Dance Exchange on the road

We've moved!

2010-09-27T19:43:00.005-05:00

You can now find the Dance Exchange blog on our website, www.danceexchange.org. Visit the blog to find past posts from "DX on the road", as well as posts from Liz Lerman and communications manager Emily Macel. Thanks for reading!

"The Matter of Origins" Opened Last Night!

2010-09-09T22:56:00.018-05:00

And the University of Maryland's campus newspaper has an article about it. Check out what The Diamondback is saying about The Matter of Origins:

"'This kind of investment in creation is exactly what a research university does', said Paul Brohan, director of artistic initiatives at CSPAC, calling Lerman 'wide-thinking' by noting her credentials in performance and academics....

'You're gonna be thinking and feeling and wondering and seeing,' Lerman said. 'And then you get some chocolate cake. It sounds like a great night to me!'"

(Article by Andrew Freedman, Photo: Dance Exchange company member Sarah Levitt, by Jaclyn Borowski/The Diamondback)

"The Matter of Origins" in Gazette.Net!

2010-09-09T15:05:00.015-05:00

In less than 24 hours, the curtain will rise on The Matter of Origins. Research and development spanned three years and carried Liz Lerman as far as Switzerland, where she met physicists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

But Gazette.Net looks at the premiere's smaller, more personal side. Read Dennis Carter's article, and find out why Lerman says the show's got "an interesting sub-story."

(Pictured from left to right: Dance Exchange company members Ben Wegman and Thomas Dwyer. Photo by Leah L. Jones/The Gazette.)

"The Matter of Origins" Featured in Sunday's Washington Post!

2010-09-04T19:00:00.031-05:00

In the Post today, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange's own Ben Wegman talks about The Matter of Origins world premiere, which is inspired by physics:

"'It's incredibly dense material,' says Benjamin Wegman, one of the dancers who accompanied Lerman on her trip to Switzerland, who describes the immense scale of the CERN collider and the whole complex there as 'like you're in a Will Smith science fiction movie.' After all the thinking and discussing and rehearsing, though, he says he's come to appreciate what he calls 'the beauty' of physics.

'We see it as very dry, basic math,' Wegman says, but for physicists, the math is a language. 'The math is the purest form that they can understand things in. And it's like the world is just a translation for all these things they're thinking.'"

When I see the photo above (Wegman with dancer Paloma McGregor), I think about the language of movement. Check out Astrid Riecken's other photos, read the rest of Sarah Kaufman's article, and watch the Dance Exchange artists speak with their bodies during their September 10 and 12 premiere!

True Life: I'm a Liz Lerman Rehearsal Assistant

2010-09-04T16:55:00.021-05:00

See that photo? It's a bit how I felt the other day, whirling to keep up with the notes Liz Lerman threw my way during The Matter of Origins tech rehearsal. Eleven pages, many asterisks (*), and a few hieroglyphics later, I'm happy to report that Lerman deciphered my writing.

What a treat to hear her think out loud: "Yes, Sarah!" when Levitt nailed the choreography, "...not sure about the bubbles here...ohh, scary...what is the relationship between Tamara, Thomas, and Ted...." (TA, TD, and T for short.)

As Lerman works with designers to refine the show, I anticipate what will surely be an incredible event. If you haven't yet, order your tickets today!

Email from the road

2010-08-31T06:36:00.010-05:00

At James Madison University last week, Elizabeth Johnson and her team of Dance Exchange alums and adjunct artists created a DNA dance for the incoming freshman class of 4000 to link to their year-long study of the connections between science and art. During the residency, EJ sent an email to the company describing the experience:

Hey DX,
Thanks for the thoughts yesterday. We felt the love.

It was truly....wow. I am next to Wayles [Haynes]...and she says “transformational.” It was impressive to see the amazing power of all those people moving. We were awe-struck with the amount of participation and energy. Their gratitude was palpable. Visually arresting. They couldn’t stop dancing after the event was over. We will share the video.

Our team was incredible. They came in prepared to learn and to lead. [DX] alums Michelle [Pearson] and Gesel [Mason], working the bullhorns in the lower half of the quad and fixing some communication issues for the second round. They are incredible facilitators and Ralph [Glenmore] and Ronya-Lee [Anderson] each led hundreds of people in their teams too. Ronya-Lee says it was “exhilarating” and “memorable” and “hopeful to see many people rally around one thing.” Meghan [Bowden] had her own quadrant of 500 people. I personally thank Wayles and Meghan for putting the fun factor in this plan. Vincent [Thomas] helped to make a plan that was organized and efficient. Daniel [Zook] and Sam [Speis] worked the A team. [Daniel] was BEAUTIFUL and so very himself. A student said in his southern accent “that boy can DANCE.”

Onward, gotta run!
EJ

Read more about JMU's DNA dance and see the full video of the performance here.

JMU freshman performing their DNA dance

Photo by Diane Elliot

How do you get 4000 freshman to dance?

2010-08-29T00:10:00.005-05:00

...You send Elizabeth Johnson and a team of Dance Exchange adjunct artists to James Madison University's freshman orientation! The incoming class spent their summer reading The DNA Age by Amy Harmon, and EJ's task was to help them put what they'd learned about issues surrounding genetics into their bodies, and create a dance that the whole class could do together. 4000 freshman came together on JMU's quad to perform the dance they created. Here is a video of student reactions to the experience:

Tea intensive

2010-08-28T22:23:00.003-05:00

The second act of The Matter of Origins is a chance for the audience, dancers and physicists to come together to share tea and conversation. Why tea? Edith Warner ran a small tea house in Los Alamos in the 1940s when scientists like Niels Bohr and Robert Oppenheimer were up the road developing the atomic bomb. Bohr, Oppenheimer, and other scientists frequented Edith's tea house for dinner and a slice of her famous chocolate cake.

In addition to the company members that will be performing in our three tea rooms, fifty local dancers and students from the University of Maryland will be serving tea and dancing with us. Here is video from our rehearsal over three days in August:

Get your tickets for the premiere! Buy online or called 301-405-ARTS.

In case you missed it

2010-08-21T21:54:00.003-05:00

We are deeply embedded in the world of Origins right now, but I thought I would resurface for a moment to revisit our time dancing on concrete just a short month ago in garage/dances. We performed two sold-out shows at a parking garage in Adams Morgan as a part of the Capitol Fringe Festival. Here is the last part of the show, featuring company members and our Summer Institute participants...enjoy!

DX at AAHSA

2010-08-10T08:32:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, company member Shula Strassfeld and adjunct artist Michelle Pearson led a workshop at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging conference in Minneapolis, MN. Conference attendee Ancel Romero blogged about his experience in the workshop:

I looked around me and saw peers stepping out of their comfort zones, expressing themselves in ways they perhaps had not done before. I saw from without, but they, like me, were gifted with that rare opportunity to also see within. We danced like we never danced before.

Read his entry about the workshop and the conference here.

"Origins" residency in the form of an equation

2010-08-01T10:10:00.009-05:00

[(10 dancers + 8 designers) x (2 fire drills) + (20 dorm rooms) + (10 trips to Whole Foods) + (1 76th birthday) + (5 tea cups) + ("1 ton of pitchblende") - (1 visit to the massage therapist/1 visit to the acupuncturist) x [(new) set + music + costumes + text + video + movement] x ( ) ] / (5 days) =

1 Dance Exchange creative residency at Montclair State University

Costume pieces

More costume pieces

Ami gets ready for photo call

Photo call: John Borstel and Ben Wegman

An evening out in downtown Montclair

A big thank you to everyone at the Alexander Kasser Theater at MSU for making our week run so smoothly. We can't wait to be back next spring. And now: company vacation! We'll see you in a week...

Kasser Theater, Montclair NJ

2010-07-26T22:12:00.008-05:00

This week Dance Exchange is at Montclair State University to spend a week onstage in the Kasser Theatre with "The Matter of Origins". Our full production team is here and we'll spend a lot of the week working on our technical elements. While the dancers are perfecting choreography the design team will be adding video, sound, lights, and starting to look at costumes. We also have our beautiful set for the first time.

The Production Team and Liz working out the details.

Lighting and scenic designer Michael Mazzola & Production Manager Amelia Cox working with the scenery.

Rehearsal at UMD

2010-07-23T21:18:00.006-05:00

Warming up yesterday afternoon in the Kay Theatre at University of Maryland

Photo by Ben Wegman

Robots, etc.

2010-07-22T18:20:00.000-05:00

Why were these objects in the room yesterday? All I can say is that we're back in "Origins" rehearsals and coming at our subject matter from every angle. Read more about the project here. And see it September 10 and 12 at the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Center!

Dancing in garages

2010-07-20T13:37:00.015-05:00

Last weekend, the company and 23 Summer Institute participants performed "garage/dances", a site-specific work created at a parking garage in Adams Morgan and our studios in Takoma Park. Our audiences and participants withstood the 90+ degree heat to see and perform dances in and on cars, against walls, down ramps and over balconies. Read the reviews here and here, and take a look at the pictures below. (All photos by John Borstel).

Defined spaces

2010-07-08T11:34:00.010-05:00

Today we had our first rehearsal in the parking garage we'll be performing in next weekend. I love seeing a performance space for the first time, whether it's a theater, garage, hotel ballroom, whatever--so much possibility exists in that first visual experience of a place before the physical ones begin. We learned today what works and what doesn't in this space, and I'm struck by how simple structures (like canons and lines) become so charged in defined spaces. Here are some pictures from the past few days:

In the studio

Bulking the image

Planning

Keith and the group

Rehearsal in the garage

Summer Institute 2010!

2010-07-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

Our Summer Institute kicked off yesterday with a sampler class. We started things with a DX classic, Blind Lead, and then moved through improv structures, strengthening exercises, and combinations lead by different company members. Adjunct artist Keith Thompson taught his (fierce) phrase to the group and leads them through it in the video below.

We are working toward a performance on July 16-17 in a parking garage in Adams Morgan which means we pack in enough information in one day to make it feel like three. Already after one day, we have enough material to make and craft a solid piece. But--we're back to it tomorrow to continue to vary and develop our material and see where it leads us.

Takoma Park 4th of July

2010-07-05T12:24:00.008-05:00

One of the things I've really loved about coming to work at Dance Exchange has been getting to know Takoma Park, which is a beautiful neighborhood right outside of DC and is the home of the company. This year, many of us celebrated the 4th of July in part by attending the Takoma Park 4th of July parade! Takoma Park actually has one of the oldest Independence Day celebrations along the Atlantic Coast and this year was the 121st annual event.
Community spirit was high and we cheered on Dance Exchange partners Impact Silver Spring and Washington Adventist Hospital as they marched in the parade.

A group of young activists at Piney Branch Elementary School is trying to get a dishwasher in their school cafeteria so they don't have to use styrofoam trays. Their supporters had a large parade presence!

Marchers from a local dog training school.

The parade passes right in front of Dance Exchange. Takoma Park Council Member Josh Wright rode his bicycle in the parade.

Company members Ben Wegman and Shula Strassfeld (with Bashie) take in the Takoma Park 4th of July parade!

Social

2010-06-30T21:11:00.007-05:00

Tonight, Ben, Emily, Ellen and I went out to the Dance/MetroDC year-end party at The Passenger just outside Gallery Place in DC. We got a chance to catch up with our friends in the dance world here, and learn about Dance/MetroDC's plans for the coming season. I'm excited for the "Should I Quit My Day Job?" Dance Offs in which D/MDC will pair professional choreographers with groups of non-dancers who'd like to try their hand at dancing and performing. The winning group will perform at the Dance Awards in October. Can't wait!

Company member Ben Wegman and Dance/MetroDC director (and former DXer) Peter DiMuro catch up

Peter and DX Projects Coordinator Ellen Chenoweth take in the scene

Headed out: Ellen, choreographer Kelly Bond, and Ben

Last week at St. John's

2010-06-30T10:41:00.002-05:00

Michelle, Thomas and I spent last week at St. John's on the Lake in Milwaukee, WI. We made small group dances to finish of our week together...

Tools for Health in Milwaukee

2010-06-22T20:32:00.003-05:00

This week, Michelle, Thomas and I are in residence at St. John's on the Lake in Milwaukee, WI. We've just wrapped up a two-day Tools for Health training with local dancers and health care workers, and tomorrow we begin working with a group of residents to create a short piece for a showing on Friday. We're also documenting the whole process in collaboration with a videographer, so you can expect to see clips from that later this summer.

In addition to learning Dance Exchange tools and methods for generating and crafting movement, the participants shared their own practices when working with seniors with varying cognitive and physical abilities, crafted dances, developed potential workshops for their constituents, and participated in two Dance Exchange-led workshops with residents at St. John's. A number of issues emerged around how we talk about what we do: we're not dance therapists, but the impact of our work as artists can have a therapeutic effect, and can have an impact on clinical goals. How do we document goals met and provide evidence for our other artists and health care providers? A new dance, an article, clinical assessments with residents, participant writings, blogging, video--there are many ways and we're finding more.

In the spirit of finding multiple outcomes in this kind of work: We had each of our participants fill out pre- and post-assessment forms about their experience in the training. One of our participants, an Occupational Therapist, told us that on her pre-assessment form, she circled "1" in response to the question "Do you consider yourself a dancer?" On her post-assessment form, she circled "4".

If you are interested in learning more about Tools for Health or attending a future training, please email Dorothy Williams, Partnerships Manager: dorothyATdanceexchange.org.

Plan it.

2010-06-16T20:59:00.006-05:00

Today Thomas, Martha, Shula, Cassie, Ben and I had a planning meeting/rehearsal for our upcoming Summer Institute. The culmination of our institute will be a performance in a parking garage in Adams Morgan, so we started playing with the cars in our parking lot at DX for ideas.

Check out the performances featuring DX company and Summer Institute participants on July 16-17...more details coming soon!

Day o' meetings

2010-06-16T06:22:00.000-05:00

Meet the DX: Ben

2010-06-04T09:17:00.017-05:00

Company member Ben Wegman grew up in Normal, Illinois and trained at the Joffrey Ballet and Point Park University. He joined the Dance Exchange in 2007 after spending a few years as an adjunct artist. You can see him dance in the premiere of Liz Lerman's The Matter of Origins in September at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Talk a bit about your dance background.

I grew up as an incredibly active kid. When I wasn’t tearing through the neighborhood at full speed, I was playing soccer, taking tae kwon do, taking tap and gymnastics, performing in my church musicals, etc. Dance has always been a part of my life, but I really began to take it more seriously my last two years of high school. I began to approach ballet very seriously, and for a long time thought it would be the focus of my dance career. Thankfully some mishaps with the Joffrey Ballet led me to realize that my strengths were best focused elsewhere.

How did you come to Dance Exchange?

I met the Dance Exchange during my time as a student at the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University. Peter DiMuro, one of the former producing artistic directors of the company, made a new work with several students selected through an audition process. Working with Peter and the tools of the Dance Exchange I was exposed to methods of creation and choreography I had never even imagined. It was the first time that my voice and ideas were an integral part of creating something within a group. I had never worked so collaboratively or so intensely with a group of people in my life to make a work of art.

Do you have a favorite moment on tour or in rehearsal?

Being in Japan was a highlight of my time with the Dance Exchange. I was incredibly moved by the culture, tradition, work ethic and generosity of the people there. It was one of the only times in my life when I had to solely rely on my art and creative process to translate ideas; there was very little shared spoken language among myself and the participants. It was a struggle and also a joy to watch dance be both personal and universal simultaneously through creation of a new dance work with that community. It was also one of the first opportunities for me to flex my leadership muscles and I learned a great deal about myself and my capacity as an artist/teacher/facilitator. It is a time in my life that I hold very closely to my heart.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?

I wouldn’t say that I have a specific pre-show ritual, but I become a very specific person before shows. I used to go really crazy before shows - be very physical, warm up for hours, expend a lot of energy in the hopes of warming up my body and getting myself excited, but I’ve found that the older I get and the less physical work I do right before I perform, the better. I tend to be very quiet before I perform, very reflective. Pre-performance time is a time to center myself emotionally, physically, mentally. I find myself in deep self-dialogue before shows; you could almost say in a meditative state. It’s these moments when I have to push the rest of myself aside, and place my faith and trust in my physical being, in my training, in the knowledge that my structure holds, in all the work and study I’ve done over the years.

What is up next for you with Dance Exchange?

A lot. I just finished a residency in Lawrence, Kansas at the Lawrence Arts Center teaching modern technique and choreographic tools. The rest of the year will find me creating and teaching at our Summer Institute, preparing for the world premiere of Liz Lerman’s The Matter of Origin s in September, touring throughout the fall, creating new works with students at Dickinson State University in Dickinson, North Dakota and students at University of Maryland and beginning to work with the Minnesota Chorale in Minneapolis to design a concert of dance, movement, and song with a mixed abilities cast.

What would you do if you weren't dancing?

If I wasn’t dancing, I would probably be working/studying within the visual art world curating and presenting. I have a strong interest in how we foster new art as well as represent and make apparent what has come before. I’m interested in how art speaks across time, culture and language and how that dialogue changes as our society evolves.

What do you do when you're not in rehearsals?

Well, I don’t think I’m ever not in rehearsal honestly. I think as long as I continue to dance, I’ll be in some form of rehearsal. My body and mind seem to be in a constant state of discovery and collaboration, be it in the studio or sitting at a coffee shop. Sometimes I feel like my entire world revolves around the discoveries of my physical structure; I just can’t shut it off.

But, when I’m not in the studio, I like to read. I’ve recently rediscovered bikram yoga and find immense strength in the practice of that. I tend to drink too much coffee and spend too much time on facebook as a hobby. I like to provide conversation and company while my friends cook, since I’m probably the worst cook ever but the perfect dinner guest. I enjoy foreign films and old movies. I am fed and nurtured by the Smithsonians and art galleries around DC, the Hirshhorn being a particularly favorite spot of mine.

You almost always have a book on you at Dance Exchange. What are you reading right now?

I’m never just reading one thing – I’m currently downing 5 back issues of the New Yorker, the new anthology of Kay Ryan’s poetry, the fourth section of Roberto Bolano’s 2666, and William T. Vollmann’s Kissing the Mask.

Photos: Ben in rehearsal in Portlaoise, Ireland in 2008 (Photo by Jori Ketten) / Ben with two community participants in Sheboygan, WI (Photo by Sarah Levitt) / Ben performing Keith Thompson's work, Blueprints of Relentless Nature (Photo by John Borstel)

Cassie featured in July's Dance Magazine

2010-06-04T08:41:00.006-05:00

Company member Cassie Meador is featured in this month's Dance Magazine! She wrote an article for their "Why I Dance" section:

"Rather than spending hours trying to move like others in a ballet class, I attempted to move like the things I observed in my environment: the resilient squirrels in my yard, the way the magnolia trees bent down during a storm, the walking ritual my 88-year-old neighbor took to the edge of her drive each day, and the speed of land being cleared along the Savannah River. It was these tiny and grand expressions that I hungered to dance about."

Read the full article here.

Constant Preparation

2010-05-27T18:26:00.005-05:00

Though it appears quiet at the studios this week with the company on a much-deserved vacation, there’s actually a constant undercurrent of preparation for Liz Lerman’s new piece, The Matter of Origins. Behind the scenes, it takes a lot of people to make the vision of a dance into reality: people to design the set, the lighting, the video, the costumes, the sound; someone to help with historical facts and help shape the piece; people to actually build the set and make the costumes; various managers to keep rehearsals, performances and schedules running smoothly; and a crew to operate everything in each theatre we visit.

All these people have lots of meetings and need to talk to each other constantly about how the final piece should look, sound, and feel. Over time, and through many phone calls and emails, bits and pieces emerge. Each time we rehearse we come away with more – music or text that we really like, stunning video sequences, choreography we know involves eight stools and two chairs that will need to be designed and built... The whole process is truly a collaborative effort.

This week has provided a good opportunity to organize DVDs of rehearsal footage and paint the cubes that are part of the set. We're grateful to have the time to do these things now, because come the middle of July, The Matter of Origins is going to kick into high gear and barrel along at warp speed until we reach the premiere at the University of Maryland on September 10 and 12.

Community Forum with Washington Adventist Health

2010-05-19T21:00:00.005-05:00

Tonight we had 15 members from community organizations in the metro DC area come to a forum to contribute their ideas for Washington Adventist Hospital's proposed Center for Spiritual Life and Healing. No better way to discuss the integration of body, mind and spirit than to use them together with the help of some DX classic tools: Blind Lead and Build A Phrase. To learn more about these tools visit www.danceexchange.org and click on TOOLBOX.

What we did in Sheboygan

2010-05-18T10:04:00.002-05:00

Here is the five-minute introduction created by Dan Klopp of Keyhole Films for the community work we created at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in February and March of this year. Enjoy!

Sore and happy.

2010-05-17T15:08:00.004-05:00

A big big big thank you to everyone who made the trek to Olney Theatre this weekend to see New Works/New Voices. We had a great show--incredible performances by the company and the community participants who made an appearance in the final piece of the evening, Still Crossing. AND we had a lovely party for our cast, audience, board members and sponsors after the show!

We're on a break from rehearsals now until June, but we'll be posting periodically about what we're up to until then. Coming up in June: rehearsals for Martha's work Wind Studies, Liz's work Nocturnes, a residency at a retirement community in Milwaukee, and preparation for our Summer Institute in July.

Tonight!

2010-05-15T10:47:00.003-05:00

New Works/New Voices is tonight at 7pm at the Olney Theatre Center in Olney, MD. If you haven't purchased your ticket yet, you can get it here, or by calling the box office: 301-924-3400. Join us after the show for a reception with the company and community participants. See you tonight!

Community participants rehearse Liz Lerman's Still Crossing at last night's dress rehearsal

Read all about it.

2010-05-14T09:06:00.003-05:00

Cassie, Keith, and EJ talked to the Gazette last week about the variety of rep in our show on Saturday at Olney Theatre. Read the full article here, then buy your tickets to the show here. We'll see you Saturday!

The company in Cassie Meador's Drift

Photo by John Machtig

Preparation...

2010-05-13T22:38:00.003-05:00

for a long day in the theatre: pears, kombucha, yogurt, croissants, mango-orange smoothie

From the wings

2010-05-13T08:51:00.003-05:00

Last night at tech rehearsal for Still Crossing

Do you have your tickets for New Works/New Voices yet? Get them here.

Blueprints preview

2010-05-11T15:52:00.003-05:00

A short clip of Keith Thompson's Blueprints of Relentless Nature. We'll be performing the full work in New Works/New Voices at Olney Theatre this Saturday at 7pm. Get your tickets here.

What we do on the weekends

2010-05-09T16:18:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, we perform to packed houses in huge theaters. Sometimes, we perform on pavement at a farmer's market for an audience that isn't quite sure why we're dancing between the produce stands. Last Saturday was the first dance event at the Arlington Farmers Market and we had such a great time performing excerpts from Cassie's piece Drift. Here you'll see Ben and I living out some of our "I wish my life was a musical" fantasies. (Note: the cart doesn't usually fall over.)

You can see a 20 minute excerpt from Drift in New Works/New Voices at the Olney Theatre on Saturday, May 15 at 7pm.

Meet the DX: Shula

2010-05-06T12:15:00.011-05:00

Shula Strassfeld packed up her life in Toronto in 2007 and moved to DC to join the Dance Exchange. In addition to performing with the company, Shula is very involved in our work combining dance and spiritual practice. I caught up with her this morning before rehearsal.

Talk a little bit about your dance background.

I didn't start dancing until college--no one believes it. I had always wanted to dance. Then I was in Boston, taking the GREs, and we had a lunch break during the test. I walked past the Capezio store in Harvard Square and went in, bought a leotard and tights, and didn't go back for the last half of the test. I just thought: I want to try dancing, and if I don't do it now, I'll never do it.

When did you first meet the Dance Exchange?

I took a workshop with the Dance Exchange when they came to Toronto in the mid 90's. I'd known about the company for...forever, I think! My first real interaction with them was at their New York audition in 2005.

What do you remember about the audition?

It was great! I walked up and down the street in front of the Ailey Studios for about twenty minutes before I got up the courage to walk in the door. Matt, Martha, and Peter ran the audition and we had a really good time for a couple of hours. I was quite shocked when I got called back. It was the most enjoyable audition I'd ever done--everyone was so nice!

What was your first performance with the Dance Exchange?

I danced in the 30th Anniversary concert at the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Center in 2006.

Do you have a favorite moment from a performance or residency?

One of the first community residencies I did was in Japan. There was a man in the group who was in a wheelchair. His speech was very hard to understand. Very limited mobility. We got a sense that he was very smart, but he couldn't hold on to the sequence [of movements]. I did a duet with him in the show, and I had to keep coaching him when the audience couldn't see. Afterwards, he had someone write a letter for him about the experience. It was read at our closing circle and had everyone in tears. It was the first time in his life he was noticed. He was really recognized as a human being--so incredible.

What is your favorite place you've visited on tour?

All of them! Well, not all of them--most of them! I really loved both of the Japan trips. Ireland was gorgeous. Lawrence, Kansas, all of all places! There is so much wonderful community that happens among the company when we go places. Arriving in Indiana in that limo! And Arizona was wonderful, too. It's a great life!

You do a lot of work combining dance and spiritual practice, like teaching a weekly Hebrew School class at Temple Mica using Dance Exchange methods. What does it mean to be able to do this kind of work?
Mostly it just means I feel whole. I don't have to compartmentalize my life and keep dance in one place and spirituality in another.

You are known for your collection of sweaters. My personal favorite is the blue one with the different kinds of dogs on it. How many sweaters do you have?

You have to understand that I come from a place where for at least half the year, you wear three sweaters layered on top of each other! I have two drawers full and one shelf in my closet. If I see a really nice sweater, I have to have it. I'm not that way with any type of clothing except sweaters.

You can see Shula dance in New Works/New Voices at the Olney Theater on May 15th at 7pm.

Photos: Shula in Liz Lerman's Darwin's Wife at the Corcoran Gallery of Art

Shula enjoying a crepe on tour in Dublin, Ireland

Behind the scenes

2010-05-04T20:49:00.010-05:00

Trying on costumes for Still Crossing...and still dancing.

Taking it back.

2010-05-03T22:12:00.003-05:00

We started learning Liz's work Still Crossing today. Our cast features 4 "olders", 6 "youngers" and community participants. We'll be posting pictures and video from rehearsal tomorrow, but to further familiarize you with the piece, here is the New York Times review of the 1986 premiere in New York.

Cassie studying Still Crossing video in rehearsal today

New Works/New Voices at Olney Theater Center

2010-05-02T16:03:00.008-05:00

On Saturday, May 15th at 7pm, the Dance Exchange will perform in Olney, MD at the Historic Olney Theater. New Works/New Voices will feature excerpts from Cassie Meador's Drift and her brand new work-in-process called How to Lose a Mountain, alongside Keith Thompson's Blueprints of Relentless Nature and Liz Lerman's Still Crossing, originally choreographed for the centennial of the Statue of Liberty. This classic work from 1986 will hit the stage for the first time in four years featuring movers from throughout the metro area. Also on the program: a sneak preview of Liz's newest work, The Matter of Origins. Get your tickets here.

Dancers in Keith Thompson's Blueprints of Relentless Nature

Photo by Jeff Machtig, John Michael Kohler Arts Center

Today at the Arlington Farmers Market

2010-05-01T17:27:00.006-05:00

Just a few pictures from our performance of Drift excerpts at the Arlington Farmers Market this morning. We had a great time dancing in the sun!

Martha and Thomas relax in the shade before our first performance

Set up for the table scene

Students participating in DX's partnership with Through the Kitchen Door pose with Drift choreographer Cassie Meador and adjunct artist Wayles Haynes

Working on duets

2010-04-30T21:03:00.001-05:00

Something we do a lot of in rehearsal is generate movement from a particular assignment or idea, learn material created by someone else in the room or teach our own, and then manipulate that material in some way. In Origins rehearsal on Thursday, Liz paired dancers together to make new duets. In each pair was one dancer who knew a phrase created by Ben, and one dancer who knew a different phrase created by Ben. The dancers could use the material as they liked, but were asked to start offstage and travel into the space. Here you'll see four very different results...

"Drift" at Arlington Farmers Market

2010-04-29T19:21:00.006-05:00

This Saturday, head out to the Arlington Farmers Market to catch excerpts of Cassie Meador's Drift. Thomas, Martha, Ben and I will perform at 9, 10, and 11am. It's going to be a beautiful day on Saturday--we hope to see you there!

Newsletter = whirligig

2010-04-29T12:40:00.016-05:00

This week we mailed out our spring newsletters, chock full of stories about the work we’ve been performing and creating. The newsletter covers the full range of what we do here at the Dance Exchange--from our residency at Kohler, to the successful partnerships of the MetLife Healthy Living Initiative, to an exclusive excerpt of Liz Lerman’s Hiking the Horizontal, to the excitement surrounding our world premiere of The Matter of Origins this fall at the University of Maryland.

We found a great local printshop called EcoPrint that is 100% wind powered and carbon neutral. The newsletter is already environmentally-friendly, but take it a step further. When you’re finished enjoying the stories in print, turn it into a whirling work of art!

--Emily Macel, Communications Manager

(Didn’t get a copy of the newsletter? Check out the digital version here.)

HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR NEWSLETTER INTO A WHIRLIGIG

Step 1: Cut a square from the first page of the newsletter. To do this, fold the front right corner to the bottom left-hand side to make a triangle. Cut the newsletter along the seam, and then cut the extra 2 inches off the bottom. Now you have a square!

Step 2: Fold the square diagonally to opposite corners to create two creases. Open the paper back up to a square shape.

Step 3: Cut from each corner towards the center, stopping about an inch before you reach the center.

Step 4: Fold the corners into the center, holding them with a finger until four corners are in the center.

Step 5: using a push pin and a pencil with an eraser, carefully push the pushpin through the center of the pinwheel (where the corners are being held) and into the pencil’s eraser. Voila! A working whirligig! Take it outside into the wind and watch it work its magic.

Meet CERN

2010-04-28T08:23:00.000-05:00

Liz's research for The Matter of Origins took her to CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland where she (with Creative Producer Amelia Cox, dancer Ben Wegman and videographer Logan Kibbens) toured the facilities and met with scientists. This video serves as a short introduction to a world we are becoming more and more familiar with as we work on the piece.

You can also visit CERNTV's YouTube channel for more videos and frequent updates about the LHC.

Back at it

2010-04-27T21:14:00.003-05:00

Liz's new piece, The Matter of Origins, will premiere in September at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. We've been working on the piece for over two years now, and are currently in the midst of a two-week long stretch of rehearsals at our studios in Takoma Park. Last week, we spent a few days working on the second act of the show, which will take place in three different theaters within the arts center. In each room, we'll be hosting a tea in which audience members, performers, and scientists interact. What does this mean? Well, we're still figuring it out....but we're excited by what came up in rehearsal this week. We begin with Ben giving us "the rules" of tea, then we'll see Ted in bed, and end with Keith and Ben working on a phrase for our tea tables.

Catching up with "Mountain"

2010-04-25T15:03:00.006-05:00

On April 6th, we presented an excerpt from Cassie's new work "How to Lose a Mountain" as a part of Dance Conversations at the Flea in New York City. Cassie, Ben, Thomas and I drove up to New York on Tuesday morning, performed that evening, and then Ben, Thomas and Cassie were lucky enough to be stranded in New York (due to a series of events in which our car got stuck in a parking lot for the night) at the home of writer and DX friend Bruce Frankel, who graciously put the dancers up and even provided pizza. You can read Bruce's impressions of the performance on his blog. Just scroll down to the April 7th entry.

Photo by John Borstel

Liz at Harvard

2010-03-19T07:56:00.005-06:00

The company is constantly spread out across the states and world doing work simultaneously nowadays. While we were in residence at the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Liz gave a talk at Harvard on the meeting of science and art. Liz was said to have spoken, "emphatically and elegantly about the position of art in society and has inspired countless dancers, scientists and layman with her passion." You can read more about her talk here.

Dance matters

2010-03-14T21:22:00.003-06:00

After three amazing PACKED performances, we said goodbye to our community cast over an ice cream social wrap-up party. Every single member of our cast (all 57 of them!) brought an incredible focus and energy to these performances. As we said our goodbyes and traded hugs, I was reminded of the incredible power of the artistic process - the friendships formed over cultures and generations, the discipline and rigor learned, the confidence gained by old and young, and the stories shared. Here is Sarah and one our youngest cast members, Andrea, sharing a final goodbye hug.

Opening night!

2010-03-13T09:25:00.008-06:00

Last night, we had our first performance of Language from the Land at Kohler Arts Center. It was the first time our whole cast of 57 (+ company) was together in one place, and the first time we ran the full show. Our cast danced beautifully! It was wonderful to see each person really shine and share their hard work over the past three weeks with the audience. And we get to do it again tonight! Here are a few scenes from last night:

Prop table: full of books and whirligigs

Participants Wendy, Keely, Linda, Cherie, Wendy, Sue and Gloria pose in costume before the show

Show order: posted everywhere!

Practicing our bow before last night's show

Day in the life

2010-03-12T08:02:00.008-06:00

A little glimpse into our day on Thursday, March 11...

9:00 am Cassie, Ben, and Sarah meet over breakfast at Field to Fork to plan the day and catch up on Dance Exchange business back home.

11:00am Cassie, Ben, Sarah, Martha and Meg meet at Kohler to make final changes to Martha's text.

1:30pm Company rehearsal to solidify company sections, work with the set, look at transitions, and experiment with possible shifts in show order.

5:00pm Community cast arrives and the night begins with working sections that need to be finished or changed.

6:00pm Stumble-through begins. Here is a short clip of the Carpenter's section from the run:

10:00pm Finish stumble-through and release community. We made it almost all the way through the piece! Production meeting starts.

11:30pm Head home to rest up for opening night!

Photo of the day

2010-03-11T07:47:00.003-06:00

Thomas (pictured below with Cassie) tries on a paper coat for the piece. It was modeled after John Muir's coat, and was made by attaching pages from books to a blazer. It looked great on Thomas, but unfortunately its not quite right for the piece. We've had to let go of a number of ideas and sections we created as we start to put the piece together, but often the ideas we let go of are the ones that reemerge in different places. I have a feeling this coat will make an appearance in something we do down the line--I'd love to see Thomas do a solo in the coat because of the different quality the stiff paper gives his movement.

Make it work

2010-03-11T07:27:00.007-06:00

Tech week. Since Monday, we've been editing sound, editing voiceovers, editing text, editing audio interviews, editing movement, and putting the pieces of the show together in rehearsal. We're not quite done, but we're close, and we'll learn a lot about what's working and what's not from our dress rehearsal tonight.

In the show, Ben and I dance a duet to a song called "Wonderful Town, Sheboygan, Wisconsin" that we found while researching Sheboygan history. Have a listen here.

The evolution of a kite

2010-03-07T01:11:00.009-06:00

Billy, one of our partners from the carpenters' union, shows us a design for our "mock" kite idea.

Cassie experiments with our first "mock" kite in rehearsal.

We spend a Saturday night, frantically following directions from an IPhone to find a fabric store in Sheboygan. We make it just before closing.

We search through rows and rows of fabric until we land on these three prints.

Stay tuned for finished kites!

Late night work session

2010-03-06T23:05:00.003-06:00

11:05pm: Editing sound

Bright and early

2010-03-06T07:28:00.003-06:00

Good morning, Sheboygan! On the schedule today: a rehearsal block this morning, this afternoon, and then a potluck with our community participants and the Carpenters Union. I know I am definitely looking forward to a shorter work day and getting to spend time with our participants outside of rehearsal.

Yesterday, Willa, a participant in the project, and Bronwyn, a Kohler Arts Center staff member, worked on costumes for the piece in the ARTery. I was thrilled to see them take the initial commission from us for paper costumes and inject their own ideas (and design skills!) into the mix. Below, they talk about the process of constructing the costumes. I can't wait to try them in rehearsal!

Let's waltz

2010-03-04T22:27:00.004-06:00

Just a short clip of Ben working with Sue, one of our community participants who teaches ballroom dance in the area. Sue came in earlier in the week to teach waltz and polka steps to some of our participants, and below you'll see her teaching Ben the waltz they'll perform together in the show. AND--you won't hear him in the clip, but we're going to have an accordion player onstage during the show to provide the music for our waltz and polka sections.

Starting the day off right

2010-03-03T23:37:00.007-06:00

Thomas Dwyer, who has been with the Dance Exchange for 22 years, is featured in a new book that comes out today called What Should I Do With the Rest of My Life? True Stories of Finding Success, Passion, and New Meaning in the Second Half of Life. The book, by Bruce Frankel, looks at people who have made big mid-life career changes. Check out the book here, and read an excerpt here. To celebrate the book's release, we took Thomas out to breakfast this morning before rehearsal. Here's the group at Field to Fork:

Rehearsal tonight

2010-03-03T22:31:00.014-06:00

Tonight, we worked on creating more material with books for our sections about John Muir. Ben's group created some "human bookshelf" options:

Earlier today, Ben and I worked with Reilly, one of the youngest members of our cast, to create some structures with the books to help shape the stage space:

Reilly talks a bit about the process of creating his book cover maze:

John Muir

2010-03-02T10:30:00.011-06:00

Every time we embark on a new community project, we like to start by researching anything AND everything we can find out about that community. Our research for Wisconsin led us to John Muir, the author and naturalist. Muir spent much of his young life in Wisconsin studying and writing about the land. Because of his writings, we were led to start thinking about the land surrounding Sheboygan and the participants' relationships with the land.

One idea we are working toward, inspired by Muir, is the use of books throughout the piece. We are hoping that stories, both from participants and from our research, can emerge from these books and help organize the structure of the performance.

To generate material using the books, we set up participants in a structure we like to call "round robin." Participants line up in two straight lines facing each other. One line is the choreographer line, and one line is the dancer line. Each person in the choreographer line makes a movement, using a book, and teaches it to the person in the dancer line across from them. Now that dancer has one movement. We shift the dancer line down and the choreographer line makes a new movement, using the books, for their new dancer. After a couple rounds, the dancer pieces together all the movements they have learned into a phrase. Once the participants in the dancer line have their movement phrases secured, the dancer and choreographer roles are swapped and the entire sequence begins again.

Around Town

2010-02-28T13:38:00.009-06:00

John Michael Kohler Arts Center, our home away from home!

Our favorite restaurant for fresh, locally sourced foods.

This is the perfect place for planning meetings or a quiet retreat.

For an early morning walk, I love the boardwalk along the Sheboygan River.

Marathon dance making

2010-02-26T13:38:00.005-06:00

Often we call large-scale community residencies "marathon dancing making." Once we begin a new residency, it becomes a race to the end creating movement, sharing stories, crafting dances, getting to know different people and groups, finding music, and putting it all together into one beautiful shared performance experience. With such busy schedules, moments for the company to rehearse together become rare and valuable. Here you'll see Thomas, Martha, Sarah and I beginning to get back some new material choreographed by company member, Cassie Meador.

Good morning from Wilson, Wisconsin

2010-02-26T11:20:00.003-06:00

For the duration of the residency, Cassie and I are staying in a house right on Lake Michigan. We fall asleep to the sound of the waves, and wake up to this view every morning:

Extreme balance

2010-02-24T15:15:00.013-06:00

I'm always impressed with how adaptable our tools are in different settings. Yesterday, we spent time at the Hmong Mutual Assistance Association of Sheboygan. We had a room of almost all young men and 1 to 10 was the perfect tool for them. They took the task of making shapes with weight sharing and balance to a whole new level. You can find more info on 1 to 10 in our online toolbox.

Costume ideas

2010-02-21T21:10:00.003-06:00

Started to play with potential costume ideas for the community piece today. I worked on this dress made out of newspaper and pages from an old dictionary during our time in the ARTery this morning. I love the idea of using recycled materials for costumes...

Here we go...

2010-02-20T21:42:00.018-06:00

We had our show at the Kohler Arts Center on Thursday night and it was a huge success. Our audience was wonderful, and all of the dancers (especially our new adjuncts!) performed with confidence and ease. After a well-deserved day off, we returned to the Kohler Arts Center today for our first community workshop. We began in the ARTery with a workshop led by members of the local carpenters union. Under their careful direction, we made pinwheels and kites which will appear in our community performance in mid-March. Later on in the day, we led a community workshop for kids, adults, and seniors. Such a treat to see a wide range of ages dancing together!

Tomorrow: back to the Kohler to build more kites and pinwheels, and to lead another community workshop. Interested in joining us? Stop by the Kohler Center anytime between 11am-3pm for the workshop in the Artery, and then come take our movement workshop in the Matrix at the Center from 1:30-3pm. See you soon!

Show tonight!

2010-02-18T11:58:00.006-06:00

Tonight, we perform at the Kohler Arts Center. On the program: "Sunday Evening" by company member Martha Wittman; Journey by Liz Lerman, Blueprints of Relentless Nature by adjunct artist Keith Thompson, Darwin's Wife by Liz Lerman (performed in the lobby during intermission) and Drift, by company member Cassie Meador. You can read the Sheboygan Press's preview of the show here.

Yesterday afternoon, we performed Drift for a group of local high school students. Adjunct artist Ami Dowden-Fant talks about the experience below.

Epsom salts for the dancers

2010-02-17T07:51:00.000-06:00

Shop the Pig and Save

2010-02-17T07:31:00.000-06:00

Cassie's piece Drift looks at the changes that took place on a particular piece of land in her hometown of Augusta, GA. At one point in history, a Piggly Wiggly grocery store was built on the land, and part of Drift is set in the Piggly Wiggly. So you can imagine how excited we were to get to shop at an actual Piggly Wiggly here in Sheboygan, Wisconsin! Here, company members Martha and Shula smile at the end of their first trip to the Piggly Wiggly.

Get to work!

2010-02-17T07:25:00.002-06:00

We lost a lot of rehearsal time due to the double blizzard of 2010 in DC, so when we arrived in Sheboygan on Sunday, we went right into rehearsal. Here you’ll see part of the company rehearsing a section toward the end of Drift, with choreographer Cassie Meador leading the rehearsal.