Day 14: The Guggenheim Museum

Today we had our final rehearsal at Our Children, and the kids are all ready for the show! Tomorrow we begin working on DTW's stage, with placements and lighting, etc. Let show week begin!

After practice with the kids today, I went straight to the Guggenheim Museum to see some modern art! I recognized Frank Lloyd Wright's spiral building as I crossed through Central Park and down "Museum Mile." I wish I could've taken pictures inside- there were plenty of pieces that I had reactions to, and the placards had some good things to say, too.

For example, there was one painting, "Glass" by Larionov, that caught my eye as something I connected with at a glance. I found it interesting that the words used to describe it were fragile, sharp, and transparent, and it made me consider how I relate to those words. The photo below doesn't do it justice- the colors are softer and warmer and the upper right is more green which is what really drew my eye. Until looking up this image, I never even saw the subjects, the glasses!


And Boccioni's futurist sculpture "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space" made me feel a sense of strong determination- especially as the sculpture is oriented so that it strides up the slope of the museum's spiral. I realize now reconsidering that piece that this is not usually what is emphasized in textbooks- the sculpture is normally simply taken as an example of how industrial progress affected artists. The feeling I got from seeing it in person is something that can't be gotten from a textbook; I walked around it and felt my own legs and feet against gravity and felt my own body leaning in the direction it moves. Although I moved down the spiral, I felt its drive and effort in moving up towards me. I got that physical reaction to a couple other more abstract pieces that made me straighten up, or lean with the curves of the image. It made me want to dance with art again like we did at the Harn!

So many of the works were great to see in person to be able to have that rich reaction. There's nothing like the thick paint of VanGoh, or Degas' scribbles that add together in to another ballerina, and all of Kandinsky's works just aren't the same on Google images. There was one wall where I felt I had to look at one of them before I could properly see the other. There was also a blue Picasso that was also very interesting- a beautiful frail woman ironing with such a sense of weight that extends even to the heavy frame of the painting. And another that interested me was a surrealist painting where I felt that the whole setup hinged on a single differently-colored brick that, to me, held the clock up from falling directly down into a bottomless well on the ground. That much tension in potential for movement in just a spooky building- that's some good surrealism!

What I've learned through dance enabled me to have such a good time in the museum. I found the audio guide unsatisfying, as I was able on my own to go to deeper levels of feeling and meaning than what it introduced. Taking the time to be with a piece, to find my own reaction and understand that better- this is important to me not only as a dancer and viewer of art, but as an aspiring counselor. I've begun learning to sit with discomfort, so when something strikes me as uncomfortable or I have an aversive reaction, before withdrawing I give it a moment and consider it again or why it struck me so. Today I found my honest reaction to some art in this way, even with those pieces that I wouldn't say I particularly "like" -I at least appreciate them. And for those that I did especially like, all the better.

Day 13: Not precious- honest!

I keep thinking how democratic the subways are. Very American, having people of all ages and origins and social classes mixed in together. Like in airports, I wonder where they're going. I'd be curious to learn about the jobs some of these people do. But I'm not talking to every other stranger just yet. I did, however, chat with people yesterday and today as I waited for the Wicked lottery (again, no luck today). The first guy was in from Chicago doing auditions, and the other woman was a New Zealand teacher taking a break to visit several large cities in America.

Today in our last regular rehearsal at Mark Morris, Neta was telling us about how she feels about this show. She said "I'm tired of being cool, I'm tired of being trendy; now I just want to be." I didn't know her when she created pieces like Fold and Air, and though I've seen parts of The Orchids Show and Beds/Children of the Dream, I became part of her choreographic process as she seems to have entered a new mindset after seeing her students engage with dance in Israel about a year ago. With 2,280 Pints, Neta's allowed herself to do new things as a choreographer, as she explained to us. Perhaps in a different way than in the past, she freely engages in whatever little leads interest her, as we see in rehearsals when she runs with a new image or bucket use to create entire new sections. She also told us that this is the first time she's delegated choreographic leadership, which is how we formed the teams that created many of the numbers in the current show. Having had her as my mentor for my own foray into choreography this past year, I know that Neta lives what she teaches her students- she is living the choreographic process and following its rabbit-trails, taking developments as they come. There's nothing "precious" or too-careful about it, as we say at UF! I'm glad to see her at work in her honesty and boldness in exploring and forming material, and I can take these habits for my own creative growth.

Speaking of creative growth- I've been reading a great book by Rollo May on the psychology of creativity, called The Courage to Create. It's one of those books that keeps telling me things of the highest level of truth- the kinds of things that you already know in a deep sense, but still love to be told about to have it so clearly confirmed by others. Along with the woman from New Zealand at the lottery, that book kept me company this afternoon and made the lack of tickets less unpleasant.

Oh... and here's what the New York Times featured on us today!

The Neta Dance Company (Thursday) A new work by Neta Pulvermacher, “2280 Pints!” was inspired by an installation, “Rain Rains,” by the Brazilian artist Rivan Neuenschwander. The press materials suggest that Ms. Pulvermacher’s piece “opens the door into hidden layers of the soul.” Perhaps. But since “2280 Pints!” features 57 white 5-gallon buckets (and 17 dancers), it surely won’t pass up the opportunity for a lot of splashing, which could be even more fun. (Through May 28.) At 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea , (212) 924-0077, dancetheaterworkshop.org; $20; $15 for students and 65+. (Sulcas)

Day 12: The BIG Apple

In today's rehearsal I kept getting an excited feeling about how the show fits together for me as a viewer. I've felt that many of our scenes are dreams, dreamt by one of the still figures who are often onstage during the rest of the action. Today as I watched "Searchlight" I really felt like it is the flitting movements of the dark subconscious, and "Crazy" also has that feeling of Id-like unrestrained movement; "Bridge to nowhere" feels like the unconnected emotions we trace and retrace and hold to ourselves; and with a Freudian theme the "Tech ledge" and "10 Commandments (Doomsday)" sections feel more like a Superego involvement; Matt and Colette's duet and "I've Got You Babe" are the parts of this mind that is concerned with relationships.... I could go on for each section, but the idea I'm feeling is that these all integrate into a whole not only because they sprang from the same choreographic mind, but that they can, through this specificity, generalize to show us what we all may have in our own minds. The joy, pensiveness, tension, freedom, etc. of the buckets are all things we have in ourselves- as we watch, we can feel along.


After our rehearsal I headed over to Manhattan to see about getting into the lottery for cheap Wicked tickets. That's a show I've wanted to see since I read and loved the book a few years ago! It didn't work out, but I found myself in Times Square as I got out out of the trains to find the box office, so I did some exploring. I checked out a couple floors of the four-floor Forever 21 in the square, and spotted several of the Broadway theaters where I might see another show if I manage to get other discount tickets through some other routes I've learned about from fellow artsy/poor students. I almost went to a comedy show in the area for a good price, but it was late in the evening and I decided I'm not comfortable hanging around the busy parts of the city as the day ends still- this is a BIG apple. I hitched a train home and will look forward to something a little simpler tomorrow evening if I don't find Broadway tickets by then.

Day 11: Act II

It's the halfway point of this trip- which meant laundry at the laundromat between rehearsal and Our Children. We're moving from changes in the program to cleaning as of tomorrow's rehearsal.

I realized yesterday that there's an interesting practical aspect to using all of these buckets that I hadn't mentioned yet: germs. Especially with the weather being cool and wet as it is, and with a few people here and there being sick or sniffley, we try to be careful not to pass it around. We wipe the buckets down with Clorox wipes every couple rehearsals or so, so that as we put them on our feet, hands, and heads, we don't get any performers sick. I'm having tea and am glad the imported Florida oranges are on sale, too!

Speaking of Florida, I finally met a Gator in New York today, on the subway just now! He went to UF and stayed in Simpson and Murphree. Pretty cool- another NYC bucket list item checked off, I got to say "Go Gators" to a fellow alumnus!

Finally, here's the article that came out of our press day!

Day 10: Bucket love

We've been spending a lot of time in rehearsals perfecting the transitions between numbers. Neta was talking today about how it's necessary for us as performers to be sensitive to the mood of the preceding and following parts as we make the transitions (and this can vary between performances). Like with movements, the place between one thing and another is something in itself to be given attention, like moving from first to second position. We're still figuring out whether to use the Doomsday music or Austin Powers, so most of today besides other transitions was spent looking at how those two fit into the show in comparison to each other. We also did a full run-through, which I think went well :)

Back at Our Children, the kids remembered their "Crazy" dance parts and "Sculpture garden" phrases well. We started working with them on "Smile" too, which should be lots of fun. It makes me wish I was in that part of the dance in the show- I didn't realize I had such good exaggerated expressions to use, so hopefully I can pull them out with the kids for their matinee performance!

I had hoped to catch a class on Feldenkrais Method at Mark Morris, but it conflicted with the kids' time. The description caught my eye because of its philosophy towards freeing us from restrictive physical and psychological habits, which relates to my career interests with counseling and DMT. I'm going to look more into this! The Feldenkrais site has a quote right on the front page saying that "We improve our well-being when we learn to fully use ourselves," by the creator Moshe Feldenkrais. It sounds like something I'd like to find out more about! Maybe I'll be able to find another class while I'm here... Otherwise, I'll research it on my own.

The last thing I've been hoping to write about is something I've realized comes up when I use props. I'm sure I'm not the only one this happens to- when I use a prop over a length of time, I feel like I form a relationship with it. The first time I experienced this was a few years ago with a small blue recycling bin- it was my first serious prop relationship. I got to know that bin inside and out, and spent hours testing it and myself with it to find what was and wasn't possible to do with it. Something similar happened as I bonded with an abstract sculpture at the Harn museum near UF, as our comp class was given free time to improvise with the art. I didn't have much time with that one, just one day, but it was a focused session with me and the sculpture one-on-one, with no limits and plenty of desire to move freely and find how I relate to it. I loved it. Now, the buckets are my new item. They can be joyful or sad, crazy or refined, tender or rough, worshipful or profane, and sometimes they're sexy- at least as much as a bucket can be. I can't wait for the audience to become part of this bucket love as they experience 2,280 Pints- I already saw somebody falling for the buckets today as she watched rehearsal from the door!

Day 9: Part of history!

Today in rehearsal we changed what used to be "MJ" and then "Austin Powers" to what I think of as the "Angel of Death/Doomsday" song. It's hip hop violin music by a friend of Neta's named Miri, and it's pretty fun to set this dance to! Can't wait to see how it turns out when we re-clean it!

Tonight I got to do something I really hoped to catch while in New York. I just got back from a Movement Research showing at the historic Judson Memorial Church. This church was home to some very important developments in modern dance since the '50s, as postmodern choreographers emerged and developed. I've seen one of them in performance, Lucinda Childs, when her company came to UF. Another Judson name I recognize is Yvonne Rainer, whose Trio A I was interested in this past year as a stage in developing my own choreography. But that was a while back; tonight I saw new choreographers' works in the huge, beautiful space of the church.

I don't have the program handy at the moment, but I enjoyed the diverse pieces. Several featured film, including the first which seemed to use theatrics to break down what people are thinking when they have torn feelings in relationships/mixed with a humorous reality TV-style documentary of the choreographer and his company at work. I'd be interested in seeing more of the more serious live part that appealed to my psychologist side, though it was an interesting juxtaposition of moods between the two media. I'm not yet sure how they relate... questions are good!

The next work was part of a larger process to premier in 2013. This section was in performance for the first time, about Siamese twins in Barnum's circus. I was interested in how the video showed the dancers as separate although the two performers were connected by their shirts sewn together- as well as a cord that was revealed to be underneath. I couldn't see well from the third row of seats and missed a lot of it- but I was particularly moved by the part when one twin died near the end, and how the other dealt with it while still so physically and emotionally attached.

The third work was a Rite of Spring of sorts- which began with dancers in the audience doing a sort of summon chant as a masked, faceless soloist entered and progressed to doing poses facing the audience in our horseshoe shape. Later the dancers added light rain sounds by crinkling plastic bags. Then they stood and unexpectedly covered their faces and followed in the paths of her poses until their movements combined to culminate in a stomping and breath-driven ritual that sounded... like something that made me blush as the lights dimmed and they finished the piece in the dark, lol. It all felt very mythical and human at the same time!

The final piece focused on political polarization and was a really cool use of bright lights focused on two sections of the audience. It began with a slideshow of people standing under "For" and "Against" labels, then the soloist hit one light at a time to highlight the people as the text soundtrack called out their biases against the other side and in favor of themselves. The issue itself remained unnamed, leaving the focus on the division created by the polarization. This section was followed by a solo that stretched and pulsed between various poles created by the body. I felt most interested in the fact that he never did capture two still and solid poles, but seemed to show many more "gray" movements between the points. It was really cool to see these works, not only in the historic place we were in, but in themselves for their various stages of progress on such interesting ideas! Even though it's another late night, I'm really glad I went! Videos might be posted here later from tonight's show- I hope so!

I'll also mention that although I got lost again today, I'm much quicker at correcting that! I made it to Judson just in time!

One more thing... I forgot that when I dance so much every day, I eat a TON. I didn't budget for this surprise trip in the first place- and neither did my metabolism! At least I'm well stocked on healthy foods, and a few treats :)

Day 8: An easy day off - sort of!

We had a day with nothing official planned- so we filled it with activities of our own!

This morning we slept in, then got on our way to navigating train changes to get to the American Museum of Natural History It was cool- way too big to see all in one day! I liked the plants and some of the historic arts. The dinos were pretty cool, too.

Then we went over to Central Park, which was awesome! We meant to go from the middle where we entered down to a southern area of it, but before we knew it we'd circled the reservoir all the way up to the north end. Before we left from there, I suggested that we pass through the conservation gardens- and I'm really glad we did! It was a beautiful part of the park with lots of flowers and some fountains- we were lucky to have good weather for all this even though it was a rainy forecast today!

We had a little rest after all the walking, then headed through the Atlantic terminal Target for groceries before coming home while it was still daylight out!