The Premise:
A selection is chosen from Foreman's online notebooks, which he offers royalty-free for all to use, mis/use, adapt, mangle, be inspired by. On July 9 at 12:01 AM, the text, plus a couple of "rules" such as a specific line or character to include, is emailed to all participants. The artists have only 10 days to prepare a 4-8 minute piece using as little or as much of the chosen text as desired.
The Latest Update:
Monday, July 20, 2009 -- 11:35 AM
I was fortunate to be able to see most of the 5:00 PM show last night as well as the second half of the 8:00 PM show. What I found most compelling about the early show was the (purely coincidental) repetition of thematic material and lines from the text. It was clear that many of us were drawn to the same elements. Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes for everyone.
And a generous dose of the Foreman text, presented in many ways: spoken by people onstage, written on cardboard signs, projected on a screen, played over the PA, morphed by tiny archaic machines. Hard to believe that we all began with the same “assignment,” yet came to so many different conclusions.
Saturday, July 18, 2009 -- 9:18 PM
With our two rehearsals complete, we have a show tomorrow! Thinking back on the brief creative process, I think that I should have recorded today’s rehearsal so I could watch video and make some last-minute changes if necessary. On the other hand, it seems overbearing to exert too much control on this particular work. We get a brief tech rehearsal tomorrow, and then we are on at 8:00.
Thursday, July 16, 2009 -- 3:02 PM
Choreography complete! Mostly. Just a couple of things still to make that require two people, so those will wait until Big Rehearsal #2 on Saturday. There are limits to what I can make up in the kitchen by myself. The cat is already terrified of all this jumping and bumping into things. I’m excited about the “repertory of gestures” section - it will be a nice layer-cake of set phrases and improvised gestures.
I’ve been thinking about this process of combining dance with spoken word, which I’ve only attempted once or twice before. For advice I turned to my old friend, Doris Humphrey’s “The Art of Making Dances.” Ms. Humphrey has something to say about practically everything, and indeed, she addresses the use of text in choreography, with a page devoted to text as narrative, which, along with dialogue, is how I’m using the Foreman text in “Samuel’s Emigration.” Doris declares:
...the function of the word here is to supply the facts: place, time of day, era, identification of people and their purposes, and like matters. The dance must be the area where feeling about these things exists, and emotional evaluation should not be in the words (127).
Good advice. Trouble is, the text, coming as it does from Richard Foreman’s online diaries, supplies very little in the way of “facts” and even less of “place, time of day, era,” etc. Too bad Doris won’t be at the show, I’d really love to hear her thoughts.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 -- 3:12 PM
I’ve homed in on a hornpipe! Click here to check out the snappy tune (and equally snappy dancing) on YouTube.
Monday, July 13, 2009 -- 9:48 PM
First rehearsal complete! The piece is exactly 5 minutes long, the actors’ blocking is set, the costumes are ready, and all that needs to happen now is for me to finish the damn choreography. And a few other things, like finding a good hornpipe for Celeste to whistle.
The family heritage theme continues: Eve is wearing a cape made from fabric from her mother’s wedding gown, Celeste is also wearing a piece of her mom’s wedding dress, and Brian’s shirt used to belong to his dad.
Sunday, July 12, 2009 -- 1:17 PM
My heart sank when I lost a performer earlier today. No no no: she’s alive. But a family emergency means she has to leave town immediately and isn’t sure when she’ll be back. So instead of five we are now a happy family of four, which is okay. After all, the name of the game here is work quickly and be flexible. A quick trip downstairs to my Basement Rehearsal Palace (spiders receive free admission) turned the opening section from a duet into a solo, with the understanding that it might transform back into a duet between now and next Sunday. It’s magic!
Saturday, July 11, 2009 -- 6:01 PM
I’ve finalized the script (both pages of it) and emailed it to the performers. I have my fingers crossed that one of them knows a good sea shanty.
Friday, July 10, 2009 -- 6:41 PM
Alright, still without a completely confirmed cast, and no wee ship in sight. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken the “no creating before July 9th” rule so seriously. But how can you assemble a cast when you don’t yet realize that you are compelled to create a dance-drama about your ancestor and his botched attempts to get on a boat, or that you need a chorus of agile, long-haired women who will all be named Marie, or that you really want a bitty boat? Avast. I’m late for the Sour Beer Festival.
Thursday, July 9, 2009 -- 4:18 PM
Part of our instructions from Linda are to use at least one line from Foreman’s text that mentions a character named Samuel, and one line that mentions another character called Marie. To Linda, this is significant because Samuel and Marie are the names of deceased cats (and cute little buggers they were). But the coincidence meant something different to me: My great great great great grandfather was named Samuel McKinney (an immigrant to the Colonies and a veteran of the Revolutionary War, he was born in 1742 and died in 1786), and he married a woman named...Mary. Samuel and Marie the cats; Samuel and Mary my forebears.
I’m off to the junk store to look for a small boat, or maybe an oar.
Thursday, July 9, 2009 -- 3:44 PM
Linda emailed the text and rules last night at about 11:00, and I got them this morning around 10:00. I taught a jazz class for children, then came home and got down to business. After 60 minutes of careful deliberation, I have dissected the Foreman text, written a draft of the script, found music, thought up a title, and invited performers. Not a bad start.
What I need now is a small boat. Like really small.
