Aftermath from a Planetarium Performance

Klimchak is a composer, percussionist, and performer who also accompanies dance classes for the Emory Dance Program. We asked him to share his thoughts about a recent performance at Agnes Scott College.

Bradley Observatory at Agnes Scott College

Photo by Anne Cox

I recently did my first solo show in a planetarium. It was sponsored by Agnes Scott College's Dalton Gallery and was part of the art show Limitless, which featured some of my home-built instruments. When the curator, Lisa Alembik, approached me to be a part of the show, I was a little unsure, since I don’t really consider myself a visual artist. My instruments are built to produce sound first. Appearance always plays second fiddle.

She talked me into it by promising me a performance as part of the show. When she told me I could perform in the incredible acoustics of the new chapel, or in the planetarium, I jumped up and down like a 10 year old chanting “planetarium, planetarium!” You see, I've always wanted to make music in a planetarium. There's a natural bond between electronic music and the electronic sky of a planetarium light show. I dunno, maybe it has something to do with electricity. The total darkness and the comfy lounge chairs combine to give the audience a great set of tools to relax, look at the stars, and focus on the music.

The show was performed to a full house and was incredibly fulfilling for me. I played theremin, my electronic Marimba Lumina and what I call electric water, in which metal objects are played, plucked and dipped into an amplified bowl of water. The flow of the music went hand in hand with the flow of the star-show. Naturally, this has me jonesing to do another planetarium show soon!

Playing the theremin at the planetarium

Photo by Victoria Campbell

Klimchak (center) in the planetarium lobby.

Photo by Terry Kearns

The Savage Beast within You

Continuing with our series of Emory Dance Company student choreographers (see Feb. 12 for the intro), this week senior dance major Tiffany Greenwood describes her choreographic process.

I find everyday events and people fascinating. What I find the most interesting is the subtleties that define these everyday events. So much information is given and received through simple gesture like a handshake, a hug, a look, or a touch. The brush against another person as you walk to class, the placement of another’s hands as they embrace you, or the looks you receive from a friend, lover, family, or an acquaintance are exchanges I want to bring to the forefront.

Using the previous idea mentioned, I want to explore these everyday subtleties the in realm of immediate impulses and reactions. I also want to explore the basic needs and desires of the humans and to investigate how we deal with them particularly when our conscience becomes involved. I would describe the movement as raw, animalistic, indulgent, and impulsive. For my piece, the process is more important than the final production. My dancers and I will use our own experiences, the good and the bad, to derive the movement quality for the piece. My goal is to make the movement and movement quality as raw and realistic as possible because I want it to be an enhanced depiction of everyday life.

Cedar Lake article in Creative Loafing

Emory dance alumna Blake Beckham, '01, wrote an article for this week's Creative Loafing about Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Click here to read the article.

Cedar Lake begins performances tonight at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, with subsequent concerts on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 25 and 26. All performances are sold out, but the Arts at Emory Box Office is maintaining a waiting list (404-727-5050).

Also tonight there will be a pre-performance lecture at 7:00pm on American and Israeli dance. This lecture will be broadcast live from Israel in the Chace Upper Lobby in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Concert tickets are not required to attend this free lecture. Click here for the full lecture description.

Dependence/Independence

Continuing with our series of Emory Dance Company student choreographers (see Feb. 12 for the intro), this week dance major Kaitlyn Pados describes her choreographic process.

At the beginning of the semester, I started to brainstorm ideas for my upcoming Emory Dance Company piece. I found, however, that entering my piece with an already established meaning was incredibly limiting for me. When I tried to choreograph, I immediately questioned every movement idea and took everything far too literally. Instead, I decided to restart my process from a different entry point. I created some movement material in the studio on which I wanted to base my work. I did not trouble myself with what this movement might “mean” to an audience, I was just attracted to the mood it generated as I performed it. Since teaching my six dancers this new phrase material and working through a month of rehearsals, we have discovered thematic elements which are allowing a potential meaning to emerge on its own.

My piece is now examining the line between dependence and independence. I am very drawn to fleeting interactions between the dancers, and finding where trust is built and tested in both physical and emotional senses. In rehearsals, I like to alter the timing and groupings of the dancers to explore how these components shape the relationships on stage. Currently, I am trying various music options to see how it affects the dancers and their performance. We are discovering that there is a fine line between feeding emotion to the audience via music and letting the movement speak for itself, the latter of which is my ultimate goal.

-Kaitlyn Pados

Staibdance Summer Intensive

My dance company, Staibdance, has an exciting opportunity to present a two-week summer intensive on the luscious Amalfi Coast in Southern Italy. During the two-week program, dancers at the intermediate to advanced levels will study Pilates, Ballet, Contemporary Jazz, Modern, and will learn repertory material for a public performance in the Historic Teatro Armida in Sorrento. The project is designed to be an annual event that will feature diverse faculty every year (hopefully I can lure my colleagues!) and will bring modern dance to a hungry audience in Italy. The intensive serves to unite dancers from the US and Italy, and will be a great opportunity to experience a new culture from the inside out. Jessica Moore and Judy Raggi-Moore (Italy natives), along with the gracious staff at The Grand Hotel Hermitage, the mayor of Sorrento, cultural dignitaries, and many others have put their time and energy into making this event a reality. If you are interested, please go to http://www.staibdance.com/ for more details and information on the program!

-George Staib, Senior Lecturer

Reflections on "The Dance Project"

On Tuesday, February 16, we posted a reflection by Greg Catellier on his recent collaboration with George Staib. George's thoughts on the collaborative concert follow.

The journey off campus for a collaborative concert proved to be memorable, exciting, and rewarding for me. Working with my colleague Greg Catellier was just as inspirational as ever and having his expertise to ease the transition into a new space was tremendously valuable. The Dance Project brought together so many new and exciting dancers under one roof. I met gifted choreographers, danced with lovely dancers, and explored new choreographic methods in my own work which became an incredible learning experience for me.

Greg and I have produced four concerts now and the excitement never gets stale, the discoveries are always fascinating, and the motivation to continue working gets stronger. This in a sense was a debut for my dance company, Staibdance, and I have to admit that this added to the excitement. I am lucky to have an ensemble of tireless, dedicated dancers who give so much of themselves. Having them with me every “step” of the way gave me the safety net I felt I needed, to make something that felt so risky, feel so liberating.

-George Staib

Energy

Continuing with our series of Emory Dance Company student choreographers (see Feb. 12 for the intro), this week we hear from senior dance major Allie Bruehlman.

I am currently working with a cast of five dancers for my piece in the Emory Dance Company concert this spring. I originally envisioned this piece as a narrative about my relationships with a group of friends from my hometown. As the rehearsal process began, however, I quickly grew tired of attempting to adhere to and to portray such deep friendships in any sort of literal way. Instead, I began to work with the cast as merely a group of people. Since then, the piece has become more about the relationship possibilities between individuals within a group, about the joyous and all-encompassing energy that can be created when people come together.

Though the work is still in its beginning stages, I am already in awe of the raw vitality my cast delivers to the studio. The cast is extremely diverse in terms of movement affinities and training, and each dancer brings a unique personality into the rehearsal process. Thus, my most powerful creative impetus stems from the energy of my talented dancers. As the semester continues, I hope to delve into the seemingly endless challenges and possibilities of creating a cohesive group dynamic from such powerful individual forces.

-Allie Bruehlman