Sabbatical Synopsis (part 1)

by Karen Krolak

Several people have asked me how I spent my sabbatical so I put together this list to give you a flavor of some of my favorite adventures. Thanks for all of you who encouraged this time away, I

* Lived in a palace in Orvieto, Italy while studying with Modern dance legend, Simone Forti (I awoke each morning to see the ceiling pictured on the left),

*Performed in Rome with a group of glorious improvisors from Italy, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany, England, Greece, Netherlands, and Turkey,

* Indulged in a Delicious Movement workshop with Eiko and Koma in the sumptuous ICA Boston theater overlooking the bay,

*Sussed out stories about slippers, boots, and sneakers as a professional blogger on Shoetube,

* Attended an Inter-collegiate Axe Throwing competition en route to Asheville, NC,

*Interviewed an emerging shoe designer in Iceland who envelops her soles in fish skins,

* Flung myself into the jaws of a giant model whale to create Christmas cards from Panama Beach, FL,

* Feasted with a collection of award-winning playwrights, directors, costume designers, and actors in Chicago, IL,

* Continued teaching my amazing students at Impulse Dance Center in Natick,

* Drooled over the dizzying displays of theater designs in the Collaborations exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England,

* Ran down to New York, NY for a day for a sneak preview of Beowulf - Two Thousand Years of Baggage before it opened in San Francisco in May,

*Hustled through the Russian Disco section of Nut/cracked with David Parker and the Bang Group (If you missed it last year, you can see it again Oct 22- 26 in Boston. You can also read about David's newest creation here),

*Planted carrots, tomatoes, peppers, corn, lillies, zinnia, dahlias, garlic, onions, strawberries, basil, dill, and some renegade squash in our garden,

* Discovered 3 fabulous dancers, Julia Marx, Nikki Sao Pedro, and Caitlin Meehan while working a Space Grant through Green Street Studios,

To be continued...

Nut/cracked Rehearsal Photos

The Natick Tab ran a full page of photos from a recent rehearsal of David Parker and the Bang Group's Nut/cracked at Impulse Dance Center in Natick, MA. If you are curious to get a sneak peek inside the process of creating this show, be sure to check it out.

Jacob's Pillow Choreographers' Lab Follow Up

by Karen Krolak

My goodness! I have had some difficulty organizing all of my thoughts about the Choreographers' Lab. It was a tremendous and intense learning experience where I was surrounded by 14 other amazing artists:

Ojeya Cruz Banks
Martha Brim
Anne Bluethenthal
Julie Johnson
Mafa Makhubalo
Kate March
Alison Marshall
Dawn Robinson
Amanda Selwyn
Mila Thigpen
Steven Wright
Bill McLaughlin
and
Celeste Miller

I don't know that I have ever had the privilege of studying with such a well rounded and supportive group. When I applied, I was a bit afraid that I would be the oldest person there since so many people who attend the Pillow's programs are still in college. However, we ranged in age from 55 to 23 and almost half of the other choreographers were older than I am. People drew from dance experiences in Canada, England, Italy, South Africa, New Zealand, Ghana, and the US to discuss the variety of methods to engage communities through choreography.

Celeste Miller has an uncanny ability to get people to invested in each other's progress. Fortunately, the group is staying connected, continuing to collaborate on projects and to create artistic adventures together. So, I have decided to spread out interviews with this group throughout the coming year and hopefully that will give people a sense of how the program inspired us individually.

My introduction to the Jacob's Pillow's Choreographers' Lab

"Dance magically combines exercise, self-expression, fun group activity, intellectual stimulation, and spiritual uplift. All people should have access to these activities no matter what their age, ability, or body type."

from Teaching Dance To Senior Adults by Liz Lerman

Day One:

For once in my life, I arrived early...several hours early. Given that I was weeks late for my birth and 30 minutes late for our wedding, I was delighted to be the first person to arrive for Jacob's Pillow's Choreographers' Lab.

It had been five years since I drove out to the Pillow to see Rennie Harris Puremovement ignite the stage of the Ted Shawn Theater. Pulling into the driveway, I was awed once again by the majesty of this woodland dance campus.

I hadn't heard who else was selected to participate in the Choreographers' Lab led by Celeste Miller and I was surprised as soon as I opened the welcome packet. The first name that my eye landed upon was Amanda Selwyn. She was in every choreography class that I took at Northwestern University. We drifted apart after my graduation 15 years ago. I didn't even realize that she had her own company when we bumped into each other on Bleecker St before one of Monkeyhouse's New York performances in 2002. How strange to share this process with someone who was in the room when I presented my first series of choreography phrases for Lynne Blom.

By the time that I had gotten checked in to my cabin and sorted out my belongings, lunch was ready. Walking into the Stone Dining Room, I was greeted by Norton Owen, the Pillow's Director of Preservation. He was kind enough to introduce me to a few other staff members and to reserve seat for me at his table. When he heard about Monkeyhouse's mission, he suggested that I drop by the archives that afternoon.

Heavens to Betsy, those archives are filled with photos, videos, costumes, and amazing ephemera. (They are open to the public and I highly reccomend a visit if you are ever out in Western MA.) Norton, who has been a part of Jacob's Pillow for 33 years, instinctively knew to point me to Liz Lerman's book and another about Anna Halprin. He related short anecdotes about both women's experiences at the Pillow as he searched the shelves and his admiration for them was palpable. How magnificent to have a living link to so many of the artists captured in these recordings and documents. I happily sank into a chair to read until it was time for orientation to begin.

[In my delusions, I had thought that I would have time to document every day in this sort of detail. After our tour of the grounds (complete with info on how to scare the bears who roam by the dumpsters!), it was obvious that the intensity of the schedule wouldn't really permit this. So, the next few entries will try to capture the spirit of the Lab and interviews with some of the other participants.]

With oodles of gratitude,
karen

A Prologue to Jacob's Pillow's Choreographers' Lab

by Karen Krolak
Monkeyhouse Artistic Director

America's oldest dance festival, Jacob's Pillow, is nestled in lovely nook of the Berkshire Mountains about 2.5 hours from Boston. As one of the 14 choreographers selected to attend Jacob's Pillow's prestigious Choreographers' Lab, I was supposed to arrive on Tuesday, August 19th by 3 PM.

Jason proposed that we head out to Western Mass a few days early to explore the area and to see The Illustrious Return Of Don Quixote at Double Edge Theater. Earlier in my Sabbatical, we had attended one of their open trainings in Ashfield. We were eager to see how they adapt their productions to outdoor locations(including a pond) on their 105-acre farm.

As I was packing on Saturday, my mom called to alert me about another intriguing show at Mass MoCA by an Australian company called Strange Fruit. Although the timing was tricky, (Mass MoCA is almost an hour beyond Ashfield!) it was possible to see both. We couldn't resist the lure of another company in wild wigs investigating issues of balance. Having spent so many years choreographing for pieces on drywall stilts, I was curious to see the vocabulary Strange Fruit developed on their 15 foot tall flexible fiberglass poles. Needless to say, Sunday revolved around a series of scenic drives and site specific performances.

Poking around pottery galleries in Northampton on Monday, images for new pieces inspired by our adventures were already percolating.

Shop For Monkeyhouse!

As you are all doing our back-to-school shopping, why not raise money for Monkeyhouse at the same time!?

By using GoodShop, you can shop online at all of your favorite stores, and, as you purchase items, a certain percentage will be donated to Monkeyhouse.

Every time you click over to one of the partner merchants from the GoodShop site, such as Amazon, Walmart, and Nordstrom, and then make a purchase, Monkeyhouse earns money. The more you shop, the more we make!

Simply go to www.goodsearch.com and click on the GoodShop link or go to www.goodshop.com. In the "Who do you GoodSearch for" box, type in Monkeyhouse.

Next, click through to the partner retailers and start shopping! A percentage of your purchase will go to Monkeyhouse.

Monkeyhouse would like to thank you all for your continuous support.

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