It has been quite an interesting week….which has really been all about the hamilton 24 dance event, where I acted as the director, so I guess I will start there.

On Wednesday night I had some nice quiet time, late at night in the Stinson Street School lobby to contemplate. There were two groups of dancers creating work in the south school. Lightning and thunder were crashing outside, occasionally shaking the  grand old building.  I  reflected on the journey so far for the hamilton 24 dance event,  which   two weeks back, I was very worried about. The entries were pouring in for every other category but us. Then the day of the deadline came and we reached our max of 12 participants – poof, seemingly out of the blue. Not only did we have the maximum number, but they were also quite diverse. I had said to Martinus that this would probably happen right at the beginning, but managed to forget my own words of wisdom as the deadline drew nearer.

I gave a workshop on Monday May 3; Introduction to Creative Process and Choreography. I haven’t taught in about 5 years, so it was nice to be back in the studio in that way. In many ways, my introduction was not only to dance and movement, but also to the way that I work as a choreographer with other dancers.(since I have been working solo for some time) There was a good turn out for the workshop, 12 in total, about half were participating in the dance event later in the week.   It was great fun to see all sorts  move together and create together, they were open and generous. Something which continued into the kick-off meeting on Wednesday. Once we had drawn the three elements and the questions were answered, everyone seemed to take the time for a friendly chat and a laugh or two. 

Despite the fact that we are technically a competition, the dance event really doesn’t have that feel. And for me that is important, I am not really into dance as a competitive sport, in fact, I really don’t see the value in the traditional dance competition, which  in my eyes is about how many fancy tricks you can stick in 4 minutes and 8 year-old girls doing moves that should be reserved for the above 18 crowd. I wanted this event to be more of a challenge for the choreographer, to create a work, where you have a prop, a movement sequence and a theme or motif to work with that challenges you as an artist. I have a deep admiration for the participants, it wasn’t an easy task. To go through the range of problems (dancers getting sick, injured, or simply not working with the project), figuring out what you were to do with the elements, clarifying your intentions, creating your movement, refining, refining, refining.  A process that happens over a much longer period of time. I think that the real challenge is how to problem solve, how to drop habits, think sharp and hone  your choreographic ability.

Despite the 24 hour format, I scheduled 10 minute slots for each group to run their work on stage, with the option to take it or leave it. Most took the opportunity and  I got a sneak peak on the works at hand, I couldn’t have asked for a better selection of works.  I smiled so much back stage that my face hurt at the end of the night. The performance was electric, and dancers, if you are reading this, the complements I received throughout the festival from photographers, audience members, festival staff and the jury spoke to this. We had three great jury members: Gary Smith, dance critic from the Hamilton Spectator, Jennifer Robichaud of Larchaud Dance Projects and Shawn Byfield of Byfield Dance. They provided commentary after each work and as an artist, I don’t think that you could have asked for more constructive feedback. Everything started off with what worked, then looked at elements that could be improved to strengthen the overall work or performance. It was constructive feedback at its best, like having three free outside eyes. Not all of the dancers agreed with it and some had a hard time taking it, but all and all it seemed to be a positive experience for most of the artists.

At the end of the night, the festival staff had a few drinks and a few laughs at the newest watering hole “The Brain” on James North.  As the inaugural dance event, we were pretty pleased with the results and we’re already looking forward to next year.

I hope to leave you with a few pictures soon!

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