My Third Week & The Cantab

 The third week of my internship would have fallen on school vacation week, so I am going to combine school vacation week and the following week as “week three.”

As internship begins to come to a quick close, I spent the majority of my time this past week working on the phrases I have started. This includes the Emily Dickinson phrase, “One does not need a chamber to be haunted,” from my very first day on internship. I backtracked my way through the Sabrina Benaim poem, “Explaining My Depression to My Mother,” and the five variations of my “mom” movement phrase, which I will admit was quite the challenge. Lastly, I reviewed the phrase that I created from my Language Autobiography. Karen also had me do two two minute writing exercises, where I wrote down everything that came to my mind. When looking at my list, I have to laugh at how bipolar my mind was that day. I thought I would share my list of thoughts:

• “Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire. But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to say that sometimes, ice is also great.” -This is a poem by Robert Frost, at least, a close variation of the poem.
• Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music
• I thoroughly enjoy the smell of apple cinnamon bread in the morning
• I recommend talking about your period seductively. -This is a poem that I will discuss further later.
• I am much more of a cat person
• Quack a doodle doo the cow goes moo
• I really like the taste of chocolate milk even though I really do hate milk but it’s yummy so I drink it anyways

The biggest thing, at least the thing I enjoyed the most out of these two weeks combined, is my visit to the Can Tab’s poetry night. Every Wednesday night from 7:00 pm to approximately 11:00 pm, there is a poetry slam. I have never felt more at home in such a foreign place. My mom and I had the pleasure to go and experience this event, and I definitely plan to go and attend again, and maybe even read. The atmosphere, the people, the vibe... It made me feel so comfortable. It was held in a dark, crowded "basement," and when I say crowded, I mean it. The dark room kept it more honest, I believe. There were people everywhere, and my mom and I were lucky to find seats. "Seats" meaning my mom got a bar stool, and I sat on some sort of cabinet. You had to be 18+ to attend, and the only things in the room other than the crowd was a bar and a bright-lit stage with a microphone. The night began with an open mic from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, which I learned that people wait an hour, sometimes longer, out the doors to sign up for the limited amount of 5 minute slots. I think what I loved about it the most was the honesty that poured from each open-mic speakers heart; All of their hearts really. Whenever someone spoke, I could feel the pain, the love, the passion emptying from their throats and out of their mouths, and it was absolutely heart-wrenching. The main act, Chanel Dupree, went on from 10:00 pm to 10:30 pm, and she was absolutely fascinating. She was selling a short book of poems that she had written, and after listening to her speak, I had to buy one. So shyly, I approached her and asked to buy one of her books. We began having a conversation about my name, (after she asked for mine, and told me about how she loves the name Jordan. She also agreed it's more of a girls name...but that's beside the point.) That conversation led to us talking about my internship, and how I am incorporating text and movement to create a final dance project for school. She was so intrigued, and I felt so comfortable talking to her. In my book, she signed it: To Jordan, Your name, face, voice, and overall personality is just magical! Thank you so much for supporting! -Chanel Dupree. P.S. Good luck with your internship!

Needless to say, I about died of happiness.

   The night ended with their poetry slam contest, which is three rounds of poetry, where six people compete in a 3 minute round, four people compete in a 2 minute round, and 2 compete for the title of Poetry Slam Champion in a 1 minute poetry slam. There were three judges, all of which were audience members picked at random. My mom and I became friendly with the young woman behind us, and got to help her judge each round.

   To end, I thought I would share some of my favorite lines from the night:

• "I am not as [messed] up as this poem." (Yes, I did change it to make it appropriate for this blog)
• "Nothing says 'Happy New Year' like a Celtic's 'Go [*beep*] yourself' tee shirt." (What I really liked about this haiku poem was that it was written by a woman in her late 50's. You go girl!)
• "I know what it's like to hand over a plate of my limbs to a man who has already eaten." -Chanel Dupree
• "I recommend talking about your period seductively." (This was a poem written by a woman who had read an article about a group of women that photographed themselves menstruating. The article and photographs caused a furious uproar, and many political debates. The poem and explanation is linked above. The reason I enjoyed this poem so much is not because of the humorous title, but because of how honest and blunt it was. It was brilliantly written, and the author, Kayla Wheeler, deserves much recognition for this piece of work.)

My Second Week with Monkeyhouse

Week two of my internship with Monkeyhouse began with working on my resumé. Nicole and Karen helped me build a new resumé, explaining that some things that I didn't think were important to be in it, are actually key to my resumé. For instance, when talking about the many years of dance of my dance education, they explained that talking about different dance conventions can show future employers that I was interested and willing to go out into different communities to learn from renowned dance icons. Some of which include So You Think Dance winners, and Maud Arnold, from Turn It Up Dance Convention, and well-know celebrity dancers and choreographers from The Pulse: On Tour.

Throughout the week, I worked with a piece of writing from my sophomore english class. The assignment being to write a language autobiography, which could be defined as anything; Speaking a different language, talking about a favorite book and how it change who you are, or like me, how dance is another way I speak, and am able to communicate. This piece of writing is something that I am extremely proud of, because it not only talks about dance, but how dance helped me grow and find myself as a person suffering from an abusive relationship. As I prefer to keep the topic between my instructors and I, I will (try to) explain how I took dance and this piece of writing and create different movement phrases from them. Karen started this assignment off by having me take three verb sentences from my language autobiography, and creating three movement phrases from them. These three phrases I weaved into one, long phrase, which I refer to as "the verb phrase." The next day, Nicole had me create three separate phrases from my writing. I had to choose a sentence from the beginning, the middle (the apex,) and the end.

• Beginning: "We dance to be truthful with our innermost thoughts, and to express them not through words, but through movement."
• Middle/Apex: I prefer to keep this line private.
• End: "Dance through all of the pain, and in your blood; But most importantly, dance when you're free."

From here, I was given the task to put the 'verb phrase' in where I thought it made "the most sense" with the beginning, middle, and end phrases. I was able to change the order of the phrases in a way they made the most sense to me, that order being beginning phrase, middle phrase, verb phrase, and then the end phrase. 

Nicole wanted to play with the idea of using different emotions with my phrase. We wanted to find different ways that I could do certain movements to make my original phrase more interesting. We began with the idea of yelling, where I took the articulation of my fingers and created moments of being off balance. Next, I had to do the phrase as if I was pleading. I discovered that I moments of pause, and moments of reaching to my full extent added a new kind of draw and appeal to my phrase. Playfulness was the hardest to work with, as the original phrase is almost melancholy, taking a completely opposite emotion was hard to work with. From that, I did take the use of my plié can add a nice sort of 'bounciness' to certain movements. Lastly, we used the idea of 'whispering loudly,' which I enjoyed the most, because of the use of elongation, and being able to start my movements small, and gradually make them as big as I desired.

Gwendolyn The Graceful Pig: The Use of Text in Dance

Gwendolyn the Graceful Pig, written by David Ira Rottenberg, is the story about a pig that wants to learn how to dance. The story follows Gwendolyn and her friend Omar, a pig that wants to play football, and their journey to gain the grace and beauty they need in order to be successful. After being invited to multiple libraries and schools to read his book, Rottenberg thought that he could make his book more successful by inviting a dance company to dance, act, and simply tell the story as he read. The Connecting Point Dance Company took the task at hand, and created an fun, entertaining, and interactive story for the children. 

This year has been my second year of performing “Gwen,” and I was lucky enough to play the clumsy protagonist herself, joined by Melanie Joseph, the lead of Omar. Being able to play the main character of a story, even if is requires a pig nose and ears, is a lot of fun, especially when you know that what you are doing is making the audience, filled with big eyes and adventurous hearts, laugh and smile. Gwendoline and Omar start off clumsy and awkward, but gain their elegance and grace after a day at the studio with a group of ballet dancers, taught by their teacher, Natasha, "the greatest ballet teacher in 'ze' world!" (I do advise you to go back and read that last quote with a Russian accent; It will make a lot more sense.) The clumsiness of the two pigs is the biggest hit with the children, the second being when Gwendolyn comes out to perform her final solo, the children astonished by her beautiful, “bright, [red] tutu.”

Throughout my internship, I have been using text to create movement phrases. Specifically using poetry, I take lines, words, the sound of the poet’s voice, etc, to create and rework movement phrases that I create. In similar ways, as the performers of “Gwen,” we use lines from the book, specific words, and the way David Ira Rottenberg talks as cues on how to act to fit the story. I have found it extremely interesting how one can take literature, and text, and recreate it with the body, specifically through dance. For instance, with “Gwen,” we as the performers are simply acting out the story as it is told. In comparison, I have been using poetry by taking actual words and using different sounds, shapes, letters, moods, and emotions to create various visual representations of what the poem states, or what the poet says. When working with the Emily Dickinson poem, I used one specific line to create a phrase using letters used in that specific line. The line I chose, "One does not need a chamber to be haunted," I used my body to create the letters O, D, N, H, T, and B. Similarly, when working with Sabrina Benaim's poem, "Explaining My Depression to My Mother," the word mom is used repetitively. Using the word "mom," I created five different variations of an original phrase, which originated from using the letters m, o, and m, over and over again.

My First Week on Internship

My first day at Monkeyhouse started off not at all how I expected. Nicole asked me to generate a list of things I would need to budget if I were to hold a dance performance. Of course I came up with the typical list of venue, lighting, sound, costumes, etc; Where Nicole then had me take that list and generate all of the fine details about each bullet point. Let’s just say that the list doubled in size pretty quickly! From there I generated questions that I could ask if I were to go and try to rent a space. Upon learning that I would be going into Boston on Friday to do so, this simple exercise fueled my excitement.

Throughout the week, Karen and Nicole had me work on several different movement phrases. Starting on day 1, I worked with Emily Dickinson’s poem, “One Does Not Need a Chamber to be Haunted.” I took one line from the poem, and created a movement phrase, using letters from the chosen line as inspiration. For the next day, I was asked to record that phrase in two different settings, and bring in a poem that I enjoyed. I brought in a slam poem written by Sabrina Benaim called “Explaining My Depression to My Mother.” I have watched this poem on Youtube multiple times, and on several occasions. I wanted to use this poem because of truthful and harsh reality it has when explaining what it is like to suffer from depression. Karen had me create multiple sets of movement phrases, choosing one word from the poem that is quite repetitive; mom. I worked with different paces, size, planes, and instrumentation to create a set of phrases that I can say I am quite proud of.
My last day of the week was quite an experience. I traveled to South Station by myself to meet Karen and Nicole to go look at venues for rehearsal and performance space. I don’t think it would have been the full South Station experience if a creepy old man had not come over to talk to me, but don’t worry; I certainly got the full experience! Nicole and I visited three locations, all of which were very different from each other. The Dance Complex was wide, open space, with a comforting atmosphere, and looked like your typical performance location. The space where the performances were held was a large "black box." Nothing to grab your attention away from the dancers performing. Although there were a lot of stairs, (!) I thoroughly enjoyed viewing the building, and getting a sneak peek at the ballet class. Green Street Studios was quite the opposite of the Dance Complex. Quite the "hole in the wall" location, Green Street brought an entirely different vibe to the dance world. The space was occupied so it was hard to get a feel of the size of the studios. I can respectively say that Green Street would be a wonderful rehearsal space, as the location feels built for that solely. I do have to say that the Multicultural Art Center definitely caught my attention. Although on the pricier side, I do see why it is a popular venue to hold weddings, with its beautiful ceilings, and uplifting sense of surrounding. I do feel as if this location is more than appropriate for any dance rehearsal/production. The art galleries were just the cherry on top!

Meet Isabella Carmenate!

by Emma Foley

You met Isabella during the Fleur d'Orange Residency as our Photographic Intern.  Now here is an interview she did with fellow Monkeyhouse Intern Emma Foley!

Isabella Carmenate is a 15-year-old sophomore in high school and a new Monkeyhouse intern! I also attend school with her--and any one of our peers could tell you just how much Isabella's creativity shines through on a daily basis. I recently had the opportunity to ask her some questions about her experiences in art, theater, and dance. 

EF: I understand that out of your variety of creative endeavors, theater might be the most recent; you just picked it up a few years ago (although everyone at Natick High Drama is very glad you did!) Why did you decide to start doing drama, and have you learned anything unexpected from it?

IC: I started doing drama because in eighth grade my chorus teacher heard me playing piano and singing after school. He pretty much got all my friends to force me into it and I did my first show that year. I expected to be under impressed with the whole thing to be honest. But I learned that it’s not really just about the acting and singing it’s more about the people you meet and the experiences you take from it.

EF: Out of the shows you’ve done, which has been your favorite? 

IC: The first show I did was Once on This Island and it was probably my favorite. I played the old mother and was extremely awkward on stage. I said my lines with probably no expression and sang super quietly. I laugh at this now because I don’t understand why I got a part. But I met some of my friends that I’ve gotten really close with there and it really got me into drama.

EF: I know you’ve been taking art classes outside of school for a long time, and subsequently become very good at it! When did you first know you loved art? 

IC: The question more is when didn’t I know that I liked art? Seriously, I’ve been drawing since I was super little. I started by when I first moved here by taking these weird classes where we would basically copy what the teacher had done a demo of at the front of the classroom. This was super boring to me so I looked for something else and found the current classes that I go to when I was in the third grade. I still remember the first real drawing I did of a bird with a really awful sun colored in the background. I’ve always loved art and taking art classes but it wasn’t until I wasn’t until I started trying other styles and really getting into experimenting with mediums and styles that I realized how much I really love art.

EF: Do you have a favorite type of art, and why is it your favorite? 

IC: I’ve been practicing realism since I was in the third grade. I like that the best because I think personally it was a really good foundation for other kinds of art. I’m always trying different kinds of art to try out but I always find that I need the basic skills of shape and form and value to keep me going. Even when I’m making simple, goofy cartoons I need an understanding of proportions and line.

EF: Why do you like dance?

IC: I like dance because I’m a big believer in the importance of creative outlets. For me, dance is a really good not only creative but emotional and physical outlet. I like that I can ‘get out’ whatever I need to during dance.

Meet Emma Foley

by Isabella Carmenate

Emma and Isabella are our newest interns. Their first task this fall was to interview each other!

I had the chance to interview Emma Foley, a current sophomore at Natick High school about drama, dance and writing. What I found out about her was super interesting!

IC: Did anyone push you into the arts as a small child or was that something you decided on your own?

EF: I had played sports for a while, just because that’s what everyone else was doing, but my parents and I both knew I was not gonna be a sporty kid up into high school! My mom was the first to prod me into theater, and I went from there.

IC: What roles have you played, and what are some of your favorite shows that you have been in?

EF: My favorite show I’ve been in was when I was in an acting troupe at Wheelock Theater—the director put together a collection of monologues and short plays around a central theme, then we spent two weeks in the summer rehearsing, and two weeks performing for various summer camps, etc. We changed a bunch of the content based on whatever age group we were performing for that day—it was a really unique experience! Aside from that, doing Once Upon a Mattress was such a blast. Nicole came up with some crazy fun choreography.

IC: If you had to pick one thing that was your favorite part of the process (of putting on a show), what would it be?

EF: I love doing read-throughs with the entire cast for the first time. Everyone’s really energetic and excited to start rehearsing the show, and its neat to see how people portray their character when they haven’t seen the entire script before.

What have you found through the opportunities high school has given you?

It’s been really cool just to meet a ton of new people, through theater or otherwise.

IC: What has been different (or the same) about theater at the high school?

EF: I feel like high school theater is a little more of a tight-knit community than anywhere else, because we all go to school together, in addition to seeing each other for hours after school every day, for four years in a row.

IC: Does your love for writing and theater ever meet, and if so, how does that happen for you?

EF: Definitely! In a creative writing class I took, we were asked to try writing a short play, so I felt like I had the advantage of having experience in exactly what that’s supposed to look like. Even when the two don’t meet, I feel like they connect in a lot of ways—they’re both about a very introspective point of view.

IC: Why do you like dance?

EF: This may sound super cliché, but I like how dance is really energetic yet controlled and disciplined at the same time.

Being An Intern

by Rosie Steinberg

I recently had a conversation with Karen Krolak about dance, specifically partnering in modern, and its symbolism for human relationships in general. Weight sharing, effective communication, and trust are all crucial factors in both a productive partnering improvisation and in healthy relationships. With family, friends, co-workers, coaches, and teachers, I constantly see these factors come into play. Every day, I attempt to understand more of how to be a better person and communicator, and dance has become a reliable way to do so. Whether it be American Repertory Theater's production of "Marie Antoinette", F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby", or Luminarium's Andromeda, I can take everything for what it is and simply enjoy it for its beauty. Then, afterward, I can scribble in a notebook about how it made me feel, what every movement represented for my personal journey through the piece, and how I can use these observations to learn something new about

myself. These experiences constantly humble my perception of myself and the world, reminding me that I know a lot less than I think I do. A humbling experience, yes, but a worthwhile one. Every opportunity I get to work with Monkeyhouse strengthens my love and appreciation for art. Thank you Monkeyhouse!

Don't Forget! Internship Presentation (Program Included)

By Elyssa Berg

Don't forget to check out the presentation of the work Laila and I created during our internship with Monkeyhouse! It's a free event that will be presented in the Natick High School Auditorium. There will be two performances; one at 6:30 and one at 7:00. Come show your support for Monkeyhouse, Laila, and I and enjoy some dance! Here is the electronic program for tonight.


Internship Presentation
Presented by Monkeyhouse
at Natick High School
May 21, 2013

Photo by Paradise Photo and Video

Logic or Passion (premiere)
Choreographed and performed by Laila Fatimi
Music by Owen Walker
Developed during Monkeyhouse internship
A special thanks to Karen Krolak and Nicole Harris

Right Of Passage (premiere)
Choreographed and performed by Elyssa Berg
Music by Marcus "Ides" Jackson
Developed during Monkeyhouse internship
A Special thanks to Karen Krolak and Nicole Harris

Get To Know Laila!

By: Elyssa Berg

Laila Fatimi is 17 years old and a Senior at Natick High School. She will be graduating this spring and attending the University of Maine in the Fall. She has been dancing at Impulse Dance Center in Natick, MA for the past 15 years where she is a part of the Connecting Point Dance Company and the TAProject; two performing companies from the studio. Laila has also started her own business, Designs By Laila, that incorporates Henna designs into everything from tattoos to skateboards and sneakers. Here are some of the highlights from the conversation that we had together.

So I understand that you have been dancing at Impulse Dance Center for the past 15 years. Why don’t you tell me about the experience you’ve had from learning from the same teachers for such an extended amount of time.

Learning from the same teachers for so long, at Impulse Dance Center in Natick, MA I have learned so much. I have learned everything from different styles of dance, to intricate technique, and life lessons.  One of the most important things I’ve learned, that is the most relevant to me at the moment (being a graduating senior), was said last year by Karen Krolak. She said, the more amazing memories made with a person, the more painful it is to say goodbye. Impulse is like my second family and I’m honored to be a part of such a great community!

I see that you’ve had a number of jobs over the past few years, have any of them impacted or tied into your dancing?

Yes, I actually think that my dancing has impacted my jobs. For a couple years, I worked at Corrado’s Subs in Natick Center. It’s obvious that making subs and dancing are very different, but I quickly learned that remembering sandwich orders is similar to remembering choreography. Now that I have been working on my own business, Designs by Laila, I have to be very organized, outgoing with customers, and on top of my work. Being at Impulse Dance Center almost every day, having school, and having homework have all helped me in learning the balancing act.

So over the years you have been to many different conventions. What would you say has been your favorite convention that you’ve been to and how did they differ from each other?

My favorite convention that I have been to has been the PULSE on tour convention in Boston. Learning from many world famous choreographers has shown me what being successful takes. It also was an awesome feeling to be in a room with hundreds of dancers who have had a totally different dance education than I have, meaning I had different strengths and weaknesses from the person next to me, which you can learn a lot from.

How do you think performing so much at such a young age has influenced you professionally?

I have learned how to present myself professionally, how to be respectful and how to be punctual. There is a lot that goes into a performance and if you are not on point something in the performance process could go wrong, or you could not be asked back to perform.

What would you say has been your favorite experience while performing in the Connecting Point Dance Company?

My favorite performance experience was at 12 Dancers Dancing in December 2011, at the Dance Complex in Cambridge, MA. I performed a piece called ‘Mad World’, created by Arie Hockman, with the rest of the Connecting Point Dance Company. I loved performing with a such a small group (three). It gave us a chance to connect as dancers, in a beautiful dance that is still my favorite piece that I have ever learned! It was also the first time that I felt so much passion and connection towards a piece. I also had a great time getting ready for the piece. The Connecting

Point Dance Company and Arie Hockman, the company’s director, drove into Boston for about a week straight. We would grab some coffee from the cafe down the street, put our pail white makeup on, and perform. I think this gave us more time to bond and get to know each other as more than just dancers.

David Parker Awarded 2013 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowhip

By: Elyssa Berg

Congratulations to David Parker who has recently received the John Simon Guggenheim fellowship this year for his creative accomplishments! Every year, out of 3,500 - 4,000 applicants, there are 200 fellowships awarded to those who have demonstrated exceptional creativity in the arts. This fellowship provides a block of time in which the recipient can work with as much creative freedom as possible to continue to develop their work. Applicants include "advanced professionals" such as writers, scholars, scientists, composers, artists, choreographers, and more.


David Parker is choreographer and founder of, The Bang Group. This is a company that is strongly based on the focus of rhythmic potential in the body. You may know David for his comedic take on choreography that will be sure to keep you laughing and entertained. He is sure to push the comedic limits with pieces full of concepts that you may have never seen before. David expresses himself through this comedy as he is able to instill messages in his choreography that people are likely to take with them, along with a few laughs.


The Bang Group has internationally toured and also spent an ample amount of time at Summer Stages Dance Festival in Concord, MA for their past 12 seasons. You may know The Bang Group for their performance of Nut/Cracked ( a comedic take on the holiday classic Nutcracker) or Showdown. Through The Bang Group you can see everything from men on pointe shoes, to bubble wrap choreography, and even thumb sucking duets. David's creative mind will never fail to allow you into a world of his own; full of entertainment, laughs, and lots of rhythm.

Intentions of Movement

By: Elyssa Berg

This week Laila, Nicole, and I spent a good amount of time exploring movement through improvisation. During a specific exercise Nicole had Laila and I improvize while focusing on specific body parts that she would call out. We explored movement through body parts including the hands, feet, pelvis, lungs, and even the kidneys. With such an extended amount of time to focus movement using a specific part of my body I found it easy to explore. I was finding new ways to lead with that body part, use it as a space hold, put weight on different parts of it, and use it to initiate other movement in my body. There was a clear purpose to my movement as I was focused on how I could use the specific body part in new ways.

After this exercise we wrote about which body part was our favorite to focus on, which was our least favorite, and why this was. One of my favorite body parts to move with was my toes. I found different ways to move on my toes, different ways of following where my toes were leading, and it was easy to allow the rest of my body to relax and follow without restricting other movements. Another one of my favorites was moving with my ear. It is not usually a body part that I think of as influencing my movement so I thought it was enjoyable to focus on as I surprised myself with the outcome. My least favorite body part to move with was my elbow. When I was moving with my elbows I felt like I was focusing so much on the specific movement of the elbow that my body wasn't able to respond and react to the movement; making me feel stiff and contained.

Once Laila and I decided what our favorite and least favorite body parts to move with were we were given the task of creating two phrases, one with our favorite body part and one with our least favorite. I chose for my least favorite body part my elbow and for my favorite body part my toes. When going into this exercise I figured that it would be more difficult to create a phrase with my least favorite body part than it would be to create one with my favorite. It turns out that i was completely wrong about this. Going into this task I had no intensions for the phrase with my elbow to be anything that I would like, for it to be interesting, or for it to be easy to create. My phrase actually came naturally and after I had previously written down why I didn't like using that body part I was able to change my approach to my movement making it more enjoyable. When I started creating my phrase using my toes I had a lot of difficulty. I felt like I put a certain expectation on what the phrase needed to be. I thought that because it was my favorite it had to be an amazing phrase using everything I had discovered when I improvised. It turns out that my expectations and intentions on what I thought my movement should have been greatly effected the creative process.