Psyched for PSY

by karen Krolak

When PSY blew into Boston the first time this year, we nearly missed it. Jason had purchased tickets way in advance but snowstorms and tech rehearsals tried to thwart us. We knew our timeline would be  tight when White Wave announced the schedule for the Cool New York Dance Festival. Our tech was at 11AM in the morning and due to a few other conflicts, we had planned to drive down to Brooklyn at 5AM.

Unfortunately, this was the view from our porch at 4:30AM. As you can see, our canine choreographer was a wee bit concerned.

As we headed towards Caitlin's house to gather up the dancers, the situation did not improve. In fact, her street was impassable in our lightweight FIT. Suitcases sledded over the snow and our intrepid crew persisted towards the turnpike.




Hours later as we were slogging through Connecticut, cars began making u-turns on the highway and nervous giggles erupted in our vehicle. Then we saw the clusterfork

and decided that driving the wrong way back to an on ramp made sense after all. Thanks to my G2, we were able to navigate on the fly and scoot pass the mess on alternate roads.

By the time we arrived in Brooklyn, major streets were actually plowed but we still had to push through a few intersections in DUMBO. Can you believe that we had three minutes to spare, er warm up, before the tech started?

Our return trip that afternoon was far less eventful but drug on for so many hours that we just barely hustled ourselves back to Beantown in time catch the start of PSY. Having been crammed in our tiny car for the bulk of 14 hours, I was crabby as we crawled into our snug balcony seats. In fact, I may have been muttering about how being in the audience felt like its own contortion act when the action began.

What unfolded on, around, and above the stage, however, was so worth every ounce of our earlier adventure. Floating into the surreal ambiance created by this stellar ensemble reminded me why I fell in love with the performing arts.

PSY digs into physical metaphors for neuroses that plague people using a broad spectrum of circus arts and movement styles. Although some aspects of it have dark edges is woven together with compassion and humor. Tomorrow's multiple personality interview with folks from Montreal's Les 7 Doigts de la Main will give you a fuller sense of the show but please don't wait til then to get your tickets. Seriously, run, hop, somersault, (just be glad you aren't driving through a Nor'easter) over to the ArtsEmerson website or box office now. You will love how the 7 fingers tickle your mirror neurons.

PSY 

2 weeks only!

July 12 to July 24

Cutler Majestic Theatre

Connecting with Jessica Chen (part 2)

by Karen Krolak

Yikes...it has taken me a while to get the second half of this interview with Jessica Chen published. When you read the barrage of posts that are about to go up, though, you will understand why that is. To refresh your memory, Monkeyhouse met Jessica while performing at White Wave's Cool New York Dance Festival.

kK: I read on your website that you started out studying traditional Chinese dance.
JC: I studied Chinese Folk dance for many many years (6 to be exact) and toured Southern California with a semi-professional company. At that point, I didn't have many friends at school because I was busy every weekend performing.

kK: And, how did you become interested in contemporary dance?
JC: When I was 13, I decided to quit and join my junior high cheer team. That changed my life, because I joined the dance team in high school and then danced in the modern department at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Upon graduating from UCSB, I moved to NYC to go to the Ailey school. It was in NYC, working with other choreographers, that I discovered contemporary dance. So you can say it started when I wanted to make more friends at school.

kK: Hmmm...contemporary, cheerleading, and traditional Chinese dancing is quite an unusual combination. How do you feel that your choreography reflects this diverse range of dance styles?
JC: One of my new pieces is a sword dance, which is one of the traditional dances. It was the dance I was working on when I quit. I never got to perform it. Now I get to choreograph my version of a sword dance. I also love partnering work and maybe that is influenced by my background in cheerleading. At UCSB, I was what you called a "flyer" and I had only one "base." I was always really good at being lifted and thrown around (as a flyer), but I also knew how to lift others (as a base).

kK: So, how did you begin choreographing?
JC: Well, when I was young, around 8 or 9 years old, I would produce shows with my sisters and cousins for our parents. They included dancing, singing and acting. That was fun.

kK: Oh, I loved to do that too with my best friend, Sandy. When did you first show your work publicly?
JC: My first experience choreographing was in high school. I was a dance team leader and our coach was let go. We had a transition coach who was very much like the con-artist choreographer from the movie, Bring It On. He even made us do "spirit fingers." Long story short, I had to step in several times to re-choreograph our show. Anyway, I choreographed my first piece when I was 19 for a Teen Choreographer Showcase hosted by the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance.

kK: My first choreography project was also in high school. Ricki Lombardo created the part of the narrative shadow dancer for me in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and asked me to create all my dances. It wasn't until I studied with Lynne Blom, though, that I realized I wanted to be a choreographer. When did you know?
JC: It wasn't until I was at the Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts in 2006 that I discovered I really liked choreographing. Out of two summers (6 weeks) I choreographed three pieces. It was from the second summer that I decided to form the J. Chen Project and pursue my choreography career.

kK: Are you working on any projects while you are in Taiwan?
JC: I am in Taiwan to visit my 94 year old grandpa and my aunt. He is a strong, interesting man and has been through so much. It's nice to come and spend time with him. And it is Chinese New Years, so lots of good food and celebration. I would like to tour here someday soon, so I am looking at some potential theaters and checking out the contemporary dance scene in Taiwan.

kK: Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions.
JC: Of course, it's always fun to do interviews. I am producing my first evening length show in June so this is great exposure for me.

kK: Well, please keep us posted as I would love to see your work one of these days!

Connecting with Jessica Chen (part 1)

photo by: Quinn Batson


by karen Krolak

One of my favorite aspects of performing in the Cool New York Dance Festival is meeting other choreographers backstage. Personally, I love watching everyone warming up in costumes downstairs and imagining what transpires in their piece. Because we never do a full dress rehearsal, we can only catch glimpses of whoever is performing right before us. Hearing the music, occasional thuds or stomps, and the reaction of the audience only heightens the mystery.

I was delighted when one of our fellow choreographers from Program G, Jessica Chen, contacted Monkeyhouse through our Facebook fan page after the concert. It gave me an excuse to suss out more information about her piece, Training the Devil. Jessica was kind enough to indulge my barrage of questions through emails even though she was traveling in Taiwan.


karen Krolak: So was this your first time at the Cool New York Dance Festival?
Jessica Chen: Yes, this was the first time performing at Cool NY.

kK: Since choreographers have to be invited to perform in this festival, do you have any idea how Young Soon Kim, Artistic Director of White Wave, heard about your work?
JC:I got involved with White Wave through the DUMBO Dance Festival. I performed on Sept 26, but I also ushered the night before. Young Soon let me usher a few shows instead of paying the application fee. I was applying to a lot of festivals last year, so this was tremendously helpful and sweet of her. Then she called me and asked if I wanted to show work at Cool NY. How could I turn that down?!

kK: As you know, I wasn't able to see your piece since we were in the same concert. Can you describe it for me?
JC: Training the Devil is a very physical and emotional duet, danced with two blue gloves and one black tie. It is a glance into the merging of two lives and the journey after “Happily Ever After.” Two individuals, who bring out each other’s demons, discover a world of acceptance and reconciliation.

kK: Wow, I like that it is danced by two blue gloves and one black tie...
JC: The truth is I got those gloves from a previous show I did. They are designed by "Sex and the City" and "Ugly Betty" stylist, Patricia Field. I just really like them. So I brought them to rehearsal one day along with some other things. We both got very inspired by them so we kept going with it.

kK: Was that right at the first rehearsal?
JC: This was probably in the middle of our creative process. It fit the story line and the direction the piece was going, so we didn't question it.

kK: I am always fascinated by watching the evolution of ideas within a piece. I wonder how much the costumes alter your movements or added to their meaning.
JC: We actually collaborated with a video artist. She filmed our rehearsals and performances and made them into a music video. It's a different viewpoint of the piece, but it shows some of the movement. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/user/jessicawchen

to be continued...

Photos from Cool New York Dance Festival 2009

by Karen Krolak

Yesterday after we finished teching our latest creation, anti-ossification, Nicole, Jason, and I grabbed a marvelous lunch at Baco Cafe . As we savored some heavenly tomato soup and shakshuka, we perused pictures from our 2009 Cool New York performances.




We were delighted by Yi-Chun Wu's images of Pochemuchka and Firk II and thought they might whet your appetite for this year's festival. Be forewarned that you will want to get there early to make sure you get a seat.

Monkeyhouse will premiere
anti-ossification,
a duet featuring Karen Krolak and Nicole Harris in
Program G of the Cool New York Dance Festival on
2/5 @ 7:00 – 8:30 PM & 2/6 @ 9:00 – 10:30 PM

All performances are Free
(but they appreciate donations) and are
at WHITE WAVE John Ryan Theater,
located at 25 Jay Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn.
We hope to see you there!

Monkeyhouse heading back to Cool NYC Dance Festival

Monkeyhouse will kick off 2010 in Brooklyn at the Cool New York Dance Festival. We are still waiting to hear about exact dates and time of our performances but the festival runs January 28 - February 7, 2010. All performances will take place at WHITE WAVE John Ryan Theater, located at 25 Jay Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn.

WHITE WAVE will be hosting and producing the Cool New York 2010 DANCE Festival (CNYDF), celebrating the 7th consecutive year of the company's annual winter dance showcase. About 60 contemporary companies and choreographers will be presented in over 19 performances during this two-week long extravaganza of cutting-edge dancemaking. Kicking off the celebration is a special Opening Night performance with a wine and cheese reception, all other festival performances will be presented to the public free of charge.

Monkeyhouse in Cool New York Dance Festival 2009!

We are thrilled to announce that Monkeyhouse has been invited to present two duets, Firk II and Pochemuchka (one of our First Night premieres) at the Cool New York Dance Festival 2009.

Host by Brooklyn's White Wave Dance Company, this festival runs Thursday through Sunday, January 29 – Feb 1 and Feb 5 - 8, 2009, and features over 60 dance companies.

And knowing that everyone is feeling stretched by the state of our economy, we want you to know that all tickets to this festival are FREE!!! So if you live in New York, you really must come see us.

WHITE WAVE’s John Ryan Theater is located at 25 Jay Street (on the DUMBO waterfront) in Brooklyn. We will post our performance times up on the blog as soon as we get them.