Shawl-Anderson Youth Ensemble (Berkeley, CA)
The intersection and interplay with having a company - and teaching and choreographing in the community - are rich and important relationships on many levels. Today let's consider the idea of choreographing on youth ensembles - i.e. teen companies with serious and curious young people.
For the students, it is a wonderful opportunity to be in the studio with a working artist. The students might learn a piece of rep or be a part of the creation of a new work of art. They get a window into the creative process and the varied ways that choreographers work. This plants the seed for a student's relationship with an artist - which hopefully will lead to further training with this artist and attending performances of his/her company.
For choreographers, working with a youth ensemble is another way to explore your process and choreographic inspiration and to build community. It is a win-win from both directions.
Choreographer Jeanine Durning shared this story in her artist profile about a commission with The Wooden Floor and 50 young dancers:
One word is incredible. Really. Just incredible. I have so much to say about The Wooden Floor. The whole thing. The kids. The organization. The artistic director Melanie Rios Glaser. Talk about wearing many hats! That woman is super human! Plus her commitment to these kids and to dance in general is really inspiring. All the mentors. The production director Ben Tusher. My rehearsal assistant Jenn Bassage Bonfil. I actually had a rehearsal assistant!! It took me a while to figure out how to work with her since I’m so used to doing everything myself. But she was amazing, in every way, and we could never have accomplished what we did without her. I had been hearing about The Wooden Floor for years through colleagues who had been invited to make work with them – Susan Rethorst, Chris Yon, Karinne Keithley – and all of them always said how transforming the experience was, and now having done it myself, I can definitely say the same. And Melanie had been asking me for a while before I could coordinate my schedule. Basically the organization serves under privileged youth, low-income, disenfranchised youth through this after school dance program but it’s more holistic than that because they also provide tutoring, and counseling both for the child and the parents, and mentoring. The staff is pretty extensive. It’s basically a second home for these kids – sometimes a primary home. But one of the amazing things is that Melanie curates top notch contemporary choreographers to make work on, with and for these kids. Her perspective is that if they are given the best, and treated with respect and given agency and responsibility, and put under conditions where that is expected of them, then they will rise. So Melanie’s whole M.O. is that she curates choreographers who will collaborate with the kids and make them an essential part of the process, building their creative thinking, problem-solving and collaborative skills. I was really apprehensive at first because I had never worked with anyone younger than college –aged students but I decided I wanted to challenge myself so I asked Melanie to gather a group with a wide age range. I ended up working with 36 kids, ranging from 8 to 18 years old. There was very little movement that the kids themselves didn’t generate. I started with a nonstop moving practice and kind of went from there. It was stressful and a lot to navigate but it also was mysterious how it unfolded and came together. And to me that is the best – when I have no idea how things are happening and working but they are. The amount of determination, drive, and power in these kids is inspiring. And I think because most of them start the program from a young age, their ability to expose themselves, be vulnerable, and just try things was pretty impressive. Also, I had the idea that I wanted to work with a DJ but didn’t know anybody in the LA area and was connected to this amazing composer/musician/producer Alejandro Cohen who ended up playing live onstage. Our collaboration was really fluid, very easy, very exciting. I just lucked out all the way around with that gig!
Youth ensembles, with a modern focus, are popping up throughout the United States. Please leave a comment below if you would like to mention an organization. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, four strong ensembles are worth investigating: the ODC Dance Jam, Roco's Body Language Company, Destiny Arts Center, and the Shawl-Anderson Youth Ensemble.
On May 7, 2016, there is a unique opportunity to see the Shawl-Anderson Youth Ensemble perform at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. The choreographers working with the students will perform on the same bill as the Youth Ensemble. The evening offers a fresh opportunity to see artmaking going on throughout the life spectrum.
Find out more here.
---------
Related posts:
Artist Profile: Jeanine Durning
Artist Profile: Mo Miner (Director of the Shawl-Anderson Youth Ensemble)
Artist Profile: Annie Rosenthal Parr (Founder of Roco Dance)
Artist Profile: Sarah Crowell (Artistic Director of Destiny Arts Center)
-----------------------------------
Comments