Count Down to be out!

Counting days
Counting costumes
Counting sprung wood floor pieces and rolls of Marley
Counting friends
Counting our luck
Counting those who are there for us when we need them most!

We have until Dec 31, but hope to be done earlier. We could not do this without the support of the many, many volunteers and supporters! THANK YOU.

We have organized and tomorrow the dismantling begins.

Counting breaths
heartbeats
steps...

and freely letting everyone shed the many tears that are necessary to grieve this process.


It's as if I have been raising a child... really for 30 years... with the help of Scott for the last decade... and the child has been severely ill for the last three years... we have done everything we can to keep it alive, at great personal cost... and now it's time to let go. But the soul of the child will live on in the creative work of the professional company.

Changing Tides

Dec. 1 and our world is about to change. There's a whirlwind waiting for us.
We have a world premiere this Sat, Dec 5
Moving Arts Dance Center and School will close as of January 1.

We've put our hearts and souls into this dance center. We have loved every step, even the most difficult, because each step brought us closer to perfection in the creation of this school and theater. Now, this week marks our last performance in this wonderful location.

So now we'll find another way to make the world a better place. But we leave knowing that we have made a difference in many lives. As dance changed my life, gave me a place to call home, physical confidence and grace, and a voice with which I could speak non-verbally, so I believe we have helped many who have crossed our paths.

I will miss the school and theater so very much. I will miss seeing everyone weekly and knowing that we are all on the path together to be more gracious, sophisticated people... to creating art on the forefront of creativity in dance... to developing this creative village that we have enjoyed for too brief a time.

So, here we go... into the whirlwind of the known and unknown.
• A very difficult move awaits us. Literally. Everything goes into storage in December.
• And then, a very difficult move awaits us in January. Figuratively. Everything must be re-created into it's new form,
whatever that will be!

Here's to the future, and the steps each day to help us achieve even higher goals than we can imagine today! Keep your chins up and your spirits high. Great things await us all.

The Beginning or the End? Day of the Dead approaches

Our "Welcome Back" concert Sept 12th was produced at the end of the first week of classes for the Fall 2009 session at the dance center. It was an amazing concert and exemplified the vision for the dance center.... to provide a venue for experimental dance theater to be produced and have audience feedback. It was an amazing concert and made me very proud of the work Scott and I have done along-side a multitude of volunteers, to make this possible.

The first week of classes showed us that we do not have the income from student fees to survive this session. If all our students were paying we would be fine. However, our studio has been hit very hard by the recession. Since about March we have been approached almost daily by a parent who have lost their job, been given furlows or reduced hours. Now, a class of nine students may have as few as one that is not on scholarship.

Our session is gearing up for performances of Night Visions on Oct 24 & 25 (Sat times: 3:00, 5:00 & 7:00
Sunday Times: 5:00 & 7:00). Then we have one more week of classes to end the session on Oct 31. Thus, Nov 1, the Day of the Dead, become our deadline for raising funds to cover the almost $10,000 a month it will take to keep us open.

I will keep this blog up to date on details. As I said at the concert when I announced our dire situation, we have done tremendous work and we are in this situation because we are a humanitarian driven, creative based, non-profit arts organization rather than a BUSINESS. Our decision in running the business have been made on strong spiritual and moral grounds. We have aimed to trian gracious, creative minds along side athletic dance artists. We are the only training of this sort in Contra Costa County. To find this sort of training you have to go to Berkeley or San Francisco. And to find this sort of training for children limits the pool to less than a handful of schools in the Bay Area.

With only Scott and I to run it, our energy has gone where the needs were immediate in order to assure the spirit and soul of the business was pure. We have tried very hard, at much personal cost, to keep the business alive long enough for the economy to recover. So we offer no apologies that we are not "good businessmen". But now, without the help of the community stepping forward to fund it, we will have to close.

We have the best team of faculty to date, each fully committed to creative-based training at the highest tenets of professional dance... for every age and level without prjudice for beginning dancers or bais toward advanced dancers. It's a rare gem. I have felt like we are "Picasso's of the dance world in Contra Costa County" in that we are ahead of our time. This training is what is offered in universty settings and where national standards in dance are taught... but California schools lag behind the national curve in the teaching of dance offering it as exercise rather than art. And, California studios offer dance as entertainment, competition or ELITE art, only for those with chosen body types and natural skill. We are completely different. I hope it is a service the community decides is improtant enough to fund. In a short time we will know.

I am at peace with whatever the community decides, and I think I can speak the same for Scott.

Scottsdale EMP Residency -last day

The last day of the residency was magical. The dance and costumes came together with a calm grace, (not that I got much sleep that week though!), so the last day was not a panic at all. We polished the piece, and did a photo shoot in the finished costumes. I had SUCH an amazing time with these dancers. They are FULL of LIFE with the rapt attention that is necessary to absorb so much information in a 5-day residency! I think that this dance is one of my all-time favorites. The students are authentic in their performance, take physical risks, and are ever grateful!!!

I can't wait to see performances of the dance and am really looking forward to the Arizona Dance Festival Oct 8-10 at the Tempe Center for the Arts where I heard they may be performing! My company will be there also! What fun! If we can raise the funds, we'll take OUR version of Whispers to perform on the second night!

Scottsdale EMP Residency Day 4

Day 4 was a delight.
The class knows water technique enough now that I can simply lead them through the warm up and have been able to begin introducing some of the influences of Graham technique and the value of core strength in movement. The dancers listen well and are not resistant to changing movement habits that are less efficient. It is wonderful to see 20 bodies moving through space with abandon. They have been well prepared for this work. Their director, Angela Rosenkranz, is the real thing. She understands and imparts the value of pure technique, hard work and risk!

In EMP I lead the dancers through a dance therapy session that lead them to their shadow self. The dancers went in with open minds and hearts and engaged their subconscious without resistance. The depth of their movement understanding through these experiences has been phenomenal. They are developing the ability to understand movement as language, even in the abstract, and the next next step: applying that to performance. It is exciting for me to open this door for dancers!

AND, in applying the movement from the EMP sessions to choreography, we have developed a dance that has many levels of sophistication. The dancers are abandoned in their ability to take physical and emotional risk, so the piece takes the viewer on a journey that brings the audience to the edges of their seat at times. The gestures the dancers have chosen to incorporate into the dance are poignant in their expressive depth. And most importantly, the dancers have learned how to perform them authentically, so there is no sense of "drama" even though it is dramatic.

The dancers, though sore and tired, worked really hard and we finished the dance. Almost 11 minutes long. It is the third version of "Whispers". I really love finding the direction of the path that our combined subconscious takes the dance. Each version is entirely different. It is a fascinating experience! I hope SCC will bring the dance to CA so our sudiences can experience this version as well. It's so interesting to compare them!

Off to the LAST DAY!

Scottsdale EMP Residency Day 3- Sore but Tough

Day 2 was a blur.
Water Technique at 10,
EMP at 11,
lunch until 12:30 or so
then rehearse until - 5:00.
A quick trip to buy clothing I can turn into costumes,
dinner with Angela and the company, and then
home to bleach, dye, dye again, and alter the clothing to begin the costume making process.
Not much sleep, and then do it all again!

And I'm OLD! Not to mention just had major surgery 4 months ago. But it's fun for me even though the body complains a bit. OK, it complains a lot.

The 20+ dancers here have taken very well to the absolute purity of Water Technique. Today I touched on kinesiological concepts for gaining flexibilty as well. They come with open minds and hearts, are good listeners, and value the absolution of habitual movements that distract from the body’s ability to move with ease and strength by empowering gravity… fall & recovery (thank you Doris Humphrey).

EMP seems to be a natural fit here too. The dancers present with untainted intentions. They value the opportunity to learn to dive into the deepest nuances of the ART of dance. They understand that movement that speaks to the soul through masterful technique holds an entirely different power than dance that is merely cool steps or great tricks strung together. And they want to learn how.

Using powerful and authentic moments captured through EMP, Instinct (the advanced dance company), spends the afternoon with me honing a new piece of choreography. We are resetting “Whispers, Silence, Rumors”. This is version three and represents for me the ability to dive ever deeper into a concept that has my attention: gossip. However, this version takes into consideration my recent neck surgery and the implications of neck to voice. Using the same processes that I employed to create the previous two versions, I have connected the dots by selected a few choice moments to remain the same in all three versions, but the rest is completely different as influenced by the differing personalities.

Rob Crouch, a life-friend of mine, came to watch rehearsal and brought his daughter. They made stunning observations. Rob had seen Whispers II in rehearsal in the Bay Area, so he had the insight to point out how the process honors the personalities that are involved. That the dance remains the same, but at the same time is presented with entirely different steps and the meaning changes slightly. He pointed out that it was interesting to see how it changed while retaining the power of the work.

I really love these dancers.

Through bruised skin, sore muscles and floor burns they don’t complain at all. Through dancing 6 hours at an incredible intensity, they maintain their sense of humor, cry when it’s an appropriate release, and laugh when that is more appropriate. For me, this is what being human is all about… sharing intimate intensity that enhances the lives of those we touch. Not holding back, but taking the risk to be real and understanding the incredible value that brings to all.

Two mores days to go.
So much more to do.
It's all about creating magic!

Scottsdale EMP Residency Day 1

Technique:

The students here are mostly modern trained movers, which makes teaching them what I call "water technique" amazingly easy. In one hour we covered what could have taken two days.. understanding the theory of fall & recovery (Doris Humphrey) and release technique.

EMP:
Then we spent the second hour working with EMP... eyes closed following open-ended imagery to inform the movement choices. This is an amazing process. Much like Dance Therapy and Authentic Movement, EMP begins with a leader who guides the group (or individual) through familiarizing themselves with eyes-closed movement. It is a difficult task because culturally we are such a visually oriented society. When one closed their eyes, suddenly the environment is frightening, unfamiliar and feels unsafe. Additionally, eyes closed moving in a group of people -even just walking around- means that their will be accidental touches that occur. An additional source of discomfort. This group, however, was open-minded and brave. They embraced the opportunity to dive into a new way of learning about movement, took risks, and were generous with their energy. Their reactions to movement ran the typical gamut of emotions from fear to relief, from a desire to connect with another, to a desire to remain apart. This group is open-minded, great listeners with a body-self familiarity that exists less when dancers are trained in specific techniques only. For example, ballet trained dancers can be absolute and amazing masters of the ballet technique and yet, in an environment where they are free move in any manner, the lack of form reveals a dancer who has not developed self-confidence as a mover outside of the movement of ballet.

These dancers moved so quickly through "water technique" and embraced EMP full-heartedly.

Choreography for the Company:

After the workshop I rehearsed with the company. These dancers are fearless risk takers (which I LOVE). They understand their body to the point where they can take "safe" physical risks, and they have enough confidence as performers to dive into the emotional risk. This didn't take place without the laughter that reveals discomfort. Sometimes the exercises would hit a nerve and the discomfort would show it's head, but the dancers moved through it and the dance we are setting showcases their strength as performers, as well as dancers!

I have begun setting a new version of the dance "Whispers, Silence, Rumors". This version will have it's own title as it is exploring a different angle, but it is performed to the same music as the two previous versions of the dance.

The dancers are employing the same process as the two previous versions... calling on their own inner resources to explore movements that come from subconsciously guided decision making. An example of this is one section of the dance that explores movement that entangle the dancers bodies, swooping in and out of each other's way, in an intricate timing that, if missed, could lead to the slamming of bodies together in manners that are not advised! With this direction, three couples have created their own choreographic phrases that interlock, the intersection of which creates a backdrop of chaotic humanity that is as of yet without interpretation. Within the next week we will fill in the movement blanks to finish the dance under the guidance of decision making that engages the subconscious. The end of this process will reveal a dance that will have meaning which will be revealed to us in time. When the meaning is revealed, we as a group will understand something about ourselves that our subconscious has dictated for us to see at this time in our lives.

I can't wait to understand what it will be!

Scottsdale EMP Residency -the Technique class

At the beginning of each day I will teach a technique class based on the theories of Fall & Recovery as developed by Doris Humphrey. When I was a young dancer I had the opportunity to perform in the "Doris Humphrey Festival" in Tempe, Arizona. I was cast in two dances, "Water Study" and "New Dance". Though I was not consciously aware of it at the time, my experiences, especially in "Water Study," influenced the rest of my career in dance.

I was a modern dancer with ballet-as-a-second-language (so to speak). My great love was taking dance to the edges of flying on the physical plateau and to the edges of authenticity on the emotional plateau.

In order to take such physical risk I had to learn to work with, rather than against gravity.

In order to take emotional risk, I had to develop a way to work with, rather than against, fear.

Toward achieving the emotional levels of risk I developed EMP. Toward the physical levels of risk I have come to realize that although many techniques influence my performance and teaching style (including Jose Limon, Martha Graham, Alwin Nikolias, Bill Evans and others), Doris Humphrey's "Water Study" in particular gave me tools to perform, and now teach "Fall & Recovery", or as it is often called "Release Technique".

For this residency, we will dive into both!

Scottsdale EMP Residency begins

A 2-day drive to Arizona was actually a great way to relax and clear my head for the upcoming week. I am excited to work with the researchers and dancers who are interested in the mind and brain. EMP (Expressive Movement Processing), for those of you who haven't experienced it, it is a combination of my educational interests: BAE in Dance Education, masters degree in Choreography with a second emphasis in Kinesiology and a second masters degree in Dance/Movement Therapy.

While finishing my first masters degree, I began the pursuit of my second masters degree as a means to further my choreographic vision: engaging movement as a means for emotional expression. My masters thesis was on "Movement as Emotional Expression". My advisers suggested I learn about dance therapy because it accesses the emotions, and subconscious impulses, through movement. This course of study unleashed a whole new way of choreographing AND performing for me.

As I pursued the two masters degrees, I engaged the creative world of choreography, the scientific world of kinesiology and the psychological world of dance therapy in my quest for understanding how movement communicates, and more than that, to understand how movement touches the heart and soul of the viewer in an authentic -real and genuine- connection that is meaningful.

I began at first to call the product, the dances created, "Dances of Significance". This referred to the intention of the work: the art of dance as seen through the viewpoint of it's ultimate communication with the audience. But the title didn't covey the full impact of the process; a research tool that cultivated creative movement vocabulary for the choreographer, and unlocked the potential of the performer to reach into the recesses of his/her own experiences that are the source of powerful performance.

As I began to form the process, it became critical that it provide a manner to face the fears that prevent one from fully engaging in the creative expression of all emotions in their most valuable, vulnerable and genuine expression. It would be important also that the process then provide choreographers with a garden of uncultivated movement expressions, as I discovered come from intention and nuance, from movements unpracticed in the dance vocabulary and sometimes unbridled emotion expressed in raw movement that takes the witness on unexpected journeys.

Thus, as I began to understand that authentic expressive movement was the more universal product for which I searched, I utilized processes from dance therapy, improvisation, acting, dancing, choreography mixed together with a touch of scientific interest in the formula of the language of movement. Ultimately the name of this process thus evolved to become Expressive Movement Processing (EMP):

Expressive Movement Processing (EMP): Developed by Anandha Ray, EMP utilizes processes from improvisation, dance therapy and acting to (1) uncover and release blocks to creativity in performance, (2) formulate choreographic vocabulary, (3) understand and embody character development. EMP is a journey into the subconscious world in which creativity bridges the void between self and other. Through this process one surrenders control and follows pathways that allow the subconscious to reveal itself through artistic expression in movement. The process is both a deep exploration of self and personal motivations and practical education in the universal hieratic and culturally specific language of movement.