Role: Performer, Co-facilitator. Description: 30 minute group improvisational performance with live music directed by Carol Dilley. Dilley and I co-facilitated the workshop leading up to this event, which brought together dancers from Seattle and dancers from Maine to perform at Velocity Dance Center in Seattle, Washington.
https://vimeo.com/98107651%20 East/West full video. Please note, this video starts with a 5 minute musical introduction in darkness.
Project Narrative
The performance of the East/West score represented the culmination of a week of collaboration with dancers from Seattle and Maine at the Velocity Dance Center. The week began with a 3 hour workshop that Dilley and I co-facilitated. From this workshop, we drew several dancers into the week-long rehearsal process. The cast was a diverse group of nine performers whose ages ranged from early twenties to early fifties, with most of the performers being mid-career dancer-choreographers in their thirties. We spent five full days rehearsing the performance score under Dilley’s direction. She has been developing the performance score, which is characterized by compositional improvisation punctuated by set movement material, for the past several years. She also welcomed performer input. For example, I taught the group the “Foreword/phase 1″ portion of the Foreword/Afterword score (read more about that score here). Much of the set material in the performance was developed through the this methodology. Similar to Foreword/Afterword, the East/West score illuminates the fuzziness of the line between composition and improvisation.
An important aspect of the performance was the opportunity to share the stage with two highly skilled percussionists: David Reeves and Greg Campbell. The entire downstage left area was littered with percussion instruments ranging from a drum kit to pots and pans, which the percussionists used to improvise over a taped track.
The 30 minute improvisation was the last work in a showcase concert that featured works by the cast, including Dilley and I.
Details
Dance score by Carol Dilley and dancers
Music: David Reeves with Greg Campbell
Performers: Rachel Boggia, Greg Campbell, Jessica Chung, Carol Dilley, Kristin Hapke, Ari Kaufman, Chris McCallister, Kathryn Padberg, David Reeves, Meredith Sallee, Drew Santoro
Funded with support from Bates College
Lighting: Evan Anderson
Videography: JazzyPhoto.com
Performance
East West A Bicoastal Collaboration. Velocity Dance Center. Seattle, Washington. June 8, 2014.
Rachel Boggia 