Spring Good Things!

So many good things have been happening of late! We are so happy to share all these wonderful things with you! Be sure to send your love to all these folks!

• Congratulations to one of our newest board members, Andrew Fine and his newly minted fiance, Debi Ou-Yang! Welcome to the Monkeyhouse family, Debi!
• Congratulations Josh Bergasse on your TONY nomination for Best Choreography for your work on On The Town!
• Congratulations to our interns, Connor, Isabella, Emma and Jacob, who recently performed in Our Town at Natick High School!
• Congratulations to Brianna Unsworth on her new job with Zehren & Associates in Colorado! We are so excited for you and we will miss you at our weekly Musings!
• Congratulations Michael Krolak on your acceptance to the Master's program in Software Engineering at Oxford University!
• Congratulations to our friends at the American Tap Dance Foundation on a beautiful performance at Rhythm in Motion. A giant shout out to our friends Felipe Galganni, Lynn Schwab, Michelle Dorrance, Jason Samuels Smith, Derick K. Grant and of course, Tony Waag for their work! 
• Congratulations to Sarah Feinberg who will be studying with Pilobolus this summer!
• Congratulations Kim Holman on your acceptance to the Master's program at Goddard College!
• Board Member Margaret Hagemeister published her first review with Events Insider!  Huzzah!
• Former Board Member Jon Schaffrath and his wife Kristin are expecting!
• Super woman supporter Heather Gant just finished her MBA in healthcare management! Hooray!
• Congratulations to Jim Peerless for completing Boost VC's incubator, Tribe 5!

DUMBO Dance Festival

Nicole and Nikki will be heading down to Brooklyn next week for the DUMBO Dance Festival.  They will be performing Connexa, a piece choreographed by Sarah Feinberg and Nikki Sao Pedro Welch.  All DUMBO Dance Festival performances are FREE and filled with some incredible artists.  So come check it out!

You can find Monkeyhouse on Saturday, September 27th at 3pm and Sunday, September 28th at 4pm.  All performances are held at the WHITE WAVE John Ryan Theatre, 25 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY.

Did we mention they are FREE!?

Happy February Birthdays!

Andrew Palermo, Benjamin Rogers, Minna Scholten, Robert Ayles, Sheila Friswell, Pam Harris, Peggy Wacks, Joanne Dougan, Gregory Hines, Bill T. Jones, Leah Jonhanson, Stephanie Sune, Jason (Mouse) Vasquez, Caitlin Meehan, Deborah Friedes, Steve Wightman and Sarah Feinberg

Colorado Bound!

 by Sarah Feinberg 

Many of you have gotten to know Sarah Feinberg over the past few years as she has become a bigger and bigger part of Monkeyhouse.  You may not know that she will be (temporarily) leaving us next week to attend grad school in Colorado.  I have known Sarah since she was a little girl and I have loved having the chance to get to know her in so many capacities throughout her life.  This summer I have spent a lot of time with Sarah and I know I'm not the only one around here who will miss her terribly while she's out starting this new adventure.  Here's Sarah to share a few thoughts on this big transition! - Nicole

I am off to Colorado for the next 2 years to attend graduate school at Colorado State University where I will be studying Occupational Therapy. The move is most definitely a bittersweet one. Since I graduated with my bachelors from Ithaca College in 2011, I have been working as a teacher for children with autism at The New England Center for Children. It has been a very rewarding and educational experience and I will miss my students very much. I can honestly say that Saturday afternoons spent at Springstep with Monkeyhouse is the thing I will miss the most. Though I was working full time and taking prerequisite courses for grad school, Saturday rehearsals were the most important part of my week. No matter what happened during the week or whatever mood I might have been in, when I walked out of that studio at 4pm, life was good!

I am excited for the new adventure I have ahead of me. I look forward to being back in school, especially in pursuit of my chosen career path and I look forward to a change of scenery (Mountains!). Though I have been told I will have little free time, I plan to check out the Colorado dance scene, continue practicing yoga and my newest extracurricular activity, rock climbing. I can't wait to do some hiking and explore the beautiful sites as well.

I can't say enough how truly grateful I am for having had the opportunity to work with such an incredible company. I have learned so much from each and every person. I look forward to continuing to support Monkeyhouse and possibly work on some projects from afar.

Monkeyhouse Loves Natick High School!

by Katelyn Alcott

Monkeyhouse and Natick High School are like a peanut butter and dance sandwich eaten quickly in the brief time between classes and rehearsal.  We have had a long standing relationship with the school and its community and are constantly amazed by the things that this wonderful group of students accomplish.  

Monkeyhouse has many ties to the drama program at Natick High School, including alumni, interns and Nicole Harris's choreography for the musical productions.  The students have performed at Monkeyhouse events and both Sarah Friswell and Sarah Feinberg were once part of the drama program. 

Many of Karen's students from Impulse Dance Center have also been NHS students.  This  past year Monkeyhouse had six student interns from Natick High School, Marie Libbin, Rosie Steinberg, Laila Fatimi, David Makransky, Katelyn Alcott and Elyssa Berg.  Laila, David, Katelyn and Elyssa are all graduating seniors headed to college in the fall. Laila will be attending the University of Maine, David will be attending Boston College, Katelyn will be attending Wagner College and Elyssa will be attending Virginia Commonwealth University. Best of luck to the graduating seniors! 

Our ties to Natick High extend beyond the students.  You might remember vice principal Zach Galvin who was the emcee for last year's Your Just Desserts!  And our audiences are always peppered with NHS faculty and staff.

You can see more of these outstanding students throughout the year.  Whether you check out school performances of the drama, band and choir programs, student run groups such as Seven's Not Enough, or their out of school arts adventures which are numerous and wide ranging - you will constantly be impressed by the talent that comes from these young people.  What have you done to show your support of young local arts today?  

Monkeyhouse Loves Impulse Dance Center!

by David Makransky
Impulse Dance Center is just about a household name in Natick, thanks to the enormous percent of students who study there. Boasting the Readers' Choice Best Dance Studio of 2012 Award in Natick, Impulse has been helping aspiring dancers from across Massachusetts build their technique. The studio offers instruction to all levels of dancers, and its enthusiastic learning environment, dedicated teachers, and celebrated public performances have made it an integral part of the Massachusetts dance world and greater community. Students have performed on television, in national competitions, and at our very own Monkeyhouse concerts! 

Monkeyhouse and Impulse Dance Center have been working together since the dawn of time - or at least since the dawn of Monkeyhouse. At first only sharing choreographers Karen Krolak and Nicole Harris, the two organizations have built an impressive partnership. TAProject and other Impulse students now dance at Monkeyhouse events and intern with us, continuing to grow the strong ties between Monkeyhouse and Impulse.  Several Impulse alumni are even members of the Monkeyhouse company: Sarahs Feinberg and Friswell! Be sure to check out Impulse's end-of-year concert, with performances on June 14^th and 15^th! For more information visit http://www.impulsedancecenter.com.

February Birthdays!

by Katelyn Alcott

This February Monkeyhouse would like to wish a very happy birthday to Sarah Feinberg and Caitlin Meehan!

These two birthday ladies are currently working on a piece together for Monkeyhouse's Against the Odds festival. The duet features the two in a tango with their feet tied together. Caitlin says that "it has been an interesting and hilarious rehearsal process". Sarah is also working on a similar duet with Nikki Sao Pedro Welch which stemmed from the same series of Musings (improvisational exercises at the start of every rehearsal) that worked with attaching dancers together by different body parts to see where that took them.

In addition to the duet Caitlin is working on a solo piece, Disarmed, as well as many others, some including giant yoga balls! Outside of Monkeyhouse Caitlin is currently working on a piece with Falling Flight project in collaboration with Kieran Jordan and Dancers. The group is incorporating Irish Step Dance and Modern dance. Caitlin works at the Boston Ballet box office.

Sarah is a graduate from Ithaca College where she got a Bachelor of Science in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology with a minor in Deaf Studies. She is currently working at the New England Center for Children as a teacher of children with autism while applying to graduate programs to get her masters in occupational therapy.

Fun facts about our two birthday ladies:

Caitlin is she is the owner of the worlds tallest indoor cactus plant. The cactus lives in her kitchen. Construction crews have been contemplating how to elevate the ceiling in order to allow for the cactus to continue its growth through to the next floor.
Sarah is a former student of Nicole and Karen's at Impulse Dance Center where she and Sarah Friswell grew up dancing side by side. If you asked them at age 6, 12 or 17 they never would have guessed that they would be dancing side by side today too!

As always, a wonderfully happy birthday to anyone celebrating in February, especially:

Andew Palermo, Benjamin Rogers, Minna Scholten, Pam Harris, Shelia Friswell, Leah Jonhanson, Stephanie Sune, Sarah Feinberg, Jason (Mouse) Vasquez, Caitlin Meehan, Peggy Wacks, Joanne Dougan, Deborah Friedes, Steve Wightman, and Bill T. Jones

24 Hour Choreofest!

by Nikki Sao Pedro Welch

photo by Michelle Boule

I was beyond excited when Karen Krolak asked me to be one of the choreographers for the 24-hour Choreofest hosted by Luminarium Dance Company! I was even more thrilled when she told me I would be co-choreographing with Jason Ries! This particular festival was very different from any show I have been a part of.

For 24 hours we;

-were locked in the Dance Complex in Cambridge,

-were only allowed to bring one suitcase filled with potential props, costume pieces, and accompaniment, shower items, and anything else we felt we needed

-had to create a piece from a concept that was picked out of a hat,

-had to come up with new material, costumes, and music

-only had tech in the actual performance space for ten minutes!

- had to perform 2 SHOWS the next day

It was and intense, inspiring, and such a positive experience!!

Other companies that were involved included, The People Movers, 1,000 Virtues Dance, Synthesis Aesthetics Project, and Luminarium, amongst other dancers/choreographers.

At the start of the Choreofest, we all arrived around 7:30PM to discuss "house keeping," meaning, check in times, tech times, and most importantly, picking our concept. The artistic directors of Luminarium Dance asked that we add to the concept list already filled with suggestions from Facebook fans. Jason, Sarah, and I took advantage of this and added many interesting and "Monkeyhouse-esk" ideas. When it was time to choose, others pulled, "addition," "secret." "imperfection," and "ordinary." When it was our (Monkeyhouse) turn to pull a concept we got none other than, "GIANT SQUID EYE." Jason, Sarah Feinberg (dancer), and I all looked at each other puzzled at first but then we were eager to take on the challenge.  Shortly after concepts were picked, all companies were assigned to their work space and magic began...

Throughout the night we improvised and did our typical Monkeyhouse musings, watched others in their creative processes, gathered factual information about the Giant Squid Eye from valid resources (Wikipedia :) ), played twister at 4:00AM, and we were able to create a 7-minute piece in 7 hours. Our piece included text, lights attached to our body, partnering, and many other components. I can honestly say that the actual process of creating did not have many obstacles and Jason, Sarah, and I all contributed to make the piece come to life. The only taxing part of the experience was creating and performing on 1 hour of sleep. However, I was extremely proud of everyone involved for creating such great work and putting on a great show!

If Monkeyhouse had the opportunity to take part in the Choreofest next year, I would definitely do it again!

Good Things from 2012!

It's that time of the year where we look back on the past year and begin planning for the future.  We thought we would share with you just a few of our good things for the year to get you in the spirit!

January:
Caitlin Meehan had work presented and Courtney Wagner performed for the first time as part of the Cool NY 2012 Dance Festival!  This was Monkeyhouse's fourth year at Cool NY and we have loved being able to participate!

February:
Sarah Friswell, Sarah Feinberg and Aisha Cruse, who had been joining us for Musings (a time before company rehearsal dedicated to improvisation and exploring new ideas) over the previous six months or so, began joining us for rehearsals and became Monkeyhouse Guest Artists!

March:
Mariah Steele began setting a new work on Monkeyhouse!  She used Musing time to develop new material based on input from dancers over series of weeks.

April:
Monkeyhouse partnered with the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and held the first of two Skorts (a showing of works in progress) at their wonderful space in Harvard Square.  This Skort showed the start of a new project (affectionately known around the company as "the palindrome piece") that is a collaboration with Master Palindromist, Barry Duncan and was filmed for a documentary of which Barry is the star!

May:
In continued collaboration with both Mariah Steele and the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Monkeyhouse held another Skort which showed the beginning stages of the piece Mariah set on the company.  Karen Krolak, Nicole Harris and Mariah Steele also participated in a Gonson Lecture at CCAE.  These fascinating lectures cover a wide variety of topics and are always attended by even more fascinating people.  We have loved being part of them!

June:
Monkeyhouse had it's first art exhibit in collaboration with our Spring Barnes & Noble Bookfair!  Featuring photos of the company and the work of our favorite photobooth photographer, JK Photo!

July:
Nicole, almost a full year after suffering a series of strokes, was cleared to begin dancing again.  What more is there to say?

August:
Monkeyhouse had performances in two different states going on simultaneously one weekend in August.  Caitlin and Nicole were up at Cultivate! in Bethlehem, NH while Jason, Nikki and Sarah Feinberg were at 24 Hour Choreofest in Boston!  It was such an exciting weekend!

September:
Your Just Desserts brought together fans, friends and family of all ages to celebrate Monkeyhouse over cake, cookies, pies and many more tasty treats.  It was an exciting and encouraging night for all involved.

October:
Happy Birthday to us!  Monkeyhouse turned twelve!  That's a whole dozen, folks!

November:
Monkeyhouse learned about the impending closing of Springstep and the potential loss of our artistic home.  While we mourned a lot of loss this year, we are also filled with thanks.  We wouldn't have gotten to where we are without so many of you and the outpouring of love throughout the second half of this year was truly astonishing.  Thank you for always being there for us.

December:
Monkeyhouse looks to the future and begins planning the rescheduled Against the Odds Festival.  That's right!  It's official!

Against the Odds Imperfect{ive} Experiments

March 21st-24th

at

Springstep

98 George P. Hassett Dr., Medford MA, 02155

Join us for this celebration that includes work from all sorts of amazing artists.  Keep an eye on the blog for more information soon and SAVE THE DATE TODAY!

Share with us your good things for the year here or on Facebook!

Meet Sarah Feinberg!

Sarah Feinberg graduated from Ithaca College with a B.S. in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology and a minor in Deaf Studies. While at IC she was the artistic director of On The Floor Dance Company and a teaching assistant for a ballroom dance class. Her choreography was showcased in Ithaca’s annual Locally Grown Dance Festival in 2011.

Sarah currently works as a teacher of children with Autism at the New England Center for Children. In her free time she enjoys yoga and taking dance classes in the Boston-Cambridge area. Sarah is very excited to be a C2C intern and can’t wait to start blogging.

Congratulations Sarah & Remy!

 

We are excited to announce our newest C2C Interns, 

Sarah Feinberg 

and 

Remy Marin!  

Keep an eye out for more information about them soon!

Musing Photo of the Day

I am very excited that Sarah is back in the Boston area and will be joining us for Musings!  She is fearless with that blindfold on and was a great addition to our adventure!

Musing Photo of the Day

It looks a lot like Sarah is about to catapult Caitlin into the sky.  And Caitlin's got her wings ready to go!

Musing Photo of the Day

Even while blindfolded we still find a way to turn ourselves upside down!  Luckily Caitlin was on hand (with eyes uncovered) to keep everyone safe!  

Springstep was all decked out for a wedding that night so we had an especially sassy rehearsal space with the paper lanterns on the ceiling!

Musing Photo of the Day

Don't worry, kids!  I don't have a blindfold on!  I can SEE!

Keep an eye out for more photos from today's Musing all week!

Ithaca's On The Floor Dance Company

by karen Krolak

Since On the Floor Dance Company is hosting my visit to Ithaca this weekend, I thought readers might be interested in meeting co-Artistic Director, Sarah Feinberg. She is a former student of mine at Impulse Dance Center in Natick MA, where she was also a member of the Connecting Point Dance Company. Some of you may remember Sarah from her professional debut with Monkeyhouse during the first Boomtown Festival in 2008. 

On the Floor Dance Company

karen Krolak: Thanks for inviting me up to Ithaca. What can you tell me about On the Floor Dance Company?
Sarah Feinberg: It is a student run organization at Ithaca College dedicated to providing experienced dancers with an opportunity to explore, rehearse, choreograph and perform all styles of movement and dance.

kK: You have mentioned that there are a number of other student dance organizations on Ithaca's campus. What attracted you to join On the Floor during your freshman year?

photo credit: Jen Darrell

SF: In all honesty I didn’t know anything about it. When I got to college I just kept an eye out for any and all dance company auditions. I saw a flyer posted on campus and went to the auditions. I enjoyed the audition choreography and liked the fact that the company focused on all styles of dance. On The Floor Dance Company allowed me to continue with all the styles I grew up learning while many of the other dance companies at IC focus on specific styles. Over the last four years I have learned so much from all of the company members. Everyone brings with them a unique style of moving that is all their own. We complement each other to create a dynamic company of dancers. Additionally, On The Floor Dance Company is a family, the friendships made go beyond rehearsing in the studio.

kK: Has your company ever brought a visiting artist to Ithaca before?
SF: No, this is the first time. We are very excited about it.

kK: Wow, I am even more honored that you selected me to present a partnering workshop at Ithaca now. Can you talk a bit about your goals for this program?
SF: Modern partnering is one of my favorite things to do. I want people to share it with and to practice it with. When I first came to Ithaca College and joined On The Floor Dance Company, nobody had the partnering experience and training I had received growing up. Though warned that the modern dance I grew to know and love at Impulse Dance Center was unique and not necessarily what others knew modern dance to be, I still expected more people to have had partnering experience. You are so skilled at teaching this style of movement and explaining things and demonstrating in such a way that fosters such wonderful and interesting compositions.

kK: Thanks, Sarah. I was pleasantly surprised by the photos of On the Floor, however, as it looks as though the company has developed some confidence with partnering. 
SF: I have tried to teach it in bits in pieces to anyone interested and willing to trust that I won’t drop them or let them get hurt, but it is a tough thing to teach.

kK: How so?  
SF: It is sort of tough to partner without a partner.  Contact improvisation/partnering isn’t as concrete as teaching someone to do a pirouette. Of course there are a set of skills required and strategies that can be learned through different exercises. A lot of it comes from within; the willingness to take a risk, to let go, to trust yourself, your partner(s) and your surroundings. I can demonstrate and teach exercises that I used to do in your class but I struggled to pull the improvisation, experimentation and creativity out to take those exercises to the next level, to really capture the essence of contact improvisation. I am curious to watch you now to continue to develop my own teaching skills.

photo credit: Jen Darrell

kK: Well, I am really eager to meet everyone this weekend. Does On the Floor have any upcoming performances?
SF: We were invited to perform in the Locally Grown Dance Festival over at Cornell University on March 5th. We are sharing a performance with another IC dance company. We have contributed three pieces from last semester to the show. As far as our final semester performance showcasing all of the semester’s work goes, we have not settled on an exact date yet but it looks like it will be sometime during the first week in May.

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.)