Foolish Operations

2009 International Dance Day and DanceDemoCamp comments by Freya!

foolishoperations — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:52:14 +0000

Hi Julie Lebel,

Je m’excuse du retard; j’espere que ce sera toujours utile.

We were able to catch a glimpse of Karen Jamieson choreographing an intense piece with three dancers. Two moved mechanically, intent on their jagged, artificial, routine movements through life, without any sense of their own feelings or those around them. A third moved through their indifference, exploding with the need to feel and communicate that the others deny him.

Then the Dance Demo Camp of Julie Lebel and Miriam Calvin really gave us an insight into the dance community, and an exciting sense of the possibilities there for our own participation as an audience. Both pieces seemed to benefit from the fact that only two hours had been spent in preparation, as there was a fresh sense of communication between the dancers, which invited the audience to approach the pieces actively, not passively, as part of the work in progress. The first piece wove several threads together:

brief verbal interchange which was casual and friendly in character; precise, repetitive gestures which were mimicked between the dancers; and the choreography of movement which introduced a natural rhythm of coming and going into the scenes. During question period the audience admitted having felt (and succumbed!) to the urge to mimic the infectious gestures, shrugging a shoulder here, scraping a foot there, drawn into the mood of intimacy which evokes such mirroring gestures. The second piece was composed of stark, imposing body lines, body-sculptures which did not seem to lay claim to any emotion, and consequently broke any story-line one might attempt to construe. We learned in question period that this was a barely choreographed sequence of poses mirroring photos of dance which had been selected for this purpose. The photos elected for the dance were a result of both deliberate choice and arbitrary selection. The choreographer’s intention was to introduce further scope into this selection process by creating a kind of chain-mail of dance photos, which would be taken up by the next set of dancers across Canada.

Julie, a bientot, j’espere bien!

Freya

Then the Dance Demo Camp of Julie Lebel and Miriam Colvin really gave us an insight into the dance community, and an exciting sense of the possibilities there for our own participation as an audience. Both pieces seemed to benefit from the fact that only two hours had been spent in preparation, as there was a fresh sense of communication between the dancers, which invited the audience to approach the pieces actively, not passively, as part of the work in progress. The first piece wove several threads together: brief verbal interchange which was casual and friendly in character; precise, repetitive gestures which were mimicked between the dancers; and the choreography of movement which introduced a natural rhythm of coming and going into the scenes. During question period the audience admitted having felt (and succumbed!) to the urge to mimic the infectious gestures, shrugging a shoulder here, scraping a foot there, drawn into the mood of intimacy which evokes such mirroring gestures. The second piece was composed of stark, imposing body lines, body-sculptures which did not seem to lay claim to any emotion, and consequently broke any story-line one might attempt to construe. We learned in question period that this was a barely choreographed sequence of poses mirroring photos of dance which had been selected for this purpose. The photos elected for the dance were a result of both deliberate choice and arbitrary selection. The choreographer’s intention was to introduce further scope into this selection process by creating a kind of chain-mail of dance photos, which would be taken up by the next set of dancers across Canada.

DanceDemoCamp Application Kit

foolishoperations — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:51:11 +0000

FOOLISH OPERATIONS seeks seven artists to act as consultants as well as participants in a prototype event called DanceDemoCamp. Participant artists need to be available from 12:15 to 5 pm on International Dance Day: Wednesday, April 29th, 2009, at the Dance Centre in Vancouver.

Deadline for applications Thursday, April 23th, 2009, 4pm

Honorarium: $50 will be paid to 7 participants

Please note: We are also looking for volunteers to witness, document, set up and take down.

www.ensembleindependant.org/DanceDemoCamp/DanceDemoCamp_Application_Kit.pdf

www.ensembleindependant.org/DanceDemoCamp/DanceDemoCamp_Application_Kit.doc

Tagged: DanceDemoCamp

Montreal freeze! (it was in 2008)

foolishoperations — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:56:36 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPZSMPTdVdM&feature=related

A great moment of community dance

foolishoperations — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:55:57 +0000

Watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg

Mobile Clubbing at Pacific Central Station 3 pm on March 7, 2009

foolishoperations — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:52:35 +0000

There was about 35 of us yesterday at the Pacific Central Station. We danced inside for about 8 minutes before the security guys lost it. We then moved to the park in front of the station. It was fun, it was cold, it even snowed! It was great to welcome people just off the bus or the train with a dance party.

This silent dance party was organised using Facebook by Dustin Q., Jimmy D. Julie M. and Darcie F. for information or documentation on the event you can check it out at

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=71135507680&ref=mf

Tagged: Mobile Clubbing in Vancouver

Dance and publicity…

foolishoperations — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:08:54 +0000

A phone company decided to use dancing and the idea of a surprise dance performance in the public space to promote their product. People are dancing in unisson and both the dancers and the public seemed to have a lot of fun.

“At 11 o’clock on Thursday 15 January around 350 people broke into a choreographed dance routine in London’s Liverpool Street Station for the shooting of a new advertising campaign …”

I am finding myself in an interesting dilemma… I salute the choice of more diversity of physical expression in the public space but I don’t want to tag the name of the company on this blog…