student blog

Frozen Intern meets Contemporary Dance / Amy

I feel like I need to preface this with the fact that I’m a music person and not a dance person whatsoever. I’ve been classically trained in violin and vocal performance, but I honestly couldn’t tell you a thing about dance. I was nervous about whether or not I would like the show because the style of music the Merce Cunningham dancers typically dance to isn't really my taste. Of course, I was still going to see the MCDC because of all the hype. No surprise I hated the music, but the dancing was awesome! The dancers’ movements were so intriguing and it held my normally short attention for the entire performance. Plus I think it’s amazing how passionate everyone involved is about MCDC. Overall, it was totally worth the frostbite.

- Amy

Merce Education Update / Kim

For all of you that were lucky enough to secure a ticket for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s performance of The Legacy Tour before it sold out will probably agree with me one hundred percent; even weeks after their residence with Hancher has ended, I find myself still asking the question, “Did that really happen?”

Four years ago, back when I was deciding which college to attend, one of the only reasons that I had doubts about attending the University of Iowa was the fact that it was in Iowa. I was worried that with the career to which I aspired—a professional dancer—a smaller community such as Iowa City wouldn’t have the same opportunities as New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles in respect to viewing dance performances. Growing up in the Chicago land area, a professional dance performance was only a train ride away.  As I got more involved in the Iowa City arts community, I learned that really wasn’t the case at all. There is an abundance of dance all around Iowa from Ballet Quad Cities, to Poetic Rebound Performance Company, to the phenomenal dance companies that travel to Iowa through Hancher events. Guests such as Ballet West II and the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company have already come this season, and prior years have boasted such phenoms as The Joffrey Ballet Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Luna Negra Dance Theatre.

However, what I find to be the icing on the cake (besides the insane student discount prices) is that Hancher’s educational branch organizes master dance classes, educational speeches, and lecture demonstrations for UI students and the greater Eastern Iowa area communities. Because Hancher is an organization that dedicates itself to furthering the education of UI students, each residency is specialized towards spreading knowledge of the arts.

The Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s Iowa performance was a once in a lifetime opportunity. When I say “once in a life time” opportunity, I literally mean I will never be able to see them perform live again, because after this tour the company is disbanding.  With that said, it was also utterly amazing. It astounds me that even without our auditorium up and running, Hancher was still able to bring one the greatest modern companies to Iowa City. We were lucky enough to witness the Company’s “Event” performance — one part of the larger Legacy Tour — shown only a few stages throughout the two-year farewell to Merce.  For the entire 75 minutes of choreography I sat at the edge of my seat; partially because it was the only way I could see over the massive man sitting in front of me, but mostly because I was experiencing a performance that I had only ever dreamed about seeing. Every rehearsal I witnessed leading up to the performance had been done without music and a defined structure, so I felt as though I was able to be a spectator in part of their creative process. Needless to say, it was pretty darn cool.

It seems to be the case this season that when Hancher’s big dance events are left to chance the weather, the weather will act up and Hancher will not win. After the monumental snow storm that hit most of the Midwest, a few of our planned educational speeches with Bonnie Brooks, President and Executive Director of Dance/USA at Columbia College Chicago were canceled. However, once she was able to get in town, she presented inspiring and informative lectures to UI dance major students in the form of a pre-show lecture and other speeches on the life’s workings of Merce Cunningham.  I areally enjoyed hearing her speak. Another really great event was the showing of Split Sides, a film on Cunningham that was presented at the Bijou Theatre with guest David Vaughan, the Cunningham archivist.  Brooks and Vaughan were instrumental figures during the Cunningham residency.

My absolute favorite educational activity planned with the Cunningham residence was the master class with Robert Swinston for Majors Modern III and IV dancers in the Department of Dance. (I am currently taking Majors Modern IV, so I got to participate in the class!)  Since Cunningham’s death in 2009, Swinston has served as the director of choreography and remains an active member of the company—which he has been part of for 31 years! Many professional dancers’ performance careers only last about ten to fifteen years; he’s pretty inspirational, huh? Swinston is an iconic figure in the world of dance, and being in the same room with him—let alone taking class from him—was an honor and the closest any of us will get to working with Cunningham himself. At the end of the class he left saying, “When dancing, try and reproduce a feeling over and over again, that is the only way you will ever learn.” That is the concept Cunningham used to begin his investigations of dance, and hearing such wisdom first hand was influential.

This residency with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company has been, so far, the highlight of my season. I am eternally grateful to Hancher for giving me, my fellow dance majors, and the community of Iowa City such a life changing experience. I know for certain that I will never forget seeing this company perform. This event, hands down, is on my “Top 10 Greatest Experiences” list.

-- Kim Chmielewski

Reflecting on Merce Cunningham / Sarah C.

It has been almost two weeks since the Merce Cunningham Dance Company came to Iowa City, and yet almost every day in my ballet or modern classes, one of the teachers mentions their talent and strength. That’s the kind of impression I believe those dancers leave to any audience. Some dance companies leave an impression of beauty, passion, and grace. Others leave the audience with a story to remember. None of this is present in Cunningham’s work, and that was exactly how he wanted it. No emotion, no storyline, no presumed beauty; nothing but the movement, which was often created by chance. And that movement is extremely difficult, but the company dancers tackle it with pure strength and ease. They truly are some of the greatest dancers that I or any other audience member will see. Because of Cunningham’s use of chance choreography, he created some absolutely amazing techniques of dance that will be used (I believe) for hundreds of years to come. And those techniques created and will create some pretty talented dancers, to say the least. However, leaving the talent of the dancers aside, this show may not always be exciting to the non-dancer audience.

Cunningham was an extremely innovative individual, and because of that he is will be remembered as one of the greatest choreographers in dance history. As an artist and dancer, I respect and appreciate everything that Cunningham did; I am inspired by his work and I love watching the execution of his difficult movement by extremely talented dancers. However, for the common audience member who is maybe not a dancer or an artist in any way shape or form, this show may not be the most entertaining. I have been lucky enough to see the company perform at two different times, but to be completely honest, there were long moment during the performances where I found myself thinking about my homework, or friends, or my plans for the week to come. And to be frank, I was bored. 

This is not to say that I do not enjoy watching the company, for I love their skill and the movement. I simply don’t enjoy watching it for that amount of time. Let’s be honest, people watch a performance, or a movie, or read a book for the emotion that it possesses. Reading that book, or watching that movie made you laugh, or cry, or think about something you never had before. And that’s why you watched or read it. Cunningham purposely took all that away. (Which was obviously extremely unusual! But unusual or weird in the art world usually means that you are remembered). He said that if the audience member wanted to put a story, or emotion, or some type of meaning on his work, they were welcome to do so. He just never deliberately put any there.

Taking all of that emotion, or storyline away from a performance is extremely bold (and difficult), but that’s not to say that it is the most entertaining. Would you read a book that was composed of words, sentences, and passages that had been randomly picked and sorted from 1,000,000 different books, poems, billboards, newspapers, and magazines? Probably not. Cunningham’s work is a bit more complex than that, but the audience’s reaction is about the same. If you want to try and find a meaning or reason to the randomly sorted words, sentences, and passages, go for it! But that’s not to say that you will find any, for the reality is that the book is completely random!

To put it simply, I truly appreciate and respect everything that Cunningham did for the dance and art world. I believe anyone who gets the chance should go see the company before the end of their legacy tour. If nothing else, you will see some amazingly talented dancers. And maybe you will also admire and find value in Cunningham’s “unusual” and innovative take on dance.

—Sarah Carusona

Farewell Merce – You will forever be remembered / Melissa

 
In nearly 60 minutes, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company performed 60 years’ worth of legendary Cunningham technique and choreography. This historical, final tribute to Merce Cunningham’s renowned position in the dance world was nothing less than sensational. As a dancer, I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to witness the last production of one of the most iconic individuals in dance history. In all honesty, I wasn’t completely sure what to expect from this performance. Therefore, I decided to attend the performance with an open mind—which is certainly what Merce consistently encouraged his audience members to do. Because I have studied Merce Cunningham in some of my previous classes, I had somewhat of an idea of what the repertory would be like; however, with the MCDC on stage, no one can ever know what to expect.   

Tuesday night’s show was no ordinary dance performance. The MCDC yet again distinguished itself from all dance companies across the nation. Not many dance companies out there have the Director of Choreography perform alongside the other dancers or have live music inspired by a music legend, John Cage—one of Cunningham’s frequent collaborators. Even more out of the ordinary, no other dance company has attempted to gather 60 minutes worth of choreography and establish the order of which it is performed until the night of the show. Because this whole performance was ultimately left to chance, these dancers followed this criterion as closely and most distinctively as Merce would want it to be. Many of the audience members may have recognized the contrast between the dancers’ facial expressions and their movement. One dancer—Andrea Weber—smiled about half the time she was on stage, appearing as many would say, “not present,” or “in the moment.” As unprofessional this may seem to be for a dance company, Tuesday’s audience members seem to accept it and associate it with Cunningham’s “chance” method. For sixty years, many would attend MCDC performances and anticipate something refreshing and rare. I’d say that the standing ovation at the end of Tuesday’s performance certainly meant that the people of Iowa City recognized the company’s innovation.

Although I haven’t had the privilege of watching Merce on stage, I was able to recognize that every movement was derived from Merce’s incredible movement variations. The choreography was continuously filled with the most abstract lines, facings, and shapes that can only be seen through Cunningham technique. The MCDC members sustained the most controlled and elaborated quality of movement throughout the entire sixty minutes on stage. You would be kidding yourself if you didn’t recognize how impressive these dancers are.

Similar to many dance legends like Martha Graham, Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey, and Erick Hawkins, Merce Cunningham greatly contributed to the development of the most expressive art form in history, modern dance. Merce was extremely gifted in creating the most innovative works in modern dance and showing the world new ways to think. After experiencing my first and last MCDC performance, I feel inspired to follow the same approach to my dance technique and choreography. 

The MCDC may be near the end of their 60-years of performances, but Merce Cunningham and his company’s legacy will undoubtedly live on forever. 

—Melissa Carroll

breathing life into jazz / Andrew

I recently read an article that focused on one man’s aspiration to bring new life and spirit into the jazz scene around New York City. His project involves filming over two hundred gigs in order to show a new crowd of potential jazz enthusiasts it too is a music scene that is always evolving and making way for different sounds and styles that are refreshing and original.

Reading through, it struck me that the scenes of music I’m forever tied with, jazz and classical, have such an unrelenting air of ostentatiousness that it ended up stopping me from pursuing music in college. I’ve played cello from kindergarten through my senior year of high school; I’ve gone through the school orchestra classes, the private lessons, the summer camps, the conference-style competitions, even going as far as auditioning to various schools for cello performance and music composition.

Something I always loved about classical music and jazz is that everything is taken seriously and with consideration: from the score, to the performance, to the interpretation. Because of this formality, there isn’t much leeway in terms of experimentation in sounds, technique, or even simply taste. To play a cover of Metallica was immature, or using a simple scratch of an instrument was considered “avant-garde,” and therefor completely discarded by anyone who doesn’t listen to mid-20th century classical music. My interest in composing for traditional instruments (cello, piano, etc.) and new-age instruments (electric guitar, DJ scratching, etc.) fell short during college auditions because of this formality.

Granted, in post-bop and free-improvisation styled jazz, these styles are taken into account and even relished. Unfortunately, those styles of jazz are considered obscure or unconventional, and are promptly discarded by a large portion of jazz listeners simply because the voices and thoughts may not agree with the old style they’re used to hearing.
 
The reason I bring this up is because there is a new project that I might be a part of: EyeJAZZ. The project aims to use new journalists, from enthusiasts to professionals, to cover jazz using a simple pocket video recorder. The organization posts the YouTube-style videos of jazz life throughout the United States. They encourage their “interns,” so to speak, to find young and vibrant performers still keeping the spirit of jazz alive, the same spirit that made jazz explode in such an unrestrained way that the world loved and encompassed so wholeheartedly.

Exploring jazz and classical in new ways is exciting for me because they are two genres of music that, up until the mid-20th century, were the rock shows of society. People cheered for encores during dance scenes in operas, men bought performers drinks after the concerts, and women swooned over soloists. Coverage on music was predominately done in writing and occasionally on radio. Now, with satellite radio, fios cable, 4G internet, I’ve never been sure why classical music and jazz still stick with writing and radio; it may be the only reason why these music scenes seem so out of touch.

This is why EyeJAZZ exhilarates me. The more projects that breathe life into jazz and classical music, the wider the genres form, the larger the audiences, the more accepting the old world becomes.

Ideally, I’ll be proud to be a part of the EyeJAZZ project; the application process ends February 15th. If I make the cut,  I’ll be able to bring the zest and admiration of the Iowa City jazz scene into to the spotlight, not only for everyone living here, but to the rest of the United States, and perhaps even farther abroad. At least, that’s my goal.

Until next time,
Andrew Alberto Nicolas Deloucas