Paul Taylor Dance Company @ Rose Lehrman Arts Center - Review

I attended two performances by Paul Taylor Dance Company (Friday April 11th and Saturday April 12th) at the Rose Lehrman Arts Center (RLAC) located on the campus of Harrisburg Area Community College, in Harrisburg, PA. Each performance consisted of 3 distinct pieces, giving each night its own unique appeal. The Friday evening performance included Equinox, De Suenos Que Se Repiten (of recurring dreams) and Arden Court; Saturday evening contained Le Grand Puppetier, Banquet of Vultures, and Esplanade. I thought both performances were outstanding and everyone else I’ve spoken to that witnessed them agrees. With that said, I’ll relate to you the details of my experience.


Friday evening began with Equinox, sadly my memory of this has faded quite a bit and very few specifics remain. One segment of it, however, is etched vividly into my mind, the solo of Lisa Viola. I have never been so moved by the intensity and energy of a dancer as I was that night. I was actually given the opportunity to meet Lisa after the performance at the post performance meet and greet provided by RLAC. I told her how impressed I was and she even let me give her a hug! De Suenos Que Se Repiten (of recurring dreams) was the second and darkest piece of the evening. The entire piece was choreographed to the music of The Kronos Quartet from the album Nuevo. The central theme of this piece seemed to center on the dichotomy of life and death. It used imagery common in the Mexican culture Guadalupe (life giver), the Skull (death), and the Stag. The evening concluded with a performance of Arden Court. I had just seen the Taylor 2 version of this classic piece at the Miller Center at Reading Area Community College (click here to read my review), so I had a frame of reference for this work. To be completely honest, I liked the Taylor 2 version better than the production by the main company. The Taylor 2 performance was choreographed for a smaller number of dancers and thus had a much higher level of intensity. I still thoroughly enjoyed this larger scale production, but not quite as much as my first experience with Arden Court.

Saturday’s performance opened with Le Grand Puppetier, a piece that seems as though it may have been choreographed for child audiences. I make this claim based on two aspects of the production; plot line and costuming. The plot of this piece is extremely elementary and reminiscent of a fairy tale, complete with evil emperor and oppressed protagonist. On a positive note, this simplicity makes Puppetier easy to follow, enabling the audience to sit back and enjoy the dancers’ movements. The second work of the evening was Banquet of Vultures, which actually had a very similar theme to Puppetier, however significantly darker and more abstract. It, too, illustrates the corruption and irresponsibility of those in power, as well as its cyclical nature. The mood of this piece is enhanced through the amazing lighting design, which leaves the majority of the stage obscured in darkness with only a few hard edged spots of light. The performance closed with Esplanade. It showcased the athleticism of the dancers as they ran and leaped gracefully about the stage. It was an amazing ending to an amazing weekend of dance.

For more information click on the following links:
Paul Taylor Dance Company: http://www.ptdc.org/
Rose Lehrman Arts Center: http://www.hacc.edu/rose/

A review of my Ice Cream Social

I realize that I didn't mention that I was having a party, but that is just because I didn't anyone to feel bad for not being invited. I suppose this blog may do that as well, but I don't think anyone will be too hurt. On Sunday, I had an Ice Cream Social which was attended by several of my closest friends. My friend Caitlin posted a fantastic review on her blog (Shut up Downsey), so I've placed her review below for your enjoyment:

First of all, snaps to Randal for actually having people at his party. You know how you can invite twenty people, and maybe three end up coming, well, Randal, defying the previous standard upheld at his Haloween party, had a mighty turn out at his ice cream social. Short of the fact that chairs were limited, there was plenty of silly conversations and good company, a sometimes odd playlist, hulahooping, and oh yeah, there was punch. It was interesting to be in a room full of college kids enjoying themselves soberly. Sometime after learning that a medium pizza is medium sized and consuming weird mixtures of ice cream, people began trailing off, as is typical with all parties, and soon only seven party-goers remained.

I thank Caitlin for her review but she didn't mention how the party ended. One of my guests began looking through a book called Weird Pennsylvania, and we decided to take a road trip a place called the 7 Gates of Hell. We went on google maps and got directions, piled into two vehicles and made our way to the gates of Hell. The location turned out to be nothing more than woods. It was a bit of a disappointment, but how many people can say their Ice Cream Social ended in a trip to the gates of Hell.

Stay Tuned...

Two Announcements

First announcement… I’ve accepted the admissions offer of Carnegie Mellon. For those of you are curious, I did not get accepted to Columbia. I’m still waiting to hear back from NYU, but their decision won’t affect mine. Pittsburgh here I come. I’ll be moving out there in the beginning of August.

Second announcement… I’ll be teaching dance during June and July. I’ll be teaching a summer workshop in a studio in East Greenville, PA. It has been about two years since the last time I taught a dance class. I offered to volunteer, because it is only 8 weeks and I really just want to teach for the fun of it. The studio insisted that I receive some type of compensation. I think I might propose a trade. I’ve always wanted to learn how to tap dance, so I’m hoping that they will give me free lessons.

I’ll keep you posted on any developments…

Stay tuned…

Taylor 2 Dance Company - Review

On Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 8pm, I attended a performance by Taylor 2, the sister company of Paul Taylor Dance Company, at the Miller Center for the Arts located on the campus of Reading Area Community College in Reading, PA. This was the final performance of this beautiful new center’s debut season. For those of who may not know, Paul Taylor Dance Company is a world class modern dance company, and Mr. Taylor is considered by some to be the greatest living choreographer. Taylor 2 consists of 6 talented young dancers, 3 male (Justin Kahan, John Eirich, and Nic Ceynowa) and 3 female (Alison Cook, Jamie Rae Walker, and Latra Wilson) who performed 3 classic Taylor pieces: Arden Court, Runes, and Company B.

The show opened with Arden Court an upbeat and light piece easily appreciated by the audience. The dancers moved to excerpts from Symphonies Nos. 1,3,5,7,8 by William Boyce. I was extremely impressed with the dynamic grace of the male dancers as moved about the stage. The choreography illustrated a series of playful relationships between the dancers that kept the crowd entertained from start to finish.

Runes was dark in every sense of the word, a sharp contrast to Arden Court, its content dealt with the concepts of magic, ritual sacrifice, and evolution. This piece had movements that were harsh and grounded, again contrasting the flowing airiness of the first piece. This piece required the active thought of audience members to decipher its message. I believe, as I mentioned in “Selling the Underground", that presenting artistic products that require thought reduce their mass appeal. This simply means that fewer people will be able to appreciate the depth of the work. I personally had mixed feelings about this piece, but I spoke with the Cathleen Stephen, Director of the Miller Center, and she told me that Runes was her favorite of the three pieces presented that evening.

The night ended with Company B, a work expressing the sentiments of Americans during World War II with music by the Andrews Sisters. The themes celebration and sadness during wartime are relatively universal, and are especially relevant to America in the 21st century. The most moving number was “There Will Never Be Another You” in which a couple grows increasing further apart until the male departs to join of marching procession upstage, leaving his female counterpart collapsed to her knees and staring off in anguish. It literally gave me goose bumps. Company B was my favorite piece of the evening and I felt it was an excellent way to end the night.

If any of you are interested in seeing Paul Taylor Dance Company or Taylor 2 they are currently touring Pennsylvania as part of the NEA’s “American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius” initiative. I will also be attending two performances (April 11th & 12th at 8pm) at the Rose Lehrman Arts Center located on the campus of Harrisburg Area Community College in Harrisburg, PA. For more information on these upcoming events or to purchase tickets go to the RLAC website: http://www.hacc.edu/rose

Links Related to this blog:
Miller Center for the Arts: http://www.racc.edu/millercenter/index.html
Paul Taylor Dance Company: http://www.ptdc.org/
Rose Lehrman Arts Center: http://www.hacc.edu/rose/

The Paradox of Internet Communication

Technology allows us to communicate with people around the world, yet it is isolating us from one another. The internet is a powerful tool, able to bring the world directly to us. Because we can now experience the world in a virtual form, we have become less likely to venture out into the real world. Detachment is becoming a way of life.

I, for one, am tired of having my most meaningful conversations with a computer. Text based communication has become increasingly pervasive and is eroding our ability to interact face to face. I have personally witnessed an instant message sent between roommates while they were in the same apartment; People sitting next to each other in the back seat of a car conversing via text message. I acknowledge that people are still communicating, possibly more so than in the past, but their method of communication is causing social skills to atrophy. This has been exacerbated by the use of social networking sites; to make new friends one must simply click a button. I suppose that this level of attachment shields us from the pain of rejection, but it also diminishes the positive emotions associated with friendship.

I implore you… GO OUT AND TALK TO SOMEONE! Sit down and have a conversation. I promise that you will experience something that you can’t get sitting in front of a computer screen. REAL HUMAN CONTACT.

I am well aware of the irony of using a blog to lament the digitization of humanity. In an attempt to absolve myself from complete hypocrisy, I’ve decide to draft this blog in a diner. I even went so far as to have 2 girls in the booth next to me read over my draft. They approved. I close by reminding you, we may live in a digital world but it is still populated by humans.

NYC Pictures

My friend Rachel finally uploaded the pictures from our trip to NYC last week. The first two pictures are of her at the Museum of Natural History. The last 4 are pictures of us at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I hope you find them interesting.

Stay tuned...

One down... Two to go

I’ve been accepted to Carnegie Mellon Master of Arts Management program and they are offering me a scholarship of $13,000 per semester (renewable as long as I keep my grades high). I’m excited to have been accepted and shocked that they are offering me so much support money. They have an amazing program, probably the most academically intensive arts administration program in the country. The only negative is the location, Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh has a very strong arts community, but I was kind of looking forward to studying in New York City. I suppose that I could still do my internship with a dance company in New York City but that may not be worth the effort, because Pittsburgh have several dance companies that tour extensively. Carnegie Mellon is one of the top universities in the country and they are offering me a lot of aid money to go there.

I still have two programs to hear back from, so I will reserve my decision until I’ve heard from them all. In the meantime, let me know what you would do in this situation.

I still don’t have the pictures from the NY trip, but I will try to post them soon.

Stay tuned….

Columbia Interview and NYC Trip

I had my interview at Columbia yesterday. It went alright but I'm not sure how to feel about it. I have 3-4 weeks to wait before I find out if I've been accepted. At least the process is over and now all that is left is to wait for letters from the schools I applied to. I should be hearing from NYU and Carnegie Mellon within the next couple weeks.

I spent the day in New York with my friend Rachel and we went all over Manhattan. After my interview we took the train downtown to Lincoln Center. We didn't spend any time there because there was a lot of construction. We then walked up to the American Museum of Natural History. It was interesting, but my contacts were bothering me so I had a hard time enjoying it. After a few hours at the natural history museum, we walked across Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That museum was amazing. We only had an hour and a half because the museum was closing. We didn't have enough time to see the whole museum. We finished the day with dinner at Vegetarian Paradise 2, a vegetarian restaurant on W 4th Street. The food there was amazing. I had the Mango "Chicken" and I highly recommend it if you ever go there.

That is all for now. I'll post pictures from the trip on Sunday.

Stay tuned...

Selling the Underground

I’ve been contemplating the commercialization of underground cultural movements, and how their essence is lost in translation when they are adapted to fit the conventions of mass appeal. Although this process will affect various elements of a given subculture, my thoughts have focused on artistic movements, specifically dance. I have been b-boying (b-boying is the real name of the dance form commonly known as break dancing) for the past nine years and I would like to share my observations regarding the differences between the true art form and its commercial counterpart.

B-boying is an art form centered on foundational dance steps while relying heavily on improvisational choreography: a breaker must be both a dancer and a choreographer. Breakers must be ever ready to adjust their movements to accommodate the ever changing beats of a DJ. I’d like to take this time to clear up a common misconception. It is called breaking because it is generally done to the break beat of a song, not because you break your body when you do it. Like any other dance, breaking is about the dancer’s connection with the music. Street dance culture celebrates music, movement, and originality but these important features are neglected when we it represented in mass media.

The recent trend in Hollywood films to portray the life and culture of street dancers (You Got Served, Step Up, etc.) fail to accurately represent the art form. I believe that the main factor in this inaccuracy is the fact that to assimilate a subculture into popular requires the removal of arcane but essential elements to gain mass appeal. This process creates a superficial representation that can be enjoyed by the masses because it requires little to no prior knowledge to appreciate. Street dancing in its commercialized form has fallen victim to this artistic sterilization.

The positive side of this commercialization has been the increase in paid performance engagements for street dancers, and I admit that I have personally benefited from it. However, although the performers themselves may have a strong knowledge of their art forms, you are still likely to see a slightly inauthentic show. People like to see dynamic movement and impressive feats, because dancers and choreographers this is the type of artistic product they create. If you want to make money you have to give the people what they want.

Commercialism has not destroyed the purity of this art form altogether. Many of these dancers dance for the love of their art, and attend peer judged competitions where their skill will be most appreciated. There are also specific night spots where these dancers frequent. The artistic integrity of this subculture still thrives in underground events that can be found throughout the world… If you know where to look.

I’ll let you in on a few spots that I’ve found to be haven of street dance:

The Gathering (Last Thursday of every month at the Rotunda 4014 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA)
Modern (DC)
Shelter (NYC)

Ivy League?

For those of you who don’t already know, I’ve applied to three arts administration graduate programs: Columbia, NYU, and Carnegie Mellon. I have a graduate admissions interview at Columbia University in 9 days and I‘m a bit nervous. The outcome of this interview will change my life significantly so I’m sure you can understand my anxiety. I’m trying to prepare as thoroughly as possible. I’ve researched the program and the program director. I have two mock interviews scheduled for this week. I’ve gone over potential interview questions countless time. Basically, I’ve done everything I can think of so that I screw up my future because of a bad interview.

I’d like to ask anyone who reads this entry to give me whatever advice you think might be helpful to me. Possible interview questions? Stress relief tactics? Anything thing you can suggest would be very much appreciated.

I’d also like to ask for suggestions on places in NYC you think I should visit. I’m already planning on going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History. I prefer arts related activities but I’m open to suggestions outside the arts.

I suppose that is all for now.

Stay Tuned…

Human Error & Technology

I have a funny story to tell about a recent fiasco involving me and technology. This story is entirely true and I can't believe it happened to me.

I'm currently enrolled in a class titled "Religion and the Holocaust." Most of the discussion in this class has centered on the role of the Protestant church, specifically the German Christian Movement, in Nazi Germany. A good amount of time has also been spent on reviewing anti-semitic propaganda. Among this propaganda was a film titled "The Eternal Jew" which we began watching but were unable to finish because the DVD could not read my professor's disc. Our professor wanted the class to see a section of the film depicting Kosher butchering as a sadistic ritual of animal torture. After class, I found the section of the film on Youtube.
My university uses a program, ANGEL, which, among other things, allows students to send mass emails to their entire class. I logged into ANGEL and composed a message containing a link to the video clip. I proofread, and then sent the message out to what I believed my Religion and the Holocaust class. I didn't realize my mistake until a girl from my Business Strategy class sent me a reply saying that she had missed the class and wanted to know what discussion we had relating to the clip. I immediately sent an apology to the class, but that didn't save me from the looks that one would expect to receive after sending a Nazi propaganda film to ones business class.

I hope you enjoyed this story. This is the clip, in case anyone is interested.



Stay Tuned...

Graffiti vs. Street Art

Blog- Graffiti vs. Street Art

I was having a discussion with some friends the other day about graffiti and street art. I was a bit more knowledgeable than my friends and it inspired me to enlighten my audience. Many people see these art forms as nothing more than vandalism, but it is difficult to ignore their aesthetic qualities. I will begin by explaining the differences between graffiti and street art, both are very broad terms but I will give you my refined definition.
Graffiti is primarily created with the use of aerosol paint. Its central subject is generally a word that represents the identity of the artist. These words may be accompanied by ancillary elements such as cartoon characters, portraits, and clouds, among other things. Several common lettering styles include tags, bombs, and wild style.
Street art is less egocentric than graffiti. Although the artists often “sign” their work, their name is not the focus of the work. Street art generally has a deeper purpose than aesthetic value, containing a message that is either implicitly or explicitly stated. Some common examples of this art form are stenciling, wheat paste posters, and installations.
I understand that people tend to over generalize when then hear the term graffiti. I hope that this information will help you to better appreciate these forms of art and to recognize that these artists have real talent.
If you are interested in seeing pictures of some of my work and my favorite graffiti writers and street artists click the links below.

Sicks One Zero - a Pennsylvania artist collective of which I'm a member
Banksy - UK street artist (Probably my favorite street artist)
Swoon- Female artist from NY
Artcrimes - Graffiti website


Stay tuned…

Life...

Hey readers,
Sorry I haven't been posting a lot lately, but I've been battling depression with varying degrees of success. This happens to me sometimes, but I'm making an effort to keep it under control. It has been much worse in the past so I think I can handle it. I'll try to keep a more regular schedule in the future.

Stay tuned...

I'll begin by introducing myself

I grew up in south eastern Pennsylvania, not really near any major city, but between Allentown and Reading. I'm more well read than most people I meet which is funny because I had to repeat my senior year of high school because I failed English. I didn't start reading until I was in community college where I developed an interest in literature. Other than reading, my interests are primarily related to the arts. I've been a breakdancer for the last 8 years and have traveled all over the country to perform. Dancing is the best thing that has entered my life and I am extremely grateful to have found it. In the last few years, I've also taken up painting. My painting technique is derived from street art methods and often includes stencil and graffiti elements. I also enjoy religious art and it influences my work as well, despite the fact that I consider myself Agnostic. I suppose that is the basics.

Stay Tuned....