Another Quick Conversation with a Critical Moves Choreographer - Karl Cronin

by Karen Krolak

Let's continue on with our spree of interviews today. Given my Somerville Artist Fellowship project, I am particularly interested in seeing Karl Cronin's Fieldnotes from Amur Corktree since it sprung from a series of walks he has been taking in Forte Green Park. There is something so thrilling about people investigating paralell creative processes. So strange to think that I never really realized our points of intersection when he lived in Boston. Thanks for bringing him back Alissa.

kK: Can you briefly describe your piece?

KC:This piece is an exploration of physical encounters collected during 10 minutes on March 3, 2009 near the Amur Corktree in Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn (NY). It is a distillation of what happened - both the meaningful and the quotidian.

kK: How did you begin developing it?

KC: I went to park on March 3, 2009 at 10:15am.

I set a timer for 10 minutes and began engaging with the environment, following my interests.

At the end of the 10 minutes, I went back over what happened.

Where did move?

What physicality did I embody?

What did I attend to in the environment?

I wrote these observations down and put them in my Field Log.

kK: What was your biggest challenge during the rehearsal process?

KC: Finding my exact physicality in the park so I could translate it to the stage.

For instance, when you walk up a hill, you pitch forward and stretch your calf.

When you replicate that on a flat surface, can you find those same "hill indicators" in your body?

CRITICAL MOVES CONTEMPORARY DANCE SERIES
Fri March 20, 8pm & Sat March 21, 8pm
Green Street Studios Center for Movement & Dance,
185 Green Street (Central Sq) Cambridge, MA
Reservations at 617-864-3191
Tickets: $20/$15 students & BDA

A Quick Conversation with a Critical Moves Choreographer: Rebecca Pappas

By Karen Krolak

I relish the chance to discover new choreographers. So as I mentioned in the interview with Alissa Cardone, I am rather excited about her Critical Moves performance on Saturday night.

It would have been delightful to interview each of the choreographers at length but I didn't want to intrude on their preparations for tonight's concert. Instead, I sent out the same three quick questions to each person.

We'll start with Rebecca Pappas from California whose work has been presented

kK: Can you briefly describe your piece?

RP: Thumbnail is a solo for small spaces that weaves together personal shames about appearance and body with larger political shames about my own Jewish heritage and the state of Israel.


kK: How did you begin developing it?

RP: It was actually developed as an assignment for a class at UCLA where I am working on my Master of Fine Arts in Choreography. It came from crossing a small study about abortion and the female body with a small study about the conflict in Palestine and my own sense of Jewish history.


kK: What was your biggest challenge during the rehearsal process?

RP: The biggest challenge during the rehearsal process is that this is a solo piece and there is no one else in the studio to keep me working or to let me know when I am on the "right" track. I am always more interested in being outside a piece that within it.

CRITICAL MOVES CONTEMPORARY DANCE SERIES
Fri March 20, 8pm & Sat March 21, 8pm
Green Street Studios Center for Movement & Dance,
185 Green Street (Central Sq) Cambridge, MA
Reservations at 617-864-3191
Tickets: $20/$15 students & BDA