Sneak Peek at Art Beat

by Nicole Harris

Just in case you weren't already planning on joining us at the Somerville Theatre tomorrow afternoon, here are a few reasons that this is a show you wont want to miss:

1.  A Guest Performer!

Anne Howarth has been a friend and supporter of Monkeyhouse for many years now (you might remember her from the series of photos on Moving Day!) and plays the french horn with the likes of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, Hartford Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Portland Symphony, and Boston Symphony Orchestra.  This Spring she and Karen got together and created a very sweet new piece that involves dancing, the french horn and a rhinoceros!

2.  A Premier (or two!)

I am premiering a new duet, Fidelius, which will be performed by the ever wonderful Nikki SaoPedro and Caitlin Meehan.  I have loved working with them both and they have done amazing things with this piece.  I am so excited!  Speaking of Caitlin, she will be premiering a solo of her own!!

3.  A Preview!

Monkeyhouse will be performing at the Massachusetts Dance Festival (both in Boston and Amherst) the last two weekends in August.  We will be premiering a new quartet there that we've been building for the past year.  However, you wont have to wait until August because tomorrow we will be showing an excerpt from that quartet!

That is just a small selection of what we have in store for you tomorrow.  So, just in case you've forgotten, here's the info on Art Beat:

Saturday, July 17th
ART BEAT
Somerville Theatre
3pm

Don't forget to check out all the other wonderful artists and performers that will be lining the streets of Davis Square tonight and tomorrow too!!

Nicole Harris' Newest Duet

by karen Krolak

As most of you know, Nicole Harris and I have been hammering out work together for the last decade. When she relocated to New York City in 2007, I was quite curious to see how that would influence her creativity. She will debuting a duet, Fidelius, at ArtBeat in Somerville, MA. While it is currently set on Caitlin Meehan and Nikki Sao Pedro, it has been shaped by outside dancers and steeped in the Big Apple. This seemed like an ideal moment to turn our interviewing process inward and explore the evolution of this fabulous piece.

karen Krolak: It is difficult for me to pinpoint when exactly you launched into developing Fidelius?

Nicole Harris: I started playing with the ideas about two years ago. I knew the basic concepts I wanted to work with. Thanks to many Sunday morning rehearsals with Shane Rutkowski (who I paid mostly in baked goods), I got to put together decent sized chunks of movement and a basic framework for the characters and their relationship.

kK: I know that it has been through many permutations but what was the original idea?

NH: I set a goal for myself to create a duet for a man and a woman which is something I had never done before. Beyond that, all I knew was that I wanted to deal with the idea of trust. What is trust? Who do you trust? What does it take to trust someone? How do you go about regaining trust once it is lost? What is the difference between the trust you have in another person and the trust you have in yourself?

kK: When did you add the music in?
NH: From the very beginning I had been using a series of songs off David Wechsler's then relatively new album "Vacations" during rehearsals. The piece has gone through many pairings of dancers and the music changed as the dancers changed. At some point the piece was about a romantic relationship and I commissioned David to record Cole Porter's "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" to use in conjunction with his "Salt of the Earth". When I began setting the piece on Nikki and Caitlin for the version being shown at Art Beat on July 17th, I changed my mind again. Luckily, David is more than generous and gave me permission to use both "Salt of the Earth" and "Roman Road" for the final version. (Don't worry, I'll be using his "Fall in Love" for a new piece in the future! Also, check out his new album The Decline of America Part I: The Bush Years for FREE! Tell your friends!)

kK: So, what caused you to switch the duet to being about two women?

NH: Originally I began teaching Ashley Chandler the part I had been dancing because I felt that she and Shane had very complimentary movement styles. Due to scheduling conflicts Shane was no longer able to rehearse, so I stepped back in and began dancing in Shane's part.

kK: How did it change when you started working with Ashley Chandler?

NH: Well, first off, my goal of creating a duet for a man and a woman was no longer being met. I have started others since then. Also, despite the almost identical movement phrases, things are read differently when they take place between two women than they do between a man and a woman, no matter what the relationship is.

kK: Can you give an example?

NH: The first image in the piece is of the two characters counter-balancing and almost immediately one lets go and leaves which causes the other to fall to the floor. While it was never my intention, having a man drop a woman can very easily be seen as excessively violent or abusive. Somehow when done by two women it isn't seen with the same aggression. People have different associations with each gender and their relationship to each other.

kK: When you and I were performing in the Cool New York Festival in 2009, you asked me to atttend and informal showing with Lynn Schwab. How did people's feedback assist you with the piece?

NH: Ashley and I had been focusing primarily on getting comfortable with the movement vocabulary by the time we showed the piece to you, Lynn Schwab and Kay Wilson. While I had a good idea of how the characters developed, the comments helped clarify what we could be doing as performers to further the story and pointed out places that the movement counteracted what we were trying to say.

kK: I am so excited that it is finally being realized in front of an audience.

July 17 - Monkeyhouse Returns to ArtBeat

Psst...if you have been hankering to see some of Monkeyhouse's latest creations, then head over to ArtBeat on July 17. Monkeyhouse will begin outside with movement phrases inspired by last year's Chor-i-dor and motivate people to head into the Somerville Theater. Then at 3PM, Monkeyhouse will flood the stage with a series of new pieces, works-in-progress, and a few audience favorites. Be on the lookout for interviews and more information as we creep closer to the event.



Oh, and did we mention that there is a French Horn involved?

Chor-i-dor - Favorite Moment #1 - Change?

by Karen Krolak

When we first arrived at the wisteria shaded benches on Holland Street, a woman was finishing her cigarette and asked people for change. Although she seemed apathetic, she watched us intently as we set up our sandwich board explaining Chor-i-dor.

Adele Traub texted me looking for assistance with the Actor's Shakespeare Project booth down by Diesel Cafe for a few minutes. When I returned, the smoking woman had wandered away. Art Beat was just starting to gather crowds and our first observer had melted into the flood of unfamiliar faces flowing through the festival. In the midst of her discarded butts, I quickly scribbled the word, Change, in pink chalk to commemorate her presence.

As noon approached, more people darted over towards Chor-i-dor to cool off or slather on sunscreen. I was frantically notating all the action when I observed an overheated woman. She dashed to a bench to struggle free from an unnecessary layer of clothing. In her haste to squirm into a cooler t-shirt she never registered any of the activity around her. Otherwise, she might have been as amused as I was to note that she was perfectly performing the verb beneath her feet: change. Alas, I could not get to my camera in time to snap her picture.

(Chor-i-dor is sponsored in part by the Somerville Arts Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.)

Images from Chor-i-dor at ArtBeat 2009

The drizzle in Somerville today should wash away all the remnants of the chalk from Chor-i-dor at ArtBeat 2009.

These images, however, capture some of the elements of psychogeographic choreography experiment.

Thanks the hundreds of festival goers who participated either by interacting, observing, or inspiring us, we had a magnificent afternoon dancing and drawing.

There are several batches of pictures to sort through and more moments to share in upcoming posts. If you have any impressions or images of your own to share, please send them to monkeyhouseblog@gmail.com.

(Chor-i-dor is sponsored in part by the Somerville Arts Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.)

An Experiment at Art Beat

by Karen Krolak
Remember how I was raving about the joys of living in Somerville, MA and I mentioned ArtBeat? Well, it is today in Davis Square and I will be conducting a choreographic experiment there entitled Chor-i-dor. As part of this process, Nicole Harris, Caitlin Meehan, Sarah Feinberg, and I will be performing at the end of the afternoon.

Chor-i-dor :
An ArtBeat Experiment
Inspiring dances of the not-so-distant future

by Karen Krolak,
2009 Somerville Choreography Fellow
& Artistic Director of Monkeyhouse


Questions and Answers about Chor-i-dor

Q: Umm, what will you be doing?
A: I will be watching unsuspecting people and informed participants (like yourself).

Q: Why are you doing that?
A: Well, I am working on a project this year to see how this city, Somerville, moves people.

Q: So are people supposed to start jumping and twirling like they are on America’s Best Dance Crew or So, You Think You Can Dance?
A: You could but you certainly don’t have to do so. I define choreography as the art of moving with meaning, something you are probably doing right now.

Q: So what are we supposed to do?
A: You don’t have to do anything. However, you can journey along the path under this pergola and respond to the environment around you. If you see signs or instructions, feel free to follow them or ignore them. Oh, and be aware that you might be photographed.

Q: And then what?
A: You can check back later in the day and see if something you did has been commemorated on the path to inspire others or to see an improvised performance based on people’s responses today.

Q: So is that all?
A: No, you could observe how others respond to Chor-i-dor or you could sign up to take a stroll through Somerville with me during the summer.

Q: Hey, that could be fun. Where do I sign up?
A: Send us an email at Monkeyhouseblog@gmail.com and Monkeyhouse will contact you about dates and times. Thanks for your interest!

(Chor-i-dor is sponsored in part by the Somerville Arts Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.)

Politics are dancing (part 2)

by karen Krolak

It is odd how patterns begin to emerge some days. After learning about Rahm Emanuel's dance background last night, this afternoon I attended the The Second Annual Artists Under the Dome Event at the Massachusetts State House (where I bumped into Martha Mason who will be mentoring Green Street Studios 2009 winter Emerging Artist Program). As part of the festivities, I stopped in to see my State Senator, Patricia Jehlen. Unfortunately, the Senator was unavailable, but I did learn that her daughter is Wendy Jehlen, a well-respected, local choreographer (who coincidently performed at the Somerville Theater during Art Beat right before Monkeyhouse two years ago in a concert that Alissa Cardone helped to organize.)

Since Senator Jehlen is Chair of Elder Affairs, her aide generously advised me on some resources for Monkeyhouse's Dream 2 Dance At Age Project. She immediately understood the importance of this initiative because she has taken adult dance classes with Dicki Johnson Macy. I am so thrilled that I was able to participate in the Artists Under the Dome because I would have never guessed that there were so many dance fans in the State House.

Thanks to the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, Treasurer Tim Cahill, the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, the Joint Committee of Community Development and Small Business, and the Artists Foundation for creating this informative introduction to legislative resources for artists.