Connecting to the Fleur d'Orange Residency

by Ruth Faris

Ruth (right) at the Opening Reception by JK Photo

When Karen invited me over to Ruth's house last weekend for a party to paint a shingle on her new Little Library (which was great fun, by the way.  If you don't know anything about these little libraries, you should check it out!) I immediately thought, oh wouldn't it be great if she could share with us some of her thoughts on the residency!  Ruth is such a beautiful, vibrant, enthusiastic person.  I am so glad Karen introduced me to her!  -Nicole

When Nicole asked me yesterday to write something for the blog about my experiences last week during the Fleur D'Orange residency, and Karen added 'yes you were one of our main supporters,' I felt like 'what, who, ME?....how can I have been seen as being out-front in any way, and what can I possibly say about DANCE?' So, my train of thought developed from that powerful initial response, and I decided I could write on identity (fittingly enough) and community.

When I met Hind at the opening reception at Brickbottom, she asked me something like ‘what kind of dance do you do?’ to which I quickly replied ‘oh no, I am not a “dancer”!’ Similarly, the following night when I went to sign in to the dance workshop at the Armory, the young woman at the door asked something along the same lines, and again I gasped ‘no, not a “dancer.”’ At a party or a club or a wedding, I am the last one up dancing, for the most part, unless I am muscled or guilted on to the floor by a friend. So, clearly, being A Dancer has never been part of my Identity. Ever.

So, why was I even at these events? Well, I was there because I know Karen, and because she had sent some information way back a few months ago about her intention to bring this Moroccan troupe to town. I generally will make an effort to go to something that a friend promotes, where I would be unlikely to go if it’s a ‘cold call.’ Also, I happen to be on the Board of the Center for Arabic Culture, and I help set up a collaboration between CAC and Monkeyhouse…..so, I was thrilled that this was coming about, and had written the dates into my schedule as soon as Karen mentioned them at our first meeting about it. All of this then made it very likely for me to participate….which I think is a truism for organizers of any sort, that the personal connection with someone is the biggest motivator toward attendance/participation.

I step back a bit further; why do I even know Karen, and thereby get this email from her about a Moroccan dance event? Well, I know Karen because we went to Morocco together, twice in fact, as part of a Sister Cities exchange between Somerville and Tiznit. And I grew to love and value her so much over those shared experiences.  And how had I come to be part of those delegations, considering that it was mostly teachers and artists, of which I am neither? …Well, that was because I am a longtime resident of my neighborhood, and had witnessed the Armory over many years….seen it as a wretched mess of a building, serving as an RMV outpost, an occasional bingo hall, and even an actual armory when Reserves units came to muster….then, totally empty and abandoned and looking worse than ever. So, when the Armory was renovated, I was excited to check it out, and went over when I saw some balloons outside in some version of a community open house. Wandering through the building, I saw to my amazement that there was something called ‘the University of the Middle East’ (UME) there, and I introduced myself to the staff member who was there….and probably a year or so later he thought to email to me to let me know about the upcoming Sister Cities project.

All this to say….what, exactly? I’m not sure what I can say that will be of any use or generalizability to others. But being asked to do this did force this train of thought and taught me some things about myself: for me, community is a powerful draw. Left to my own devices, I am happier to stay home and read a book, but if you invite me to something that’s meaningful to you, I might venture out. Also, though I don’t seem it as much these days, I am a shy person, who has only belatedly and even reluctantly learned that putting out a bit of social energy might actually be okay, and even GREAT.

And, that I have a certain fixed idea of my identity, and it takes a whole lot of extenuating circumstances to find myself being a Monkeyhouse cheerleader! When I am around Karen, its possible to feel that I am A Dancer, though don’t say that too loudly.

Fleur d'Orange Residency Wrap Up (pt 1)

by Isabella Carmenate

by Karen Krolak

Several years ago the Boston Dance Alliance asked me to be a panelist for an event about touring dance. One of the questions that arose during this conversation was, "how do you define success?" Another panelist measured success in the number of people in attendance, the number of shows performed, and the number of cities visited, etc. As I listened to his answer and watched as choreographers and presenters in the audience nodded in response, I felt hesitant to share my own thoughts on the question. When the microphone was passed to me, I almost chickened out of an honest response.

You see, while I do understand the economic reality of touring and of presenting dance in general, the finances are unrelated to my sense of success. I want engagement...genuine connection that sparks curiosity and creativity. My metrics are harder to track and I think that they often frustrate grant makers. My metrics range from stories from participants to new projects that evolve or doors that open in people's minds or careers. They require time to develop and often tenacity to track down.

It has only been two weeks since Monkeyhouse's Fleur D'Orange residency ended but each day I get more evidence of how deeply it has affected our community. There is no question that it has surpassed my dreams for how it could be successful. To illustrate the impact of the residency, I would like to share some stats and stories.

To create this residency, Monkeyhouse began by brainstorming with our long term partners, Luminarium, Impulse Dance Center, Endicott College, the University of the Middle East Project, JK Photo and J.P. Licks. Based on the encouragement of those supporters, we reached out to seven new collaborating organizations: Center Stage, Brickbottom Artists Association, the Center for Arabic Culture, the Arts at the Armory, the Pingree School, BJ's and Not Your Average Joe's. These 13 partners helped us gather together diverse groups of people for all the events that week; more than 50% of whom were totally new to Monkeyhouse. While that is an impressive statistic for a presenter, it does not reveal the depths of our relationships with these partners. so I would like to offer just a few stories to exemplify their dedication to this project:

1. Both Impulse Dance Center and the Center for Arabic Culture, were so inspired by the Hind and Soufiane's workshops that they actually offered to contribute more funding to the residency than we had initially agreed upon.

2. In addition to proposing our residency idea to the Arts at the Armory, inviting their supporters to all the residency events, and helping to guide our post-show discussion, Luminarium's Kim and Russell Holman stayed until the bitter end of the Sunday night strike. They even volunteered to help get our extremely heavy genie back onto the U-haul.

3. Two members of Endicott's dance faculty, Nikki Sao Pedro-Welch and Mariah Steele, did a phenomenal job promoting their campus workshops to Endicott students and people at other local dance studios. When we realized during tech set up that our projector was not working well enough for Fleur D'Orange's performance, Nikki immediately loaned us one from her department. Nikki even drove one of the campus vans down to the performance to help more of her students attend the show in Somerville.

4. Center Stage and the New England Foundation for the Arts were so excited by the artist presenting artists aspect of our residency that they have asked me to be a panelist on the subject at APAP, the world's largest networking forum and marketplace for performing arts professionals, on January 12th!

Check back in a day or so and I will have some more stories on audience reactions and how the residency inspired at least one new project.

Fleur d'Orange Residency Events!

Fleur d'Orange Artist Reception

Come meet Hind, Soufiene and Mohcine!
Thursday, October 16th @ 6:30pm-8pm
Brickbottom Gallery, 1 Fitchburg St, Somerville, MA

What's in a Name?

Workshop with Karen Krolak & Hind Benali, Ages 8-14
Friday, October 17th @ 5:30pm-7pm
Center for Arabic Culture, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville

Workshop with Soufiene Karim

Hip-Hop Workshop, Ages 11+
Friday, October 17th @ 6:30pm
Impulse Dance Center, 5 Summer St, Natick, MA

Workshop with Hind Benali

Contemporary Workshop at CAC
Friday, October 17th @ 7pm
Center for Arabic Culture, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville

Workshop with Hind Benali

Contemporary Workshop at Endicott College
Saturday, October 18th @ 2pm
Endicott College, 376 Hale Street, Beverly, MA

Workshop with Soufiene Karim

Hip-Hop Workshop at Endicott College
Saturday, October 18th @ 3:30pm
Endicott College, 376 Hale Street, Beverly, MA

Identity/IDENTITE

An Evening Length Performance
Sunday, October 19th @ 5pm
Arts At the Armory, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville