5 with Frame Dance Productions, performances of works by D.J. Sparr, Orianna Webb, and Steven Mackey, the premieres of seven new compositions, and a recording project spotlighting works from the Liminal Space New Music Initiative.
Hi Friends, Framers, Friendly Framers.
Twice a year I facilitate a work group for artists to receive feedback on the work that they are making. This Fall we are meeting on five Sunday afternoons from 1-3pm at Hope Stone in the Montrose area. In the past the group has included choreographers, painters, doll makers, song writers, poets, musicians, performance artists, filmmakers, and several combinations for these. The group is called Fieldwork at it comes from a fabulous organization called The Field based in New York. This summer I was fortunate enough to be able to attend their Fieldwork Network Conference and meet with Facilitators from all over the world. Did you know that there are Fieldwork groups in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago, Seattle, Miami, New York, Berlin, Geneva, Atlanta, and others I’m sure I’m forgetting.
What is special about Fieldwork is that it is interdisciplinary, it gives us opportunities to grow in our vocabulary and the way we look at and discuss art, and it gives us framework and deadlines to get that project moving along. Any procrastinators out there?
The first session is always informative, and never binding. So come check it out! Sunday, September 8 from 1-3pm.
Do something good for yourself and your art. It’s important.
To Art,
Lydia
Happy Friday Framers!
Links we Like, because we all need a little fun on Friday.
1. Ghetto Genius: 33 ’90s Trends that in Retrospect Maybe Weren’t Such a Good Idea. (Can you say baja hoodies, butterfly clips and inappropriate usage of tennis visors? Oh and of course the one-strap overall look?)
2. Can I get an underscore, like, love, bold, italics and exclamation? Read this article on how to bring children into arts experiences.
“A music education student said something to the effect of “but the kids need to be taught to sit down and be quiet when they go to a performance.” I responded (as I often do) with a question: “Why?” “To listen to the music,” Then another question from me – “When a six-year-old hears music what do they want to do?” “Dance” came the answer from another student. For many children, their first experience in a theatre or concert hall is being told to sit still and be quiet. They learn that their natural behavior is bad, joyful response is bad, and view their arts experience as just another authoritarian space – like school. They are barred from entering the audience by their own playful natures. But in that moment, the music student’s assumptions about what it meant to be a good audience member began to shift.”
3. Gotta love a reviewer who swears in her reviews. Read this brilliant review of Patricia Noworol Dance Theater by the one and only Deborah Jowitt.
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It changes, but is pretty consistently my classical favorites (Vivaldi/Tchaikovsky) and at the moment Benjiman Britten.
Michele Kitchen, originally from Austin, TX, started her formal training at Festival Ballet Atlanta in Georgia. She then continued her studies at Ballet Austin Academy, where she trained in the Pre-Professional Division until graduating in 2006. She received additional training from American Ballet Theater, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, and Boston Ballet. In 2010, Michele graduated cum laude with a BFA in Dance as part of the inaugural class of Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet/Dominican University. While at LINES, Michele had the opportunity to work closely with Alonzo King, Maurya Kerr, Gregory Dawson, Arturo Fernandez, Carmen Rozestraten, Julie Adams, Ben Levy, and Yannis Adoniou. Since moving to Houston, Michele has taught for Houston Ballet, The Clair School, Precision Dance Academy, and Hope Stone. As well as teaching, Michele dances with Earthen Vessels (Sandra Organ) and teaches gyrotonic.
