Happy Birthday Shannon Sullivan!

by David Makransky 

 

Monkeyhouse wishes a hearty "Happy Birthday" to Shannon Sullivan! The resident Tap specialist at Impulse Dance Center in Natick and independent teacher at
Springstep, Shannon has instructed and inspired countless young students with her unique combination of dance and music experience. Since the age of three she has been dancing through life, studying at the New Jersey School of Ballet and continuing her training with such masters as Julia Boynton, Brenda Bufalino, Barbara Duffy, Josh Hilberman, Pamela Raff and Lynn Schwab. But what separates Shannon from other choreographers and gives her dancing such a distinct flair is the depth of her knowledge of rhythm and music theory. Shannon earned her Master's Degree in music education from Gordon College, with a focus on trumpet. This formal musical training provides her work with an invaluable foundation; her tap students acquire refined senses of rhythm and musicality, and her own dancing reflects a rare musical subtlety and creativity.

Shannon worked for years as the artistic director for Impulse's TAProject, a superbly talented tap ensemble and one of Shannon's many connections to Monkeyhouse.  TAProject has been featured in several Monkeyhouse performances, helping to connect the greater Boston community to ever more creative and youthful tap choreography.  Shannon herself has also performed extensively around Boston. Her perpetually inventive and accessible work even inspired Monkeyhouse's own Karen Krolak to begin studying tap dance. 

Monkeyhouse continues to be astounded by Shannon's devotion to her art, shown through performance but especially through instruction. Shannon demonstrates the
beauty and musicality of tap dance to all her students, inspiring true passion within them and making choreography approachable and exciting to a multitude of new dancers every
year. 

Happy Birthday, Shannon!

And a special Happy Birthday to our other January birthdays!
Jonathan Lee, Sabrina Schwartz, Kelsey Griffith, Heather Pagella Gant, Andy Jacobs, Eve Agush, Archibald Edwards, Sarah Style, Taye Diggs, Frank Sinatra, Etta James, Maria Tallchief, Gwen Verdon, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Be A Monkeyhouse Ambassador!

 

As you know, Monkeyhouse's goal is to support as many artists as possible.  However, we can't do this alone.  Please take a minute to tell someone about Monkeyhouse's IndieGoGo Campaign today!  We have so far to go and so many amazing artists are counting on us, and YOU!   

 Click on the image above to learn about the campaign today! 

Against the Odds Is Coming!

After taking some time off this fall, everyone here at Monkeyhouse is thrilled to be getting back to work and preparing for Against the Odds.  We have been busy building all sorts of new work by some of your favorite Monkeyhouse choreographers and a few new ones too!  We will also be joined by many local and traveling choreographers and artists including Ryan P. Casey, Janelle Gilchrist, Audra Carabetta, Dancin' Feet, Kendra Hensler, Courtney Blanch, Lacey Sasso, Eva Dean, TAProject. 

As the festival approaches our newsletters and blog posts will be filled with interviews, articles and fun facts about the artists and pieces involved in the festival, so keep an eye out!  But first, here are the basic facts:

The festival will include four performances on Thursday, March 21st through Sunday, March 24th.  Each event will also have a post-show spork (conversation with artists, choreographers and most importantly, YOU!) and other fun events before and after including an appearance from the Moooving for Monkeyhouse Photo Booth by JK Photo, some tasty treats from our friends over a JP Licks and much more!  Every night will be different, so you can bring different friends every night!

Don't forget, Against the Odds can't happen without you, so please take some time to be a Monkeyhouse Ambassador!  Tell a friend, post it on Facebook, forward this email to your coworkers, chat us up while you wait in line for your morning coffee!  There are so many ways you can pitch in that wont cost you a dime and Monkeyhouse needs your help!

We can't wait to see you!

Against the Odds

Thursday, March 21st - Sunday, March 24th

Springstep

98 George P. Hassett Dr., Medford, MA 02145

Disarmed

by Caitlin Meehan

  

Last year, I built a piece whose inspiration began as a habit during rehearsals. I had been noodling around with some movement over last summer, specifically arm movement. Having long limbs myself, I was interested in finding all of the different ways that my arms could move, and how they could generate choreography.

 

Then, I found an opportunity to experiment and to put these ideas into practice. After Nicole had a series of strokes in 2011, she was forced to adhere to strict physical restrictions during recovery. Technically speaking, she was not allowed to "dance." However, choreographers are nothing if not resourceful, and find the loopholes I did. Simply stated, I used Nicole's movement restrictions as a choreographic assignment: each "no" became a rule I had to adhere to.

 

These restrictions consisted of: no bending past 45 degrees (at first, later it was 90), no tilting the head backward (keep the neck in line with the spine,) no jumping, turning, or jarring movement, and no pressure on the head.

 

Said my newfound arm-related creativity: "no problem." I realized that I could work within these "rules" if I avoided a lot of traveling movement. I myself once had a surgical procedure that involved a lot of stillness to achieve recovery- but it occurred to me that the entire time, I was able to play various games on the Nintendo Wii. These were played only with the arms, which ignited a lightbulb, and we were off to the races!

 

I began my movement research lying on the floor, moving my arms around in any way that occurred to me and video recording my findings. Then, I progressed to sitting upright, to see what more my arms could accomplish with 360 degrees of space around my body. Then, naturally I progressed to standing. This was where it was truly necessary to remember the rules and stitch together only movements that passed the checklist.

 

This movement research led me to the final structure of the piece: it would begin on the floor, progress to sitting, and then to standing. As I worked with Nicole, the progression of movement came to represent her recovery from the largest stroke. In the piece, her arms represent her thoughts during this period of time. Seemingly acting on their own in the beginning, she eventually masters them and gains control of them by the time she has progressed to her feet, and in the end gladly follows them from the space.

 

I use the 10 positions of Luigi, a jazz dance master, as a vocabulary that repeats and varies itself throughout the piece. These positions have a sequence, which is repeated by the arms as though they are known facts; at other times certain positions appear on their own or out of sequence. This helps to illustrate the concept of repeating facts to oneself to remind or reassure; sometimes they come in single thoughts or as a string of memories or knowledge.

 

Layered over these concepts is the sound: the first part is a soundscape by Monkeyhouse friend and supporter Aaron Ximm, which helps to evoke confusion. The second part comes from a beautiful recording by Seven's Not Enough, an a cappella group made up of former students of Nicole's from Natick High School. Their rendition of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen supports the movement and ties in with  both the mood of the piece and the performer herself.

Monkeyhouse Loves TAProject!

by Rosie Steinberg

TAProject is a tap company based out of Impulse Dance Center in Natick founded by Monkeyhouse's Nicole Harris. Talented young dancers tap their hearts out in rehearsals with choreographers Shannon Sullivan and Sarah Friswell weekly. When asked why she loves TAProject, member Sarah McEachern replied, "I love TAProject because it is not only a place of self expression, but also one filled with great tappers whom I can learn a great deal from." This collaborative environment is one that fosters an incredible performance level. These high school students feel comfortable enough to push themselves towards mastering new steps and routines, and it shows.

As an alumni of TAProject, choreographer Sarah Friswell appreciated it as a student because "It taught me how to learn tap choreography quickly and made me a better improvisational artist". Now as one of the instructors, she hopes to teach her students these valuable skills. This well rounded program also teaches dancers to appreciate and learn from the work of others. Company member Annie Lessard combines her love for tap and hip hop dancing by studying the work of Shawn Byfield. This open and creative mindset is making way for innovative and exciting new work, like the company's upcoming piece with Natick High School's a capella group Seven's Not Enough. Monkeyhouse has all the praise in the world for this program and the effect it is having on the next generation of dancers. TAProject's talent and commitment to this art form goes well beyond their years, as one can see in a short clip from one of their rehearsals below. For more come to Monkeyhouse's Against the Odds Festival , March 21st-24th, where they will be performing!

Upcoming Events in January!

by Aisha Cruise

It's a new year which means time to try something new!  Check out these amazing opportunities to get involved, do some dancing of your own, or lend your applause and audience expertise!  

Jan 6 - Jose Mateo - Open House, free trial classes for kids and adults and a Youthworks performance

Jan 6 - CAAB group - Free Movement Festival - Offering a day of free intro classes in Quincy

Jan 8 - Contra Dancing with Live music at MIT- check the calendar for more workshops and social dances

Jan 12 - Savion Glover- Tap Dance - Savion Glover is a living legend. Go and see his jaw dropping foot work through the Celebrity Series!

Jan 15 - Jose Mateo - "Behind the Mirror" Tour of the Sanctuary Theater - This sounds quite amazing actually, and if you're interested in "behind the scenes" activities, I'd check this out.

Jan 17 and 18 - Trajal Harrell's (M)imosa/Twenty Looks - ICA - Mature audiences only for this very complex bit of dance theater, but tickets are way cheap for an ica show at $20 general admission.

Jan 24 - This is Tango Now's "Identitad" - Regent Theater, Arlington - The show tells the story of a puppet, who is abruptly liberated from her strings.  A meditation on freedom and identity set to the emotionally charged choreography of Tango.

Jan 26 - Franklin Park Zoo - Celebrate the lunar new year! - cultural dancing at the zoo!  What more could anyone want in life?  Promises to be family friendly fun.

Jan 31-Feb 3 - Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal - ICA - I love shows at the ICA and you should too! Particularly when  the show in question is beautiful contemporary ballet.

If you're looking to take workshops or classes on a drop in basis, I strongly recommend checking out the January Workshops at the Dance Complex in Central Square!

Happy New Year!