Throwback in 3s
When this finds you, SMDC will be in its fourth month of its nineth season. I find it astounding to see those words on the screen. It’s important to note for those of you who only know me superficially that I STILL marvel at the fact that I actually have a dance company that has persisted past many obstacles for 8 years. This year, I am in new territory. First off, we have decided as a company to alternate each year between doing new work and repertoire. Having shared my child-like wonder at having a dance company, you might not be surprised that I am surprised to look back and find that I have created a body of work to even be able to have repertoire concerts! When I was a dancer, I thought repertoire was only for the Dance greats like Balanchine, Ailey, Martha Graham, Mark Morris, Alonzo King etc. Turns out if you build it with integrity and passion, even a person like me can create a body of work worth repeating.
Throwback in 3’s will be the first of such repertoire concert events. We will hit the stage in September 2025, returning to the Ground Floor Theatre for four shows. Which is another way I find myself in new territory. Usually when I create, it is a very organic process where I cultivate a relationship with the work. As I see what is translating on the dancers, I practice deep intuitive listening and learn from the energy of the dance generated by the dancers where to go next in the construction of each piece. I typically germinate for a year, sometimes two as was the case with our last production, Myths & Makers. So for us to be learning several works that have already been completed and performed in about 9 months is a new challenge for us. I personally remember a season when I was dancing with KDH where we restaged work by learning from videos of old performances. What a fantastic challenge that was! Having that memory, I prepared myself and the dancers for a challenging process this season. It’s been great to watch them rise to the challenge. We are 3 months into the process and I already have 2 complete works. I feel I can adjust my expectations knowing now that we, as a team, can handle many challenges!
As an artist, I have learned that engaging in the creative process is a nurturing way for me to maintain balance within myself. This is one of Shakti Moves founding objectives: to apply the science of yoga to creative expression for the benefit of metal/emotional well being. As a human being, there have been many intense life lessons to work through in the last 2 years, and so I have found myself in a bit of a rut where I want to find a cave and just be quiet. Alas, I live in the world of production and progress, and so I am having to push through the urge to turn inwards. There is a hidden gift in this year being the first year for us to perform repertoire. I may not be in a cave, but I am in a creative community of gentle giants that allows me to be quiet and reflective.
I can only speak for myself, as I know every artist relates in their own way to their work, but I find that the creative process becomes a container for deep transformation. Each piece I have created I have loved like a dear friend for they teach me as much as they bring me joy. I feel that much like life, dances evolve over time. As I reached back in time to choose which works to restage and which to leave behind, I landed on the pieces that I felt defined my process the most:
Meditations on Existence ( the one with the moons)
For the Birds (my social commentary on gender roles in society)
A Study of Time ( my understanding of the nature of time)
The Dreamer (my understanding of different states of consciousness)
Invocation ( a solo from 2020: my way to open sacred space with movement)
As the concert title suggests, Each piece is done in 3 sections, works with a ¾ meter, or has some other play on the number 3.
Now, the absolute best part….remember the rut? Well, I had it in my head that restaging work would be the easy way out somehow. Turns out, it’s actually not because there are new creative problems to solve, different bodies and temperaments to work with and so little time! I have identified the rut as a full mind, which means I have to do the work to effectively empty the mind of all the residue accumulated from those recent intense life lessons. Thank goodness, because for a minute I legitimately thought I had nothing left to offer creatively. Who knows…maybe that is true, but I won’t know until I know, so I will forge ahead doing what I do…which has always proven that over time, working the inner process of taming the mind through yogic practices, creative insights are unearthed. It is not an easy process, but staying the course is definitely worth the efforts.
What has been incredible is feeling my body remember movement sequences or patterns that I haven’t done in years. The spirals, the release of weight, the suspensions! Oh my! It is as natural as breathing! The interesting thing I notice is that there are specific themes I have revisited over the years. For Example, I am really interested in the cyclical nature of things, be that in nature or in the body, and so I have found repeating motifs from work to work. When I am in the studio by myself studying the videos in preparation for rehearsals, I start to make choices about what feels over done or undercooked.
Next, I take the sketch to the dancers and I see more clearly where I can push, where I have to clarify or rework something. This group of Shakti Movers on the whole is the most proficient group across the board I have had the pleasure of working with. In the past where I had to hold back, or create for different skill levels I can now challenge and grow the entire group. For example, in going back through old choreography videos, I can see that I have preferences in spatial design. You will always see diagonal lines and a big moving horizontal pass across the space. As I get reacquainted with these works, I am challenging myself to make choices about the design of the work so that it communicates more clearly rather than being a simple aesthetic choice. I am also finding those movement phrases that I slapped together without thought in order to hurry and finish for the show. Now I get to throw all of those knee jerk compositions out and revamp! In “For the Birds” for example, I am actually getting to deepen thematically. When I made that dance in 2018, it was a last minute addition to the program, so, in hindsight, I found a good idea that didn’t get fully developed…and frankly, I hated the music! So this time around, I changed the music, elaborated on the movement ideas and the piece has blossomed into three sections rather than one. Being able to elaborate on the movement ideas is a direct result of the knowledge I have gained about the characterization of gender roles since 2018.
Another fun way to grow the company has been through adjusting casting. I have several members of the company who have stayed with me and so were in the original versions of the works presented in Throwback in 3’s. I have not allowed any dancer to remain in the same role they had the first time around so each dancer is on equal footing with learning from video and finding ways to embody a role that was built for someone else. This has shown me precisely how much each of the returning Shakti Movers has grown over the years…and also what patterns I need to work on shifting. For example, as a group of dancers, we all love to move slow and luxuriously, but as a choreographer, I like to move fast and generate a new “line” of melody through movement. This year, Crea has taken on the role of rehearsal director. As a musician first, she has been tasked with the tedious yet integral post of counting. The music that has been selected for Throwback in 3’s is all complex meter which absolutely challenges my desire to create a new melody through movement. We have lovingly resorted to laughing off my temper tantrums when I can FEEL the music but I can’t count the music!
What my inner critic calls a rut is actually a space of rest and refreshment. Rest is a critical component of creativity that gets overlooked when artists step into the business of art. I am not an artist because I direct a company or make dances. I am an artist because that is my soulspeak. There is absolutely a fear that if I pause for rest, I will lose the dancers, the rehearsal space, the community who supports us, and of course, the progress we have made over these many years. On the contrary, the times when I have pulled back a bit to focus on other aspects of life and allow the body to rest have yielded choreographic growth I could have never predicted. Reworking these pieces gives me an opportunity to see them on a stage, something I haven't been able to do yet. After seeing the work last year in the proscenium setting, I understand now that my work needs to be viewed at a bit of distance to take in all the layers and visual patterns. In fact, my work is better if you can see it more than once! Reworking these pieces will allow our new audience members to see these works for the first time while allowing our returning patrons to enjoy the newness of seeing them in a theatre with different costumes, lighting, and dancers. Maybe it's a throwback, but unlike those silly pictures from junior high that we can't stand, this throwback is an evolutionary jump!