I guess I’m on a TED kick this morning.  Always a great place to look for inspiration.  Here’s another very important TED talk by Glenn Lowry, Director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, who discusses the trend toward performance art and the rise of the individual.

Highly, highly recommend watching this Ted video of presenter Kelly Anderson–  refreshing and delightful way to see and disrupt order in our world.

I just recently found out about SkyNova which is the internet TV show featuring Culture Warriors in their native habitat and is co-hosted by Sydney Skybetter & Tim Cynova— two men you should know about.

This is their great interview of Amy Fitterer of Dance/USA. I am thrilled to be going to the conference this summer in San Francisco. Who else will be there?

Here’s a few minutes of our rehearsal on Thursday. We are preparing for a full throttle dance, film, photography gallery event in May— you must come. It will be ravishing. It’s called CONTEXT.

Here we are mid-process. Love this stage when the dancers aren’t quite comfortable yet, and they’re hustling to get it done. I think the magic is lost when a dancer is completely comfortable. I’m always changing things on them…every show is different, keeping them alive in their performance. It’s a beautiful fury. Here’s the clip from rehearsal:

Frame Dance Productions, a fresh, new dance company is currently seeking an energetic, proactive and creative part-time marketing and PR intern.  Our ideal candidate is goal-oriented and organized.  This internship offers the fun experience of propelling an exciting arts event forward and the opportunity to make a significant difference in the development of a young arts organization.  Work from home, 8 hours/ week for nine weeks.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

– Create an exhaustive list of Houston press / media outlets

-Write and submit press releases

– Monitor event press

– Coordinate social marketing

– Assist with event

Qualifications:
-Currently seeking a degree or career in Marketing, Event Planning or PR is a plus
– Excellent written and verbal communication skills
– Knowledge of and experience with all social media outlets
– Exceptional editing and grammatical skills
– Excel in a creative and independent working environment
-Familiar with Houston media and press

Please submit resumes to Lydia.Hance@FrameDance.org

It’s back!  We begin Fieldwork tomorrow night from 7-9 pm.  Although I write about Fieldwork quite a bit on this blog, I think it’s worth a quick description.  Fieldwork is a work group made of up artists from all genres ( literary, performance, visual, and everything in between and combining the above).  We meet on a weekly basis and show our work as it is mid-process.  Then the group gives feedback in the way of describing what they say and experienced.  The group does not direct the artist– which proves a difficult task for some, myself included!  We talk about what we saw, heard, felt, what drew us in the work, what pulled us away.  This way the artist gets a feel on how his or her art is communicating.  It has nothing to do with whether the group “likes” is or doesn’t.  Or even if the group is placing value on whether it is “good.”  It is really about allowing the artist to gather information about what effect the piece has on an audience.

This year is pretty special.  We are teaming up with Diverse Works and 12 Minutes Max!.  Our fieldwork showcase will be held at Diverse Works, and the dance work created in Fieldwork will help inform the participants in 12 Minutes Max!.  Very exciting!

So, Houston choreographers?  Here’s a chance to get info about your work as well as produce it in our showcase at Diverse Works.

Last week I posted a survey about what your expectations are of any art performance.  I gave three options to complete the thought, “I feel most satisfied when…:

I experience something (visually, emotionally, aurally) meaningful and I walk away confident I understand what the artist is trying to tell me.

I experience something (visually, emotionally, aurally) meaningful, and I’m left curious if it’s what the artists intended me to feel. I am satisfied when I can bounce my impressions off the artists and hear their perspectives.

I experience something (visually, emotionally, aurally) meaningful and I walk away content with my own way of experiencing what was put before me. I’m not compelled to know the artist’s intentions.

The bold answer won by a slight margin over the third.  The first option failed miserably.  But I suppose those of you who answered, as fans of Frame, are probably not going to choose the first option.  If I had a sample size that spanned the state, or the country I think option one would probably have had a larger voice.  Thank you for taking the survey, it’s always fun to hear back from readers.

At the Dance Magazine awards this past fall, Ohad Naharin (Batsheva, Graham, Bejart, etc. etc. etc.)  gave this advice to critics.  I think there is a lot to take from these words as an artist, audience member, choreographer, and human.
• Go see dance shows that you don’t have to write about.

• Don’t let a point of reference prevent you from having a moment of a fresh new experience.

• Connect to physical pleasures of life.

• Remember that there are always people in the audience who are at least as smart as you are (and it says here, “especially if you are from England”).

• Never, never, write during the show, unless it is the likes of a fashion show, mime show, ice skating or a beauty contest.

• You don’t have to understand the work you are watching. The creator most likely doesn’t care to be understood; he/she just wants to be loved.

• Remember, if you can describe what you are watching you are probably watching bad choreography.

• If you didn’t change your mind lately, you are probably wrong (again it says, “especially if you are from England”).

• Dance yourself a few minutes every day, until you sweat and/or you are experiencing a burning sensation some where in your flesh.

• Watch stuff with your eyes going out of focus; you will see more and miss less.

• While watching a dance, don’t look for national, geographic connotations. Anyway it’s almost never there.

Which of these stands out to you?  Do you disagree?  Agree?