It is hard to know where to begin when reflecting on our
time at Dancemakers. It was in essence the perfect week. We traveled through the
world of Time Now, a work I began creating two years ago with dancers Joanie
Audet, Ana Groppler and Emma Kerson. With the opportunity to work in the
theatre space I was able to play with props, sound and lighting equipment that till this
point were just ideas in my mind or small sketches in my notebook.
During our residency Elizabeth Shepherd (composer for the work) spent a day improvising with voice and piano while John MacLean (recording engineer and musical arranger) captured the sounds. Omar Yukseker joined us for two days of photo capture and I was able to acquire countless hours of video footage.
Time is invaluable to an artist, it is rare for small
dance companies to have unlimited access to studio space for several days
consecutively. The week brought with it a freedom for experimentation. Our rehearsals were between 6 and 8 hrs each day, I would arrive early to spend
time in the space and often leave late sketching ideas for the next day before
I left the incubator of the studio. It
seemed a luxury to me to spend this kind of time surrounded by collaborators
and open space to romp through my physical thoughts.
Kemi will produce Time Now as part of Stages at The
Winchester Street Theatre in September. Having had this intensive period with
the collaborators I feel certain that we will be presenting a work that is more
informed and developed. I hope that in the coming years Dancemakers will offer
more of these opportunities and that the artist councils will support the artists
in residence. Dedicated time to practice is the simplest way to support any
artist and I am deeply grateful for this time.
- JD
