thoughts on elementally earthen

First, it started with wanting to create work to the music of Ella Fitzgerald, and reminding myself of the Duke Ellington work created before the century turned ! (wow....that seems a long time ago now!)I thought I had the right cast for. 

Then, in trying to come up with a catchy title, Elemental also gave me license to reprise some works about the classical elements( water, fire, wind,spirit, earth)--- and as we are EARTHEN Vessels, there was the title of the show!

With a change of our rehearsal and office space out of Talento Bilingue this summer, we needed to alter our programmatic budget to accommodate the move. Thus we begin our 15th season with a shift, re-envisioning our annual Black History Month as the HERITAGE SERIES, so as to include other cultures, particularly "Si Se Puede" which was have developed over the years to celebrate a Latino American perspective. As this ballet that celebrates the legacy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm workers Movement---another earth reference--

key excerpts will be included. 

When I approached Steve Rooks(former Martha Graham Principal) to choreograph a new work, based on the elements, he surprised me with a work featuring 3 from the periodic table! So another elemental addition to the loosely gathered title, along with a silly ditty of the periodic table created by the dancers.

There will be a few more in the mix---

 "Fire" which Trey McIntrye choreographed for me in 1991 for a solo concert I was to dance in my hometown. 

 "Stream",a beautiful work  I had choreographed with UH AURA back in the 90s

"Secret Life of Plants" from "Songs of Wonder" 

AND  a surprise guest artist---finally after 15 years of badgering, I cornered Lauren Anderson into coming out of retirement to do a bit of dancing as well.

 As always we will have an audience participation moment, which may include a line dance of sorts to whom else? Earth, Wind and Fire! 

Come celebrate with us! 15 years is a long time, and but for the grace of God, it would not have occurred, believe me!!!! the name of the company has always been earthen vessels from this reference:

" But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels,  to show that the all surpassing power comes from God, not us" 2Cor 4:7

So there is much to celebrate and praise the Creator for, because, even when I haven't always been the best vessel, hopefully, His light shines throughthe imperfections, and some of those who have experienced our concerts, 

tasted a little beauty, learned something they never knew, came to appreciate their fellow American in a new way, or perhaps have been deeply moved. Numerous school children have seen things danced that they had yet to study, or seen something of this ballet world that they would never have been exposed to, had this company not been there...educating a whole new generation of dance goers. 

I am a bit weary, as it has been a hard journey, made the lighter by a supportive husband/collaborator, numerous Board members, dance community colleagues, resilient funders, and a faith family that has helped us all along the way. I like to think that our dances are meaningful, that they matter, no matter how fleeting the image---dance can sear our soul, raise our consciences, get our heart rate going! 

DAY SEVEN

The 3 site marathon began at Christian Unity Church, with its performance in a two leveled worship center, being followed with a breakfast of grits, sausage, turkey bacon and biscuits---yum! On we went to ASHE, the cultural arts center in Central City, with its cavernous space, first focused on interactive lessons about health, diet and statistics. Then a community sing-in, and then a Teach-in---a multidirectional series of vignettes highlighting the facts of poverty with various stories and situations that highlighted the inequities. The daily tropical rainstorm came in just as this show ended, while we scrambled to eat and get loose before our departure. Finally we, Cohort 3, came to Tekrema, each group focused on a task list that ranged from last minute transformations to intermediary spaces with visual art, lighting and projection, as well as marking off parking on the street with plants hauled from the garden. Excitement built as the crowd assembled outside included curious neighbors, and the immediate sense of community and presence that our house inspires.

 “In this house is all you will need” was the opening mantra and reverberating lesson to all of us, as we presented our site specific dances. Downstairs was an offering space to the ancestors, with a libation installation and candles on the shelves, and surfaces, with its welcoming dances. The Library Room, as we call the one with all the shallow display cases, played out the minstrel show irony  recalling the Willie Lynch papers, outlining steps to divide and conquer black people. The “growing edge” room with its brown paper curtains, with trees, leaves and words that determined “What it is”, and the projections on the ceiling that local artist Ron Bechet had composed for the transition. Shimmery blue fabric introduced a staircase with words of empowerment on each step, and little windows above the bannister, asking questions determining economic level. And then our Bayou Ballet ensued in the magical surrealism of the cypress swamp room, with its hurricane survival and the role of water sounded out with stories told in the words of our dancers. Many people told me that room 's moving story was hard to leave, caught up in its other-worldliness, like a womb they didn't want to leave. Yet, after 6 loops of this, with the cued sounding of the drums, the whole house was emptied out in the street for concentric circles, singing and dancing. Thanks was given to Greer and others, and the work of the Center was highlighted in hopes of help in future repairs of the roof and advancing the vision for that space in the neighborhood. I think ours especially was more akin to a community service--- where we entered, built up and exited the space better than when we left it. I was proud of our collective efforts, and how we honored the space and its founder. We boarded the bus, soaked and exhausted, but after a shower and leftover potluck at the dorm, the party continued back in the studio, with DJ Erich and lots of gyrating hips, soul train lines, and spirits! Dancers know how to party!

LAST DAY

We regrouped for our last cultural sharings, for those who didn't get to offer their ancestral tales....fitting on what most consider the Sabbath. We then shared briefly what we learned about ourselves as leaders and relinquished our offerings from the altar table. I retrieved the copy of the poem my father had in his wallet for years, “Don't Quit” and shared this:

I came in as a general ; but a general commands only silence. I must learn to listen, ask questions, honor, validate and respect the assets of the artists around me, and bring them together.

What I didn't say, was

I--however reluctantly--- AM a gatekeeper, a role that draws a negative connotation of power and money, but really is an influencer, an opener of doors. And perhaps I too have absorbed the self loathing of internalized racism that systems put forward to bring me and others down. I also found my voice, literally having to dance and sing, and harmonize all at the same time.

After that self revelatory moment, present and past Urban Bush Women, paid homage to their founder, sister, mother, and role model, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, as they celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the company. We then circled and sang, hugged and collected contact information as others drifted off to various destinations away from the space we had shared this long week. I got back to the Quarter, had a swim with Dr. Jaffe, a little shopping in the flea market, and a lovely dinner at a wine bar with them. Doing laundry, watching the Olympics, catching up on the this blog and email, helps me get ready for re-entry into the Bayou City. Here we come, yall-- unleashed to undo racism, and build up our community! Thank you for some tools and the methodology and the heart of compassion and humanity that will entail.

DAY FIVE

Tekrema Cultural Center in the lower 9^th ward is where we will perform site specifically, and gathered for most of day, observing a persistent rainstorm, which ignited our imaginations. This building was purchased 2 months before Katrina, and was entirely immersed in water, and its disrepair is still evident. One hopes Urban Bush Women bringing folks to see this as one of three sites, inspires someone to help assist them in making it the space its owner, Mama Greer, envisioned. We cross pollinated some ideas in various spaces, and for most of the day, we intersected song (I have always wanted to be harmonizing in a singing group) with dance and spoken word. I went along with the visual artists to pick up supplies at Walmart before coming home for an early night of it. The day had started with the conditioning class that has almost become a meditation,( it moves so thankfully slow) and a community dance party, showing the overlap of African idioms that come forth from the young people in various areas reflecting the rage of whatever era--times of war, discontent, and civil rights movements. We also got the local flavor, with some history of Congo Square, as well as those moves we witnessed in the “Second Line” ----movement forms that are revisited, or were “brought by rivers” to our brothers and sisters, yearning to be free.

DAY....? I've lost track! This recalls Wednesday.
It's like gumbo, this mixture that is simmering, needing to be stirred and the final ingredients dropped into the pot. In assembling our cohorts to "map our assets"--bring all your skills, strengths and personalities to the table---we got to know what a rich array we have together! After listing, quantifying and organizing, we formed 6 groups and worked on the resources we have already assembled through phrases of movement, duet work, facts and figures and stories we had collected. Taking into consideration the spatial limitations we are about to embark upon in the Cultural Center in which we are work tomorrow---without air conditioning in these 90 degree and 90% humid days.
The President was in town for the National  Urban League's convention, apparently, but we are ensconced in the world of possibilities and imagination birthing a happening that has yet to fully emrge in way, shape and form in addressing WHY ARE PEOPLE POOR?

DAY FOUR

DAY FOUR

My body begins to be ever more thankful for the rides each day as my body wearies from the long days and ‘hoofin’ it up Bourbon Street and Audubon” between streetcar rides! Gentle foot massage in conditioning class was in keeping after the day’s journey in the second line yesterday.

After another rigorous professional practice and picking up what I missed the day before, we transitioned into a panel on Wealth Disparity and, after lunch,  another talk about the health effects of being poor from a New Orleans and national perspective. We finally gathered again in our cohort groups to brainstorm and share ideas, research and impressions of the space at which we are to dance site specifically. Liz Lerman led a wonderful opportunity to dig into movement together, via her “toolbox” methodology: composing dance with the every day person, as well as for purposes of this week. Observation methods, asking people what they saw, pairing, counting moves, and taking movement from text were familiar concepts to me from working on the Hallelujah Project and The Dance Exchange’s Institutes. Equivalence and movement metaphor were inspirational reminders of how deeply my work has been affected by Liz. I will get a picture with she and Jawole before I leave, as they are quickly becoming my dance heroines! The day ended early, with a return trip via ST Charles line, and a walk down Bourbon St at dusk….very different from morning! A pickup dinner, a swim in a small pool, and washing clothes was chosen when I might have gone out to hear some music…but an internet connection is dear here---so I use it when I have it.

DAY TWO AND THREE

DAY TWO

So I got a ride today, due to the implosion of a local landmark. My host family wanted to be no where near the dust cloud due to asthma problems, so they left early to go take in a 10am movie in a suburb. I got to campus, did my yoga, and conditioning class, which readied me for the challenge of a professional rigor dance practice. The combination of Urban Bush Women teachers Amora, Chanon, and Jawole herself made for an interesting foray into an African-based movement, which I tamely attempted with my limited exposure and facility. Then came for the meat of the day, The People's Institute, a three person team that leads groups through anti-racism  training. With its rules of engagement covenant, we were to open our minds, hearts and break out of the boxes of institutions, systems and ideologies, explore a power analysis, and a discussion of gatekeepers, that gave me a few aha moments and one which surprised me to tears. How every race is dehumanized by these constructs, and how our language in how we speak about and think about the poor is so important in framing our stereotypes, expectations and vision for the least of these. The dinner break brought a quick trip to a middle eastern restaurant to-go and a surreal conversation with a Bay Area dancer, who ends up being married to a grade school dancing friend from Omaha! The dance world is a small world after all! Then we gathered to have a time called altar/ancestor, where a small item, story, dance or performance piece was shared, I was nervous to figure out what I wanted to share, as I didn't really know what the nature of this would be like. The 2 minute snippets of information gleaned and celebrated, recalled or recited, was at times hilarious, quixotic and tearful---but all artful. I still ponder what I will share on next installment. A late but full day.

DAY THREE

Today's agenda was reconfigured so as to take in what is called a “Second Line” or jazz funeral procession of a local icon, Uncle Lionel, a drummer. I decided to sleep in, call my husband, and hoof it up Royal St to catch the St Charles line and take the bus back to a point from which we would join  the festivities. Hot and humid, I sweated thru my shirt easily in the first 15 minutes of my day, and probably walked, danced, skootched along for a mile or so with the crowd, fanning myself and others,  following the bad's drums, brass, tambourines, costumes, shenanigans and rituals in a loop following the casson (4 horses, a carriage hauling the casket), and various relatives  like a parade. It was awesome! And found a 12 inch shrimp poboy to bring home to feast upon with other dancers was a reward for the journey. It is a strangely wonderful dichotomy that grieves and rejoices so readily, as only New Orleanians know how to do. The rest of the day was spent in the intense climax and conclusions of The People's Institute, raising awareness and challenging definitions about race and ending with singing, (as is often the way utilized by UBW in assembling the group that things are about to start). A rousing Hollywood shuffle ensued, during the birthday song of Stevie Wonder, which was a powerfully joyous way to end so rich a day. Tomorrow the site specific gathering and dancemaking begins.

WHY ARE PEOPLE POOR?

So, here I am with 90 others, in New Orleans for Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership Institute(SLI) “SOUL DEEP: Why are people poor?---demystifying the opportunity gap in the United States.” Urban Bushwomen’s Artistic Director, Jawole Zollar, is a woman whom I got to know as we served together on the Board of Dance USA. Liz Lerman, of the Dance Exchange, with whom I worked a decade ago through Hallelujah Project in Houston. I had just finished Liz’ book “Hiking the Horizontal: Field Notes of a Choreographer” (which I hoped to have autographed, was left behind, due to fears of an overweight luggage!) and both women have developed admirable methodology and inspiring art, building communities and tackling tough issues. I was heartened to be remembered and embraced by them both! I am staying in the former slave quarters behind the home (on Bourbon Street!) of Dr. Bernie and Marlene Jaffe, gracious supporters of the arts and medicine in this community. Since most of the work will be done in the Dance studios of McWilliam Hall at Tulane University, most of the participants are staying in dorms, while I have an hour trek each morning, which gives me an opportunity to walk up Bourbon street to Canal, ride a bus and the famous St. Charles Streetcar, and walk another 5 blocks. Rides home at night have been arranged so far!

DAY ONE

Each day will start up with a conditioning and dance class geared to professional and pedestrian movers and workshops given in methods, values and practices as we gather data in 3 different venues for site specific work in Hurricane Katrina affected communities. We danced together today instead of the broken up groups therein. We visited our site- Tekrema Cultural Center- in the lower 9^th ward, a former hardware store, whose two stories seem to hold many secrets in its long history. The upstairs ballet studio, with its lovely wood floors, had no mirrors, but a mural of cypress swamps painted on its walls. Me wonders how different first ballet lessons would have been in such an environment at this. While exploring their back yard hydroponic classroom and spying some chickens in a corner, I made a surprise discovery---a fire ant hill! This Houston gal should have known better than to stick her foot in it! Talk about dance with ants in your pants! I was rescued with a good hosing down from my colleagues, and luckily had a change of clothes, socks and shoes. Was grateful to another native New Orleans participant for a ride home to shower, before our luscious dinner and drum/dance experience at the Golden Feather on Rampart street…an amazing display of Louisiana hospitality and culture!

Sacred Dances

So I always feel like when I get interviewed I wax all poetic about the work for someone else to write it up, and then remember....oh, yeah, I can write a blog about it, too, just in case it's not as lovingly recalled by the free lance writer hired to report on it ( who will probably do a better job from an objectivity standpoint).

However, with dances meant for worship, there always seems to be misunderstanding or mixed expectations. I find it hard to categorize these dances: they are sacred when I am dancing them. Modest costuming, along with craft and artistry, are what might be a little different from the “liturgical dance” some experience in teams across our city's vast array of church services Within the context of a sanctuary, there is a power and beauty that can often change the way you see a dance, or even how it transforms you! But now I am passing these dances onto another generation of dancers, who may or may not hold to the faith I have.... Interesting how making these dances grew my faith, and maybe of use to encourage others to grow and experience their own in deeper ways? That's the hope and the risk I take in utilizing dance in yet another way... Earthen Vessels likes to explore dance as a tool to educate, inspire beauty or celebrate life's experiences---but also as an instrument of worship!

Not unlike an icon, at which one gazes to be observant to stillness, subtle shifts in perspective, becoming one with an image, seared into your soul with unflinching depth. Dance has a way with your soul like that. I have often taken the familiar hymns and texts into churches where dance is foreign or considered with some suspicion as worldly, and tried to illuminate the lyrics, the theology, incarnate it with my body as the vessel. Ahh, the earthen vessel, (again!) that I hope doesn't distract from the essence, but reflects the power of God to do something with my frame, my art, my skill--- to show you a bit of Him.

The liturgical practice is part of my faith journey as I grew up a midwestern Catholic, learned my guitar from St. Louis Jesuits, and sang in and planned masses, and later offered dances for feast days in high school (Duchesne Academy, Omaha NE). This Lenten meditation in dance, is certainly steeped in much of that Catholic tradition, with the Nicene Creed, The Misa Criolla ( a mass sung in Spanish with candles and gloria, credo, sanctus, kyrie), a prayer penned by Cesar Chavez for the Farm Worker, and a St Louis Jesuits song. “Song of Mary” is a narrated dance to a collection of poems by Lucille Clifton, that together weave and foreshadow and offer retrospection by the Mother of Jesus, at different points in her life, that adds context to the picture.

Interspersed there will also be songs danced about the way of the cross, reflecting on its weight and intention(O Sacred Head), the wood (Behold the Wood of the Cross)and the shroud (Were You There?) with music ranging from the medieval to the hymnal to the negro spiritual. There will be the Passion on display in the solos, and bemoanings of ”Agony and Ecstasy” where dancer embodies stories leading to the crucifixion—Christ withholding judgement of the adulterous woman, healing of the lame and blind, the last supper and pain of the via de la rosa, to His rising from the tomb. There will be the glorious anticipation of resurrection with Judy Collins Amazing Grace. My hope is that “Sacred Dances” would assist your reflections on the traditions of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Mauday Thursday to the desolation of Good Friday, from anticipation to heightened joy of Easter ----all wrapped into one evening of dance.

Alongside these, are some reprisals of dances choreographed to the renderings of local Episcopal priest, composer and rock star, Kemper Crabb (St John the Divine Contemporary Service)--one a wedding duet( which was danced at mine!), and another “Be Thou My Vision” which I have choreographed at least three versions in my life! These are danced in tribute to the churches past and present, and its people, singles, couple, small groups---- that have supported and watched the journey of the dance from sunday school classes to concert stages that is my vocation. I happen to be a founding member of Christ Evangelical Church, whose Christ in the Arts Festival has opened its door to the arts in amazing generosity as a venue! Thanks BJ! It is with great joy, we bring this expression of dance to their sanctuary. I will have singers and many in the audience from City of Refuge, a multicultural Presbyterian church at which I serve as a deacon...I am grateful to them for their unswerving support as well.

Insider Info on "Mothers of the Movement"

I met Maya Angelou once at a Sweet Honey in the Rock concert at Zellerbach in Berkeley, and when she stood up to shake my hand---wow, she was tall--a giant in life for me. Having read Maya Angelou's series of autobiographies, starting with "I know why the caged bird sings" I was inspired to see this woman doing so many things with her life---a dancer, a singer, a writer, an ambassadorr,a poet an...d a sage. Maybe I could do all those things too, (doesn't this dance company allow me to do many of those things?) and not just let ballet and dance be all that defines me. "Phenomenal Woman" was one of her defining works, and is one of ours, too, and each woman puts her stamp on it by speaking the poetry aloud, while dancing---no easy feat---with a finale featuring a rap that makes a statement with Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Harriet Tubman and Sojourner represent pivotal roles black woman took...to provide a way out, and be a voice speaking up for all women... each overcame obstacles and weren't afraid to challenge the injustice and do something tangible about it too---both which took tremendous courage. Harriet's journey made all the more amazing, in that she had sleeping sickness that would overtake her at any time, as she traversed the underground railroad with her passengers in tow. Sojourner Truth standing alongside suffragettes and an impressive communicator. Rosa Parks” quiet dignity is dealt with in a very (Liz Lerman-ish) gestural way in its conception with an interview playing that was recorded around the time of her death, that tells the story 3rd person with a conversational perspective. ( I am reading Liz Lerman's Hiking the Horizontal right now). That work is called Seated for Justice and juxtaposes images of that time and moment in history (as assembled by my partner in life)behind the dancer of Rosa.

Am also bringing back Yolanda Gibbs to recreate her roles in so many of these works-- surely a mother of many of these movements in her own right!

Nina Simone, will be two totally different male female interactions, one fluffy and light, the other brutal (that we did at CAM last year). Her voice comprises so much pain and humor, doesn't it? As does Roberta Flack, whose music inspired my first piece of choreography in 8th grade. I'm sure those nuns didn't know what to make of "Jesse"--nor did i know what that song was about too much then---but when that was the first song that made me cry, and I just had to dance to it!
And the Lucille Clifton poems about Mary, Mother of Jesus, are combined to create a lovely series of tableau to a haunting piece of music by Keith Jarrett....one of the more sublime inspirations that I often bring out. Now, the nuns would be really touched by that one...

AMAHL and the NIGHT VISITORS special addition

James Sewell, the choreographer of "Amahl and the Night Visitors" always said I could do something different with the village people...so this year, with some American Sign Language (ASL)classes under my belt, I launch out! One of the villagers will be a little drummer girl who will be accompanied by Amahl's pipe, the hidden drum of the page, who ministers to the kings, and Amahl's widowed mother, who needs a little cheer in her life. The kings even get in on the act and give Amahl a lift when (s)he cannot manage the moves with cane. Hope you enjoy this little augmentation of the storyline and the only true dance segment without lyrics...but it will have its own little tale.... those who are deaf in the audience and understand ASL will know that part if I have "glossed" the sentencing correctly. Do you know what glossing is? It is restructuring the sentence structure for simplicity and the limitations of sign vocabulary...full sentences might be abbreviated to a shorter phrase with main ideas. In a culture of text-ers and internet, ( think how awesome those technologies are for deaf people?!) sign languages have always been their own code, perhaps the first shorthand, literally! (pun intended). I posted on article on AMAHL for the Houston Deaf Network, and have tried to inform that community, and those churches that serve such populations, to bring their congregants for a wonderful show.... a great outing for families, groups, troupes, Mentoring programs and senior citizens....a great intro to ballet and opera for our youngest, for it is under an hour!!!!made for tv, right?

I have also been haunted by the comments of a young lad, who in our post performance Q&A, "when's the sequel?" I thought that prospect delightful and can imagine many little rivulets of narrative that come bubbling up...who knows? I might attempt it, or at the very least a prologue or epilogue in years to come. What do you think happened before or after? If you haven't seen it, you will have to come first, and let me know how you envision the context or bookends of this sweet homespun tale.

HB at Miller

Having missed the era of Stanton Welch as a dancer with Houston Ballet, I have only my own bias as dancer from a different time in that company's stature, while I am still on its adult faculty. I will offer here no comment on his work, but will send kudos to him for his selection of the work of others. Having hobbled over to Miller to see some of the repertoire I couldn't get to this year, I experienced a delightful evening of dance in the usual cool of a May night in Houston! A brief entry of my thoughts of that night....
Having been in a book club, where we seem to be reading the first book of authors whose second and third books were even better, I was struck by the similarity of seeing the first work of Nacho Duarte. Interesting to see the seeds of movement vocabulary, his resonance with music solidly identified with country, and the weightedness that eventually moved over the balletically trained sextet of dancers. Houston Ballet has beautifully trained and nuanced professionals, and while Emily Bowen is exploding all over the map, and Kelly Myernick handles the material maturely,both are sharp tools in the dance-maker's pocket. The partnering and men's work was also seamless. The choreography was grounded in this earthy, bird-like, and tool yielding shapes, fenced in agrarian landscape. Lovely promise in that work of the better yet to come, indeed!
Then there's Twyla....man, that lady can craft! Saw this work "in the upper room" with her company and on ABT, although hearing Phillip Glass back then was a bit tedious, our ears have gotten used to its landscape and the context for pure movement it allows. This ballet not only stands the test of time, its innovations stills seems fresh and exciting. . In particular the work horses of Ms. Myernick and company, whose stamina astounds...this piece has got to be like running a marathon, and the exhilirating climax had me shouting. When exhaustion make guys pull in for 5 pirouettes, because technique kicks in with relaxation--- standouts were Oliver H. and Simon B.---its transcendence exemplified. That Twyla swing of the arms, and shake of the shoulder (due to her boxing phase) ain't so easy to look natural, and the attitude in the face and shrug of the shoulders should be a bit smug....those guys aced it! Hats off to you! Signature Twyla stuff--the jogging forward and backward, the tennis shoed set vs. the quick footed pointe shoe birds, flitting through, the lifts and the reversals and the insouciant nonchalance, all had their moments with this cast. Still an awe inspiring work even if it's as old as some dancing it.

Dance Matters

WHY DANCE MATTERS

..in a world of couch potatoes, we need to move...even if it's only our fingers reaching up to the heavens as we yawn in the morning like the tendrils of a paperwhite, we need to move! Toe tapping, fingers drumming, woodpeckers drilling, lawn workers mowing---we need to move! Dance unlocks spiritual depths, its images sear souls, dancers embody life as we know it. Where would I be without dance? I am pondering that question as I recover from a hip cleanout (40 years is a long time to be turning out!) in hopes of gaining a little more time in the profession. Who would I have been without seeing dance on television and taking that first creative dance class? That is a question I will never know the answer to...but how has it enriched my existence? Kept me in good health and shape, better than my siblings, I'll warrant. Given me a living as a classical ballerina ( a black one in a practically all white world) and given me expression as a dance maker. Revealed gems of history and culture to me, showed me how to love and to be disciplined and to stick to your dreams. It takes tenacious pursuit---to be a dancer. Every decision impacts its practice, from what I eat, to what shoes I wear, to how much sleep I get , to...who I am without it? To see it is the beauty we crave; to feel it is to feel the heights of joy and the depths of sorrow we cannot fathom. Dance is the persevering spirit that transcends the limitations of body and mind. It reaches into old men and makes them cry, it transforms teenagers longing to be understood, it lives in the play of our children. It is such a natural expression. I imagine life without dance as a stagnant pool, that muddies and dries up for lack of restorative replenishment. Dance has mattered to me and even if I don't get to be one of its performers or makers in a public way one day, I will still dance before the LORD as David did, regardless of what anyone thinks. It is not only an acceptable offering before the audience of ONE, but a fitting joyful response to LIFE abundant and free.

dancing a dozen...

Putting on twelve not- so -easy pieces-- 7 of which are not new to me, but are to most of the dancers--keeps everyone on their toes, needing to do their homework(keep working on movement during the odd off-time in the fluorescent light of a mirror-less studio). SUITE LOUIS is some of my most difficult and rhythmic compositions and am grateful when its veterans say they remember the rhythms, if not the steps. Trying to figure out the ins and outs of two casts in certain roles and adding in text, solos, and some of the new segments in a social commentary is an endless jigsaw puzzle. The new J-5 piece in tribute to the young MJ and his brothers is a refreshing delight...Of course, there are the lyrics I'd been singing wrong for years...if you can believe it, I was in the Michael Jackson fan club as a little girl, and these are the first 45s I bought---the songs of my youth. I learned how to groove to this stuff! It's fun trying to translate that into bodies a generation younger... all sorts of moves surprise me and I relish the movement memories my body holds that are unlocked by our sense of hearing! Then there is the assembling of audio and video clips from comedians I grew up on....Flip Wilson was (and still is) my favorite comedian who is family friendly, as was Cosby, though his was a bit bent; and of course the fruitless search for a clip of Richard Pryor minus an f-bomb in every sentence! Thanks to my loving partner ( a tough job --- being my husband and collaborator, God bless him!) and Flip Wilson, we did find one straight up comedy routine with few words and lots of movement---Richard Pryor was quite a mover! "Playing the Dozens" has really profoundly disturbing history and impact on our self promotion as Black people, and it is difficult to educate, question, and offer some comment in dance on its (d)evolving form of sparring. A challenge I might only scratch the surface on this go-round, tying all these strands together...Certainly the "I Have A Dream" speech is a wonderful balm in an age where rhetoric is cheap and lacks vision......well I need more days like today in terms of productivity and inspiration. Thanks for the prayers...keep them coming!

Preparing for Si Se Puede

As we prepare for our 12th season, I am reflecting on the multi-facets of thematic material upon which our seasons are based. Loose themes that reflect the year, an image, a play on words...metaphors and common language, like "playing the dozens" an African American version of what became known as "your mama" jokes....I look forward to exploring the audio files of famous black comedians upon which my sense of humor was shaped (alongside Monty Python!)...more on that in later blogs.

HUELGA/STRIKE.
I started a section of Si Se Puede last week in my endless pursuit of the tarantella....my first siting of ballet on television as a child, was of Balanchines' famous one with Patricia McBride and Edward Villella....it indeliby captured my imagination and changed the course of my life (I remembered individual steps when I later got to see that piece performed live at Kennedy Center by NYCB some 30 years later). I began taking ballet lessons, as my mother saw my attention held by Dance in America back in the day, and after five boys she found an English lady who taught ballet to black students (as well as white), and gave me the opportunity she never had in Houston...so I have been wanting to do one justice as a dancemaker (and tambourine player---I danced a tarantella, as a child in RAD exams with a tambourine I still have)....so in a sense I am making it now---but about injustice! An earlier failed foray with this music is now to be redeemed...it occurred to me that the italian? legend of tarantellas was that you danced the poison of a tarantula spider bite out of your system...wouldn't migrant workers have encountered spider bites too, working among the vegetation? All the more so, they would be needing the release of dance and song, even after a hard day's sweaty work. So I will use this music now to portray the many huelgas (strikes) and nonviolent protest methods by which Chavez formed unions, forced better working conditions, improved farm implements, banned pesticides, and increased wages. Exploring images of the mounting dissatisfaction, organizing the labor movement and that collective feeling of empowerment...how to multiply the few bodies I have? (mirrors, images, shadows, film?). It is exciting to me to capturing with movement the growing foment of being exploited and realization that we are always more powerful united---whether we are standing, marching, sitting, boycotting or fasting. The music captures the "we're not going to take it" attitude, the righteous indignation of honest, hardworking agricultural workers the world over.

MISA/MASS
Another new section of Si Se Puede is to include yet another new incarnation (in a real spiritual sense, every work is an incarnation)...."Misa Criolla" was introduced to me by my husband long ago, but it didn't really speak to me until Cantare Houston asked me to do a collaborative piece in a church with them to it.("Some music has its time, honey" I responded when my husband balked at why I'd hadn't used if before now, at his behest). Now I contemplate how I might incorporate this mass sung and composed in Spanish by Ariel Ramirez into "Si Se Puede" ... intersecting the story of Cesar and his accomplishments on behalf of migrant workers with my (and his)Catholic upbringing and those images.... Going into a Catholic supply store was oddly interesting---to find candles among all the other things like vestments, communion hosts brought back lots of memories…..However, back to the choreography---already the Kyrie is done---with candles---and will serve as a processional marking the 50,000 people who mourned Cesar’s death in 1993.

In preparation for tomorrow's rehearsal, tonight I listen to the Sanctus, and Genesis and Gospel images come to my mind….of the Triumphal Entry, of leaves and robes laid out for the Messiah in the roadside, mixing with images of working in fields(you shall now toil in the garden), hiding (like Adam and Eve from HOLINESS) in bushes, taking a siesta in the shade(resting in the Savior), as farm workers might all over the world.

The Credo offers me yet another forum for my Nicene and Apostles Creeds movement vocabulary/imagery....I made the Nicene Creed for a nun friend teaching the trinity at a Catholic girls school and have performed it with translations in French, Chinese and Spanish (next German!) This solo, based on the Nicene Creed, I just performed publicly with SODC last season. I usually only perform in churches (as I did at a Lutheran Church in Tomball last Sunday) and yet, there is another(The Apostles Creed), which is a more participatory version I always envision a whole congregation doing (and did with my church one Sunday with Rich Mullins Creed)! And now in Spanish, with Mr. Ramirez's score as old as me---it will be fascinating to see what I can pull if off with 6 dancers...if not seven....I may have to be in this one myself! or not.

More to come on other sections as they evolve….

Seen and Unseen

"SEEN AND UNSEEN" is a programmatic theme for dances that will intertwine several layers of meaning, exploring the visible and the invisible. The Black History portion of the show will have a several works with focus on the life of Frederick Douglass, loosely based on excerpts from the "Narrative on the Life of Frederick Douglass" with assorted musical references from classical renditions of folk tunes, to hollering work calls. This work will be told as story in sections sensitively choreographed to highlight to children what slavery was like for a child, as well Douglass' thoughts on education as the first step toward freedom. There will be also be new work rifting off of Ralph Ellison's Invisible man, entitled, Invisible No More, in celebration of the recent inauguration of President Obama. Among reprisals is my 1998 version of "all that you have is your soul" featuring the music of Tracy Chapman; and "Sabbathday" a work using the music of The Shakers, whose inventive legacy and movement oriented worship welcomed people of all races.

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Photography above credited to Amitava Sarkar from "Dogan"

Inspiration for "To the Thawing Wind"

I am going to give a bit of my thought concept and rehearsal process with "To The Thawing Wind" which will be performed at Miller Outdoor Theatre on the September 12 and 13, at Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance. Originally, I wept when first I heard the Mark O'Connor score "Appalachia Waltz" ---always a good sign that a dance should be born! I have always wanted to explore the midwestern plains girl that I am, and this music spoke of that earthy grounded landscape and the cycles of new life. I look back and think I was heading into a gentler time in my life, having met the man I was going to marry, and this was one of the gentler works I have done. The title eventually came from a Robert Frost poem, that, in summary, releases the poet to come outside after a long winter, the thawing wind at the window. To be outside and part of that new life....too many days inside at a writer's desk (or shut off in a dance studio!) with 6 months of winter make us appreciate the first signs of spring!

Initially, while in rehearsals, (back in 2003) my dancers and I called it the 'hand ballet'. The gestures are reminiscent of American Gothic, with the pitchfork and the crossed arms --- the first phrases in that grouping are the themes that guide the variations for the whole work ... I think of scooped earth and prayer, violins poised and flocks of birds traced across the sky; listening to the earth like a shell in my hand and blowing the dust away .... putting that rock in my pocket and heading back to work .... those are the images of plainsfolk, everyday gestures that are universal. There are also bound gestures that speak of yearning for freedom, yoked pairings that share the burden and teamwork which makes us stronger. Perhaps the dancers are stalks of corn (from Nebraska!), swayed by winds of summer or dry brown reeds aching for the thawing wind of spring after a hard winter. The return to the theme at end in speedy fashion becomes a flock of birds, turned in unison by the buffeting winds, as one voice---arresting in their symmetry. This time when I rehearsed the dancers, I told them we should be able to do this in unison with our eyes closed---but I peek to see if we are.

I think that's what this dance is about...but you may see something else; I'd love to hear what you see and feel as you watch it! Come out and see it at Miller on Friday and Saturday night, September 12,13, 2008

Posted by Sandra Organ Solis 9/7/08

Sandra Organ Dance Company Celebrates 10 Years of Performances

A decade can seem like a long time, but it goes by quick as a wink if you’re moving fast. Such has been the pace of the Sandra Organ Dance Company, which is celebrating its 10^th anniversary this season.

As a prominent soloist with Houston Ballet, Sandra Organ began to take stock of her life and career in the mid-1990s. She looked back at the goals she had achieved and looked ahead to what her future might hold. Her 15 years with Houston Ballet had given her a rich variety of experiences, working with major choreographers in a vast array of dance styles. There had been worldwide tours, beginning with Houston Ballet’s first tour to Europe in 1982, before she had even completed her training in Houston Ballet Academy to become a member of the performing company. And her acceptance into the company as Houston Ballet’s first African American ballerina had been a major milestone in her life.

But a career as a ballet dancer is physically grueling, typically ending when you’re still quite young, and Sandra wondered how much longer her healthy 30-year old body would take the punishment the dance floor delivers daily to all the bones and joints between the toes and the upper spine. So, she entered a period of self-examination, beginning with a book called Artists’ Way, discovering the obstacles to creativity. In the process, she drew strength from her early life to present a solo concert and build her future as a choreographer and director of her own dance company.

Sandra’s destiny to become a dancer had begun as child of five, when she saw Patricia McBride and Edward Villella on television, dancing with the New York City Ballet. Noticing her fascination, her mother found a teacher for her in Omaha, Nebraska, where the family lived. “She just happened to be a British teacher, who taught the same Royal Academy of Dance syllabus that Ben Stevenson was familiar with when I auditioned for Houston Ballet years later,” Sandra remembers.

During high school years at Omaha’s Duchesne Academy, Sandra had created a dance work every year. And when she graduated at the head of her class, she was allowed to replace the traditional valedictorian’s speech to her classmates with a valedictorian’s dance.

In seeking a new direction for her life 10 years ago, she saw her talent as a means to build a bridge between large dance companies and small dance companies. And as a person instilled with strong religious values, she has seen her dancing life as “an earthen vessel,” through which her talent is meant to be shared with others.

“I hope God’s power is magnified through my limited efforts,” she says, “and I just show up with my craft and the best gifts I can offer. And it seems like He uses that and people are touched by it. And that’s a cool thing and an easy way to filter my talent into another realm.”

Shaping a concept is one matter; putting it into practice is another. It took 18 long months to settle all the legal niceties in establishing the company’s non-profit tax-exempt status. In that process the spiritual concept of Earthen Vessels eventually materialized as the company’s official title, while the Sandra Organ Dance Company (SODC) serves as its business name. In the meantime, Sandra immediately got busy lining up performance opportunities, dancers and dance works, and the board of directors needed to establish and support the company.

Its initial engagement was commissioned by Fotofest in the fall of 1998, and this was followed by two appearances at the Jewish Community Center, an evening on Miller Outdoor Theater’s Texas Contemporary Dance Festival, a commissioned evening of dance from the Golden Triangle Chapter of Links (a national association of African-American women) in Beaumont, a couple of fund-raising events and the company’s first annual Black History Month engagement at the University of Houston’s Cullen Performance Hall.

SODC’s second season was even more ambitious, numbering a record 11 appearances. In the eight seasons since then, the company has danced 43 engagements, running anywhere from two-to-nine events in a given season. Its performances have been seen by audiences and surrounding communities as far north as Huntsville all the way west to Austin. The company even performed in Los Angeles, as an emerging ensemble on a conference hosted by the International Association of Blacks in Dance.

Its dance venues have ranged throughout small and large Houston area theater spaces: DiverseWorks, the Ensemble Theatre, Talento Bilingue de Houston, Heinen Theater on the Houston Community College campus, the University of Houston’s Cullen Hall and Moores Opera House, Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater, the Hobby Center’s Zilkha Hall, The Menil Collection, the Jewish Community Center, Richmond State School, St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, Kingwood College, Miller Outdoor Theater and downtown Houston’s Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex.

During that time, the company has partnered with nearly two dozen dance organizations, in Houston and elsewhere, and has brought students from nearly 50 schools to attend its performances. Building a board of directors, gaining financial support, establishing a stable corps of dancers, finding rehearsal spaces and surviving through economic downturns have all brought challenging moments.

Initially, SODC’s board consisted of a dozen members and now runs between 12 and 20. They include some charter members as well as new people with fresh insights to funding. Much of its early support came through individual contributions and its membership in the Texas Accountants and Lawyers for Artists. Over the decade-long span of SODC’s existence, Houston Endowment, the Houston Arts Alliance, the Mithoff Family Foundation, Target and the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts have provided key support for SODC’s budget, which has ranged from $60,000 to $200,000.

It has been more of a challenge to build a steady corps of dancers and find available times and proper spaces for them to gather for rehearsals and performances. “Over the middle seasons – 2000-2004 – there was a corps of about six dancers who stayed with me. We were doing things a little differently than other companies at that time. We were paying them for rehearsal time and I was trying to find teaching opportunities for them in the community, so they could sustain themselves. We were doing a number of shows, we were going into the schools, doing choreographic workshops and they were contributing some of the choreography. There are a number of dancers I can call upon for special projects, but building a steady corps is a project that will continue over the next decade,” she concludes.

When it comes to rehearsing her own dancers for a performance, Sandra has been especially thankful for the opportunities provided by her former employer, Houston Ballet, and its executive director, C. C. Connor. “Having worked there for 15 years, I knew there were times when the rehearsal studios were not being used, and he rented space to our company,” she says. Since the completion of the Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex on Texas Ave, most of her rehearsals are done there.

Tracing the history of her company over the 10-year span, Sandra says, “I’ve always had this juxtaposition of modern dancers and ballet dancers. Early on, everybody got trained in a ballet class. There was continuity of style, a balletic “line,” so that even if I did want to go in a more modern direction, they could put on pointe shoes or they could wear flat shoes and still have that balletic base. They could still do pirouettes and they could still look nice in an arabesque and things like that.

“What I’ve found now is, I have to hire either one or the other. When you can work with a corps of dancers over the years, you can get them to do both stylistically. But for different pieces now, I have to find modern dancers, and I have to find ballet dancers.” At present, she finds dancers from each category better equipped and “coming a little more to the other side now. But,” she says with a good laugh, “there’s resistance to the pointe shoe. And for those already in the pointe shoe, it’s a challenge trying to get them grounded!”

Turning serious, she takes up another topic. “Coming out of the (discipline of) ballet, I want to honor women of different sizes. I wanted to make dances that are about real people, so I didn’t mind if real people walked in the door and didn’t necessarily look like dancers. As long as they could do an arabesque and looked like women, great! That didn’t matter to me. That, to me, is affirming to who I am and who most people are. So, as I say, we’re ballet dancers without the tutus and the tights, and we look like women and we look like men, and we dance like women and men. And sometimes the women are required to do some lifting.” Summing up, she says: “I just feel like, if I’m going to tell stories that are relevant to people today, I have to choose people they look like, sometimes.”

Reviewing the dance works she has created these past 10 years, Sandra feels the works she has created for Black History Month are particularly striking. “You don’t find many artistic directors telling those kinds of stories.” She mentions a piece about Harriet Tubman, or a slave narrative “where I could create a solo about a woman who lived in an attic for seven years, inside a coffin, so she could watch her son grow up. “Those are kind of unsung stories,” she says.

She mentions the honor of memorizing and using the words to a piece she created on Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. For that piece, choreographed in 2005, she gathered a group of schoolchildren together, asking them to tell their own dreams. Her choreography incorporated the gestures they made as they spoke.

For a couple of years, her company worked with Rob Smith and his Aura Contemporary Music Ensemble at the University of Houston, where several of her dancers choreographed new works to the music on the program. She also participated in the UH School of Music’s Shostakovich Festival a few seasons back

She worked with the hip-hop company, Fly, to create dances at Miller Theatre. James Sewell’s choreography to Gian-Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors has become a staple of Houston’s holiday theater season. And in her February program at the Barnevelder Arts/Movement Complex, she staged a major work, There is a Time, by José Limón, the famed Mexican-born choreographer who established a significant modern dance company in New York during the mid-20^th century.

Sacred dance has also been an important component of Sandra Organ’s choreography since her very earliest years. While sacred works are sprinkled throughout her repertoire of dances, she is careful to maintain that SODC is not a sacred dance company. Nor is its mission specifically committed to a celebration of her African American heritage. Its mission statement speaks of goals “to promote contemporary dance, educate the public and attract a diverse audience.”

Included in that mission is the goal of having a school of dance associated with her company. In the early 1980s, she felt incredibly fortunate to be awarded a scholarship to study at Houston Ballet Academy and then become a prominent member of the company. Indeed, that had been in line with Houston Ballet’s policy since the company’s earliest years. But looking back a few decades earlier, she also remembers that “my mother grew up in Houston and she sure couldn’t do that.”

Even today, she sees too few opportunities for professional artistic achievement among young people disadvantaged by their ethnic or economic background. So, a dance academy is prominent among her future goals, “and it’s going to be either in the Third Ward or the Fifth Ward,” she says quite firmly.

©2008, Carl R. Cunningham