The dancers were given a key word that Taryn pulled from their personal stories regarding what consumes them. They paired up, taught each other their solos, pulled key moments from those phrases and began to piece them together.
Video by Kaelen Ohm
Featuring:
Taryn Javier – Choreographer
Jenn Doan – Producer, Dancer
Natalie Poissant – Rehearsal Director
Melina Stinson – Dancer
Pamela Tzeng – Dancer
Simon Portigal – Dancer
Ralph Escamillan – Dancer
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it’s so beautiful to see you work!!!
that’s a great idea, really…
xxx
thanks julia! what do you think of the solo material?? any advice there?? did you read any of the dancer diary blog work?
gorgeous editing.. lovely words from the dancers. i’m curious about the key words, will you reveal them to us? i’d like to see more of the interaction between taryn and the dancers.. why did she choose the key words and key moments that she did?
hey danielle. i will answer your question for me and leave it open for the dancers to reveal their “root” words as they see fit!
your question for me…..the dancers discovered the word for themselves upon further research to define WHY it is they are allowing themselves to be consumed.
the moments i chose from their solos are moments that resonated strongly with me. it is either something where i felt a very CLEAR intention from them….or something that moved me….
i feel like it moved me because they were expressing themselves HONESTLY within a moment. as a choreographer (?) i look for honesty …i can feel a moment if it is real… the energy that is present is pure and therefore accessible to a body that is listening…
i want to literally be moved by dance…the language of the body speaks…and i want it to do so with enough conviction for my body to speak back.
thank you taryn. i find this approach interesting because of how “honesty” or “commitment” can be perceived differently from person to person. this has become more and more apparent to me through working with different choreographers. do you find that your opinion of these “moments” varies from day to day? or do they take on a new life once they have been strong together? is your ultimate goal to display the dancers most honest moments of being consumed, or your own opinion of that?
*strung together.
my goal as a choreographer is the following:
i wish to create from a similar energy strain. (thus i got the dancers to go into their individual stories of being consumed)
i wish this energy to be strong and clear enough in performance for it to resonate among and between the dancers to the point where the audience ALSO feels this vibration, etc
the dancer material is their own but comes from this building block energy point – therefore if the dancers are able to dig deep enough, it is an authentic moment based on a personal memory.
( i would say they all most definitely did dig enough!)
the goal for the piece is to remain honest to the original request….with enough freedom for the piece to be structured as organically as possible. i find that the key moments i choose to highlight from the dancers are those that resonated with me most…i felt the dancer was “consumed” in that moment, etc….once pieced together…..these key moments are still those of honesty and authenticity in each dancer YET intimate knowledge of each other and each other’s stories help the dancers reach authenticity in EACH OTHERS moments……i hope that is clear.
Hi Internet!
I also want to thank everyone for adding to the discussion. It’s a great place to do it, and that’s what it’s here for. Again, thanks.
I wanted to add some comments and ask some questions to you, Taryn, as well. It’d be nice to talk it out over a cigarette, maybe, too.
First things first, I wanted to respond to the idea of the “root words” that we have been using. Not in all cases did we choose them ourselves. The root phrase, let’s say, I’ve been using, if I should divulge, is “The Fix”, ie, fixing, jonesing, etc. There’s a whole story behind it, but to be transparent, in my case, it was actually a suggested phrase. Not a bad thing, but that phrase, in and of itself, wasn’t the original word(s) I had “connected to”. I think what the “root” has served to do is to consolidate the psycho-emotional energy the memories we’ve focused on into one idea and energy. It makes it swallowable and it saves time. It’s sort of a generalization and a pinpointing at the same time. We know each others stories but it is also just a sort of entry-point into each memory. That’s what I’m getting from it.
Honesty, authenticity, and commitment. Somehow, how you’ve expressed what these are for you above, and what you see and have chosen movement-wise, maybe just comes down to how we perform those movements. “I wish the energy to be strong and clear enough…”, and I think that’s just it, maybe. Those movements are performed fully, strongly, and with clarity, and maybe that’s what you “connect” to in them?
Or, maybe these “authentic moments” are an energetic thing. Or a time thing. Or a dynamic thing. Or a tension thing. I think they are probably a lot of things. Probably also a personal taste thing. In any case, this “authenticity” that you see is maybe just a very holistic use of the body. EVERYTHING at once, and together.
Concerning the materials. They are self-made, but we also dance each other’s materials. For instance, in the first webisode, during the last little bit, the “final product” of that rehearsal, I am dancing Pam’s phrase. So yup, that’s a shared thing.
Also, I’m not trying to put words into your mouth here Taryn. I like that it can be seen differently, and would like to offer how I’m seeing/experiencing what we’ve been up to.
Ten hours later, again, I had a question for you Taryn! I wanted to ask what an organically structured piece would be? What makes something organic, how can you tell, and what does that mean for you? Letting something be its organic, or authentic, or honest self? Why not inorganic, inauthentic, or dishonest?
simon, i love you.
hey simon….again i loved what you wrote. you put into writing exactly how i feel about many things. the points i picked resonate with me because i see (but more truly i feel in MY OWN BODY) that moment each of you has danced…
as for authenticity…i feel it’s authentic because it comes from a place that is your own memory. the movement that is true enough to resonate in another’s body when executed by your body…..is as you put it, holistic…everything all at once. all cells and systems unified in one stream of energetic expression.
i also feel like the “root” word is as you put it, an entry point. a summary of the thing with which we are not putting into words but rather, expressing that memory through our body alone….
and finally….this last question for me (and i have to say, it’s a gooder! haha) what is an organically structured piece….
one definition of organic is as follows:
Characterized by continuous or natural development
basically simon, i let material create itself in a group of individuals from a common energetic (emotional?) theme….then i see what happens….i let my whims and fancies go, i don’t say no to myself….i will explore what comes to me. it is a practice to learn what to filter, what to let go, what to edit…what to stick with….
it’s odd. i’m sure many dancers can relate, but i will get a flash of something and i will need to try it. i let things roll out before me…i try to allow the natural progression of the piece express itself…and i hope i tap into the strongest expression of that.
now….for the OTHER questions why not inorganic, inauthenic or dishonest?? well simon…GREAT QUESTION! i have no idea why i’ve not explored this?? i feel like in the way i create it would be a challenge for me to do this as i have never done this before.. (hello fear! haha) maybe i would feel a bit like when one who hears/feels the beat tries to dance off it….a bit taken off course, but with practice it can be achieved….
this is most definitely something for me to think about…..
should i try???????? :O