As the Legend Begins...

Introduction to This Blog

In this blog, I will mainly be reflecting on the most recent aspect of the Al Andalus Project, which is the primary focus of my dance company, Dancepatheatre, for the 2007-2008 season. I’ll include my feelings and thoughts about it, and reflections on my personal experiences related to the project. This serves as a behind-the-scenes peek for anyone who might be interested.

But first, as an orientation, I should mention that you can get more formal information about Dancepatheatre at www.dancepath.com. (That’s where you can find out who Sharon, Kristina, and other people I mention below are and how they’re involved in this work.) And I should explain some basics about the Al Andalus Project, even though that’s explained pretty well on the Al Andalus page of the website.

The Al Andalus Project is divided into two phases. Phase I is over. I’m in the early stages of Phase II, which will culminate in performances of Al Andalus! The Legend, a multi-disciplinary dance epic, on May 22 & 23 (yes that’s a Thursday and Friday) in Zilkha Hall of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. The project also includes numerous events and activities leading up to the performance, like auditions and like a lecture-demo at Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana….but more about all that later.

Today’s Topic

Today I want to talk about my thoughts on Phase I, which culminated in a single performance of the first rendition of Al Andalus! The Legend at Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex here in Houston on Saturday, August 11, 2007.

Wow. It was a big project. And really fun. I’m happy that we met our goals of accomplishing the first rendition: research, story-writing, Sharon’s music selections and compositions, my choreography…and all the other aspects of the production. We had to add a row of cushions on the floor for the sold-out audience plus had over one hundred on the waiting list, and about forty stayed for the Talk Back session. This was all very exciting!

Challenges Met

Of course, as is usually the case with new creative endeavors, not every aspect of Phase I went precisely as planned. We had decided to keep the production aspects low-key so we could concentrate on the creative aspects. But, creative maniacs that we are, once we started writing the story, cast size expanded. The need for small set pieces and props in order to make the choreographic concepts and the story work grew. Soon the dance studio at UH became a warehouse for props, and my car was full two days a week as I hauled everything to the Urgeworks studio for Wednesday night rehearsals. Fortunately, our stage manager oversaw those details wonderfully in production.

Costume needs grew along with cast size. UH Dance, UHD Theatre (thanks to Pat Covington’s connections), San Jacinto College South, and individuals like Frank Shonka who happened to have monk costumes…all made contributions of costume loans. Although a far cry from what we envision for the May show, considering costumes were never intended to be a focus for Phase I, these costumes were somewhat miraculous.

A classic challenge for collaborating composers and choreographers is coordinating the timing of the product. This project was no different. When will the music for such-and-such dance be ready? How many rehearsals will that allow me with the dancers, accounting for the other work that must be done when I have them? Will it be enough? Of course every choreographer will tell you there are never enough rehearsals when a show is premiering, no matter what. But we were able to coordinate timing to complete the first rendition production from beginning to end, no small accomplishment.

And Sharon and I knew this was a big bite, which is why we divided the work into two bites. That was perhaps our best planning idea. We still have Phase II to further develop the compositions and choreography that we decide we want to delve into more deeply.

Choreographic Process

One of my very most favorite aspects of this project has been experimenting with blending the traditional styles with modern. The first half of the Purim Masquerade Dance is strongly rooted in medieval Sephardic folk style which then morphs into a much more modern dance style in the second half, then returning to Sephardic folk to make a kind of rondo. Interestingly, Sephardic folk dance has numerous elements that we associate with modern day flamenco. There is some surprising overlap in the various styles of that era.

Blending Middle Eastern styles with modern proved to be challenging because first of all, Kristina had to teach the modern dancers to move in Middle Eastern techniques. In the torso and hips and habits of shifting the weight, this is very new for many ballet and modern trained dancers. But the arms and hands are even more alien. Today’s young modern dancers are trained wonderfully and effectively with body-mind techniques and are impressive full-body dancers, but don’t focus on minutia such as subtle hand and finger moves. In the seventies when I studied with Camille Long Hill, some Bharata Natyam hand gestures and other hand exercises were built into class. When I took a master class with Nina Watt (Limón Dance Company) she had a long series on subtle hand movements. I supplemented my own western training with flamenco and Middle Eastern simply out of finding them irresistible, and practiced the hands whenever I could find a few minutes. This kind of attention to detail of expression seems to be lost from the training of the current generation of young dancers in a trade-off for other, equally good but different abilities (some of which were not invented yet when I studied with Camille).

My point is that we could have spent four times the number of hours we spent training in Middle Eastern technique, had it been available. (And the dancers would have loved it…they ate those classes up!) Kristina and I had to choose a limited number of moves and coordination principles for the dancers to master, and this was where I looked when I needed ideas for blending eastern styles with western. There were x number of moves the dancers had learned…how could I use these in a modern context to convey the idea of that particular dance? This resulted in unifying movement themes throughout the production, which could also conceivably be seen as redundancy. This is a challenging artistic aspect that I will investigate in Phase II…what are some alternative approaches to blending styles? What to keep and what to change? Audiences of traditional styles want to see that traditional style interpreted by a star’s personal artistry; modern audiences are looking for movement invention. Hmmmm. Lots to play with here.

The Persian Dance is rooted solidly in authentic Persian style, which uses an entirely different but equally sinuous hand move than Middle Eastern. So those dancers had to learn two new hand styles, both which require lots of practice. I stretched the moves into a more modern form in a few cases, but I wanted to honor the old style with one dance that was more pure, and this one is it. Kristina points out every tiny morph that I have brought to the tradition, but I actually tampered with the style much less in this number than in the others.

Of course I borrow a few flamenco basics throughout the production as well, and fortunately there is a good deal of overlap between the flowering hands of flamenco and Middle Eastern hands, although the arms are used differently. Our time period is pre-flamenco, but we know there were flamenco elements in the music and dance and poetry already, so I wanted to acknowledge that. Those of you who know El Cerrojo: The Door Latch know this is not my first time to play with flamenco fusions. With a story set in Andalusia, how could I not?

Story Writing Process

Have I mentioned the story? Writing the story was another one of the most fun aspects of this for me. Sharon provided some methodology from her opera-writing background. From the results of our research retreats, Sharon and I filtered through the long list of historical figures that we were attracted to, and narrowed it down to nine…still a large number! Then we started playing with various relationships these characters might have with each other if they all were contemporaries of each other. (Which they weren’t; but we were happy to take artistic license and use some anachronisms.) Our big challenge: if our point is to illustrate the peace and harmony and intelligence of the period, where is the conflict in the story going to come from? The obvious answer: a love triangle! And let that complicate a classic inter-ethnic love relationship where the social setting of the lovers will not permit them to marry.

But then we were stumped on how to resolve the conflict. My opera-watching background kicked in here. The story now is enriched with irresistible conventions like lovers searching for each other at a masquerade party; meddling troubadours eves-dropping and scheming; and, to push disbelief-suspension to the limit, a caliph who chooses the higher spiritual path by releasing the woman he loves to make her happy. (Okay, the happy ending is like operetta, not opera.) I’m simply in love with our story…it’s just the kind of story I go to the theater to see. And with characters (all based on real historical figures) like a great medieval caliph, a great Jewish diplomat, a Muslim woman scholar, a wealthy rebellious heiress, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, a troubadour, and the infamous (at least in the Arab world) Ziryab…what more could we ask for? (Persian dancing girls? We’ve got those too.) It’s fun, fun, fun.

The Cast

As for the cast, I am counting my lucky stars. Dancers, singers, and musicians (for recording Sharon’s original numbers) all came together to make this initial production happen. Every cast member was a person I quickly came to like as I got to know them, and they each were generous in their contributions to our efforts. Lucia and Kristina stood out as the expert soloists they are in their respective traditions. The chemistry that ignited between Alex and Leah, portraying the main love interests, was magical. The group was eclectic, with various disciplines dominating their dance backgrounds, but worked hard with me towards creating a unified look. Time in the studio with dancers is always what gives me energy, and I simply loved creating the dances with these artists.

Conclusion

From the beginning we intended to omit seriously addressing costumes, set, lighting or special effects in Phase I, and reserved working with video and live narrators for Phase II. This allowed us to focus more on the initial story/music/dance creative output during this first layer of work.

So, in addition to honing the music and choreography, there is still plenty of creative work ahead. Audience feedback confirmed and clarified both high points of the show and certain production aspects that I want to revisit, and Sharon and I have discussed moments that we want to deepen or invigorate in Phase II. I have lots of ideas for all that and can’t wait to get back into the studio!