It's the end of the week and I'm wrapped up in bed, Edie kneading on my tummy, feeling wonderfully satiated, inspired, and a bit sore from the David Dorfman Winter Intensive.
I was first introduced to David Dorfman Dance when Dancewave Co. learned underground, a piece inspired by the ideological controversy surrounding the radical group, the Weather Underground (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_underground). I was instantly taken by the powerful and swift movement, accented by throwing and slicing actions. The year after Dancewave Co. learned underground was my last year in the company and Diane, the artistic director, was kind enough to hook me up with a solo choreographed by Heather McArdle, a former member of David Dorfman Dance and our teacher for underground - so further down the Dorfman rabbit hole I went! Since then I've kept myself updated on the company and gone to a couple showings of their most recent work, Prophets of Funk, and was totally surprised and elated to find out that they were holding a winter intensive this year - finally a way to learn more about the company, the style, and it was right in NYC.
As the week approached I became nervous, I hadn't danced this style in a long time, what were the other dancers going to be like? These thoughts were quickly put to rest by the fact that this intensive was for me, for me to do something I love with a company that I love. Each day started at 10:00 and ended at either 5:30 or 6:00, an exhausting but certainly rewarding commitment. We would have Technique in the morning (taught by a company member like a regular 'modern' class - warm up, small phrase work), followed by Lab with David (more like a rehearsal, longer phrases, experimenting with form and configuration), lunch, repertory (company members would teach phrase work from a David Dorfman piece), and then one or two alternative classes (these included yoga, improvisation, partnering...). The first aspect about the intensive that struck me was the friendliness of the company. Everyone was so open and funny, we were all dancing together but they took on the role of the leaders. One of my favorite parts was learning some of the dancing from Prophets of Funk - a piece set to music by Sly and the Family Stone - fun fun fun! Another was the end of the week full group contact improvisation session (the group was split into two for all classes except for this one). It was so much fun to see the way other people moved and get a chance to dance and interact with everyone in the workshop.
I think I may have been the youngest one there, most of the other dancers were either graduates, in grad school, dancing professionally, or students majoring in dance. It was great to be able to see the stages ahead of me, how the technique level followed the stages people were at and how I focused more on expression and nuance because I lack the technical experience of many of the other dancers. David's style is so wonderful in that it combines the two; there are the high kicks, the crazy turns, but also the release, the expression of the sternum, all speckled with rhythm focused movement.
They're holding another workshop in the summer which I would love to attend. I really enjoyed how personable and engaging all the company members and David were. It got me really excited to take class at Skidmore in the fall and got lots of ideas moving for my own choreography and movement.
Here's a link to a video of Prophets of Funk: (we learned the first phrase they danced!)
In terms of the coming months I'm looking into an apprenticeship on a farm in the Northeast. What seems to make sense is to do a apprenticeship program in order to get the skills and attention needed for a first time farmer and then apply to work on other farms for pay once I have the experience and if I've enjoyed it so far. Looking forward to life!
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