Movements 3 and 4

Tonight was such an productive rehearsal! I was quite nervous about movement 3 since we hadn't worked with it in over 3 weeks but I was blown away by how quickly the dancers put it back together. We were able to run movement 3 directly into movement 4 relatively smoothly. We have been fighting with the timing on movement 4 every since we started working with it but it was perfect tonight. Now that I see 3 and 4 connected, I can see the places where I need to work with transitions, particularly between the 2 sections of movement 3 and between 3 and 4. As I work with tweaking the choreography and cleaning the piece, I plan to focus on shifts in energy in order to add dynamic interest to the work rather than changing any choreography.

Connecting Movements 1 and 2

Tonight was an extremely productive rehearsal, despite the snowy weather outside. We were able to add all of the other dancers into Nisha's solo in movement 1 to convey the idea of fragmented thoughts coming to life. We then went directly into movement 2 and while the transition could use some smoothing out, I am very happy with the way these 2 movements fit together. Also, my camera cut off the last 30 seconds of the piece so movement 2 does not actually end in disarray as it appears on the video.

Movement 3 Combined

This is my very poor attempt at combing two videos into one. While it is certainly not a professional editing job, at least movement 3 can be seen as a whole, rather than in two separate segments. The transition that will eventually occur in place of this very awkward cut includes the dancers walking slowly toward stage right as if walking offstage, but instead Nisha runs upstage and meets them before they exit, which initiates their scattering and combining into the duets that follow.

Movement 2 Completed!

After teaching each pairing their duets separately, we were able to combine them all and layer them together to show a progression. This actually happened quite smoothly and with very few spacing issues. There are a few timing issues, but overall I think this movement succeeds in showing a gradual development, which is exactly what I want at this point in piece as a whole. Also, Tal was absent from this rehearsal but normally she performs a duet with Hannah.

Movement 1: Nisha's Solo

The following three videos are a segments of the same extended solo that Nisha will perform in movement 1. While they are three separate videos, they are meant to be viewed in order as one continues solo.

Movement 2: Lydia & Komal

This duet, the second in Movement 2, is based on Emily Dickinson's "undiscovered continent" poems, through which she sought to find the tangible, visible location of the mind and the landscape of the spirit. These poems generally address the mysterious, the unattainable, and the search for a dark internal hiding place. I aimed to recreate these concepts in this duet and establish a sense of longing for something that is unreachable.

Movement 1: The Beginning of Nisha's Solo

We have finally arrived at the beginning of the piece! The piece will open with a solo by Nisha on the thrust of the stage. This solo is very quiet, reserved, and contemplative. In this movement the soloist is trying to brainstorm ideas for her works of poetry. Many of the phrases in this solo will look familiar as they are drawn from solos or duets created for other dancers in later movements. The idea behind this solo is that Nisha ultimately performs a combination of every other dancer's solo as somewhat of a duet with that dancer. In many cases, Nisha performs scaled down variations of a phrase before performing it fully in order to demonstrate the process of starting with one or two words and developing phrases and ultimately entire poems. When the other dancers perform these movements with her, they will dance upstage in shadow so that only certain elements of the movements are visible, such as a sweeping of the leg or a tossing of the arm.