Image Description: Three dancers, wearing blues, oranges, and pinks, are caught walking in different directions. A mirror effect on the image causes blurry, duplicate images of their bodies.
Coming Together and Connecting: Study Hall with Emily Hansel and Collaborators
By Jill Randall
Introduction
I am a big fan of Emily Hansel - her performing, choreography, dialogues on the field, and writing. I have held space for numerous pieces by and about Emily’s work over the past few years (see links below).
As Emily and I talked a few weeks ago, I am curious about the idea of “consent” even in the writing process. I wanted Emily’s permission to write about Study Hall. I was honored to be asked to attend the performance in San Francisco on May 16 and to be invited to write about the experience of viewing it.
In addition, I opted to share this piece with Emily prior to publication. I am thinking about consent, power dynamics, and purpose these days with dance writing.
Why write about dance? To document and honor the work. To reflect back what we saw, heard, thought, and felt. This is feedback, validation. And for readers who missed the show - hopefully a little taste or picture painted.
Movement Words
Sometimes I read a review of a performance, but I don’t gain a sense of what the actual movement was. Here I offer a quick snapshot in poetic form to describe this 50 minute quartet with dancers Rebecca Fitton, Jocelyn Reyes, gizeh muñiz vengel, and Erin Yen:
Coming Together and Connecting
Flexed foot
Smiles
Soft laughter
Gestures - swirling, fists
Dancers clasping hands
Sweepy floorwork on stomachs and backs
One second standing; the next moment smoothly on the floor
Gentle lifts
A return to physical contact, and nearness
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It is kaleidoscopic - melting from quartet sections to duets to trios to a few moments of solo time. It is like a slideshow with distinct images and ideas, yet they are sequenced and linked together.
Props are utilized throughout - computers, a big air mattress, little shaggy rugs, coffee cups, an armchair.
A common question I have is: What is set material, and what is improvised each day?
Another detail to share with the reader is that the costumes are simple. I imagined a discussion centered around “pick what feels good to you and makes you feel good.” The colors pop - blue, fuschia, and orange. Pants and shirts. (I love that in their letter of agreement there is language around costumes. Read more here.)
Image Description: Four dancers are captured in various positions of laying, sitting, and kneeling on the floor, which is covered in kaleidoscopic, multi-colored light patterns.
Before, During, and After
Emily is giving weight and time to each part of the choreographic process. She hosted numerous conversations in the SF Bay Area over the past year about artistic process, care in collaboration, voice, and ownership. These conversations informed and fed the project. The dancers spent time discussing process and coming up with community agreements and a dancer contract.
As Erin Yen shared in their preview article on Substack before the performance, “We have imbued community care into our rehearsal process, and this is evident in the relationships we have cultivated throughout movement scores and sections.”
I think this quote helps me bring into focus what I saw that Thursday night, as an audience member joined with others in the round:
-I saw care and consent in action
-I saw process made public
-I was invited into the experience and one of the stops of a multi-stop journey for Study Hall
-The performance was one aspect but not the apex; every component had value, weight, and time (and money put towards it).
Gratitude
I share gratitude with Erin, gizeh, Jocelyn, Rebecca, and Emily. Thank you for helping us imagine new worlds for dancemaking. Thank you for transparency and curiosity. Long live curiosity and hope, for new work cultures & care & processes. Thank you for your presence & the live experience & laughter & beautiful movement.
Image Description: Four dancers clump together in a full-bodied group hug in a spotlight on an otherwise dark, blue stage.
Jill Randall (she/her) is the founder of the site Life as a Modern Dancer, co-director of Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, and an adjunct assistant professor at Saint Mary’s College of California.
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Related links:
Transparent project budget for Study Hall
Prior posts on Life as a Modern Dancer (by Emily Hansel or about Emily’s work):
Relearning Agency: A Dancer’s Call for Collective Action
Cultivating Healthy, Equitable Workplaces for Dancers
Empowering Dancers through Contracts
Contingency plans that support dancers’ mental and physical health
“Four by Four” by Emily Hansel: Reflections on Product as Process
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