A Dancer's Perspective

My first season with Ballet Memphis has been full of fun, sweat, and dancing. I had a lot to do in this first show (Connections:Food, our annual fundraiser and season kickoff) so I really got to work with a bunch of the dancers. It was a wonderful introduction into this thriving family of people. Everyone is very committed and open-making for a fast, engaging work process, which I love.

I really enjoyed that I was able to not only dance with my colleagues but also be part of their creative process. Travis Bradley’s piece, which was inspired by diamonds, was a wonderful challenge for me. I got to dance a long duet with Kendall, and I learned so much. I have done a lot of partnering but when the woman is replaced with a man, things change. You have to find new was to share weight and balance your force in a different way. I was so happy that Travis pushed me in this new territory and trusted me to navigate it.

Julie Niekrasz was a pleasure to work with on her piece. She created a very real world for us to dance in and guided us to define our own characters in it. I found new ways to connect with my fellow dancers. I also got to finish the piece with a gorgeous duet with Stephanie Hom. It was so effortless to partner with her, and I was able to lose myself in the “home” we had created between our shared space.

Matthew Neenan is a person I have wanted to work with, and I feel fortunate that our paths crossed here in Memphis. This piece was different in that I was more of a lone character. With the other dances, I felt I was defined by my relationship with my partners whereas with Matthew and I created a person outside of others. I had a great time during the process and in performing Matt’s piece. As my first performance with this amazing company, Connections:Food was perfect. I got to know my fellow dancers and ballet supporters while having a great time dancing.

--Dylan G-Bowley

Pictured top left, performing in Julie Marie Niekrasz's On the Inside, opposite Stephanie Mei Hom. Photo courtesy of Christopher Blank. Pictured bottom right, Dylan came to Ballet Memphis from TMP.

Food for Thought

This Saturday at BRIDGES we bring back what many people think of as the best event in Memphis–Connections: Food. It's also the beginning of our 2011/12 celebration of 25 years of innovative, inspiring, professional dance. In nourishing our bodies and souls, this creative event sets the “barre," so I asked the choreographers to think about the concept of design. As they have worked with their chefs and others, look what has resulted:

You will be treated to an appetizer inspired by diamonds---did you know that long ago, they were thought to have been bits of stars that had fallen to the earth? First, enjoy Karen Carrier’s outdoor signature “Bling Bling” cocktail, Apalachicola oysters, steamed shrimp in lime sauce, steak crostini, and more. Remember Perry Como’s Catch a Falling Star and Put It in Your Pocket? This is one song Travis Bradley used to capture a choreographic gem of purity and innocence that makes your heart smile and has inspired the wonderful first course, Diamonds in the Raw, of sashimi, blue fin tuna gravlax, ponzu brown butter, jeweled wasabi tobiko, candied lime zest and shiso mint sorbet by Chef Mindy Son.

Julie Niekrasz thought about how the wallpaper watches what would go on in a room over the years. (And she chose as one of her songs Unchained Melody with the Righteous Brothers singing.) So Chef Chef Shaggy Duffee from Bayona in New Orleans created Homespun, duck paillard, swiss chard carbonara, cracklin’ and grappa-macerated cherries.

The main course’s work, choreographed by rising new creative dance maker Matthew Neenan from Philadelphia, is a response to a painting by Arshile Gorky, "Water of the Flowering Mill.” It is a fiendishly fiery, rollicking concoction, and when you see what our dancers are given to do, you will know once again why our company is honored nationwide. And former Memphian Ellis Dixon has designed a rich pallet of costumes to accompany the espresso dark-chile chocolate and black pepper roasted lamb loin, butternut squash parmesan and garlic mash, and negroamaro fig demi-glace by Chef Jason Severs.

Kendall Britt’s work closes the evening for the dessert course, based on what he thought of as the way human beings can design their own happiness. And, zydeco composer and artist Marcella Simien wrote the music for this warm and gently happy work…accompanied by Chef Jenny Dempsey’s fudgey euphoria: dreamy chocolate fudge, red sea salt, white chocolate red peppercorn gelato and rose sugar.

I can't wait to take my seat at the table, hopefully, beside you.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Dancing Through Life

I started taking ballet lessons with Dorothy Gunther Pugh at Memphis Concert Ballet when I was in the first grade. I do not remember much about those early years, but my mother tells me I was Mrs. Pugh's shadow. While the other children would wait patiently for her to demonstrate the steps, I would follow closely behind, too excited to notice I was the only student chasing her across the room.

I love dance; it has always thrilled me. I even love watching other people dance, because I believe dance is a part of all of us. I was fortunate to find ballet as a vehicle for my artistic expression. While growing up in the Ballet Memphis School, I was encouraged to use my imagination to develop my passion. I was taught to work hard with integrity and discipline.

There were five years of classes before I was allowed to audition for the Junior Company. The day I was accepted I remember thinking, "This is the greatest day of my life." I was right. In the Junior Company I was introduced to the beauty of performing. Being part of the Junior Company gave me the opportunity to share all that I had learned and loved with others. While working with Ms. Parke, I learned the importance of connecting to others through my dancing. She gave me countless insights on using movement to convey story and emotion, and always pushed me to explore and work on my own.

After graduating high school, I was offered a trainee position with the company. I did not know at the time that I was stepping into a new world of possibility, but what a beautiful experience it has been dancing with Ballet Memphis. I continue to be inspired by my fellow dancers every day. Their commitment and talent is life-changing, and I am always amazed at their generosity on stage, how they give so much of themselves to the work. Ballet Memphis is unique and I cannot imagine my life without it. It has become my second home, where I am pushed to love more, give honestly and never give up. I am grateful that Ballet Memphis is also a place where I can pass my experience along to someone else who might also find hope in its beauty.

-- Rachel Shumake

Pictured top left, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Memphis Redbirds game. Her red pointe shoes were from The Wizard of Oz. Pictured bottom right, Rachel appeared on the front cover of Ballet Memphis' 25th Anniversary season mailer.

Designing My Happiness

I'm incredibly honored to be choreographing my first commission piece for Ballet Memphis. It's a lot of hard work and extra hours spent outside of the studio thinking about a concept and figuring out ways to make what I want to say 'danceable'. I'm collaborating with a local musician and artist on this ballet. Fille Catatonique is the eclectic sound of Marcella René Simien. Her original music and art work, as well as stories, coincide with my theme of the design of happiness. We are both young people and artists figuring out our paths in this world. It's been even more eye opening to share thoughts and ideas back and forth with someone who is so talented, and in another artistic field.

I fell in love with Marcella's music over the summer and it was obvious to me from the beginning that I would use her works and catalog. Her voice is so full of love and pain and sorrow, all things we experience on our road to happiness.

--Kendall G. Britt, Jr.

A question for the AD ... “How do you acclimate new dancers to the Ballet Memphis family and to the larger community of Memphis?”

I start the assimilation process by watching each dancer carefully during auditions. I am not just watching technique and body type. I am closely looking at faces to see what I can discern about a personality—how one listens, observes, processes, thinks and puts personal spirit into his or her presence. After auditions, I always have conversations with the people I’ve kept in whom I feel are of interest. I also talk with them about the things that make Memphis an interesting city, still being honest that we have challenges to work on as a community. So the first parts of assimilation begin the moment a dancer walks into an audition. When it comes time to offer contracts to my first choices, I learn more about these dancers through additional conversations. I also encourage them to talk to dancers in the company about who we are, how we work, what we believe in.

With new and returning company members alike, I just try to keep the exchange of ideas open—to talk with them about values of thinking; giving our talents to our community in ways that are meaningful; and why particular roles they are dancing matter in our human conversations. That is, after all, what performance is: a conversation about life with our audience. And as public people, we have to possess sort of a sixth sense about what matters to others because we serve them, even if we aren’t “talking” when we dance. Whether onstage or off, we are still talking with our bodies, and we have to be intuitive and feeling enough to “hear” what others’ responses are to us.

I always want dancers to understand that they live in the world, not to think that dance is the world. We have talents we bring to others, and we need to be curious, thoughtful and respectful of people who may be different or have chosen different ways to be in the world.

This photo was taken the first day of contract before all the dancers took their first class together. It's been a great two weeks thus far, and looking forward to a wonderful anniversary season.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Reaching Further

For some, an anniversary is a time of reflection. Although it is for us as we celebrate 25 years, we also see it as a chance to lift Memphis higher, and reach even further into our community. During this special season we are embarking on an unprecedented nine tours from Florida to California; beginning a new Connections: Kids series to help battle childhood obesity; taking our FUSE program into STAX Music Academy; and even starting a new Pas de Brew free studio event for our patrons. But not unlike our other seasons we're also presenting six new works, including ones from Julia Adam, Matthew Neenan, Steven McMahon, Travis Bradley, Julie Niekrasz and Kendall Britt. Take a look at our 25th season, and let us know your thoughts, buy a season ticket, attend a performance or an outreach, even volunteer. We know we wouldn't be where we are today without all of the patrons, donors, students, corporations, dancers, staff, choreographers and more; but we also know that when we work together, we reach further.

Earth and Sky

Source

As we bring our glorious professional company and creativity to, yet again, a new venue—the grove at Memphis Zoo’s Teton Trek—what better way to celebrate than to connect our thoughts and minds to the natural world around us. Stopping to think about how distinctly valuable and vital the earth is to who we are, how we have been formed and what future we leave to our descendants is imperative, and can help us stop and be grateful for our bountiful surroundings.

With the three choreographers whom I engaged in making these new works based on water, earth and sky, I was most specific with Mikelle Bruzina. Last June, when Ballet Memphis performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., I happened to take in a startlingly beautiful exhibit at the Renwick Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Museums. The exhibit was called The Art of Gaman and was based on the amazing art that Japanese American citizens made while interred in camps during WWII, two of which were just across the river in Arkansas. While that chapter in our history is a shameful one, what I saw was the indomitable spirit of survival and perhaps even gratitude for the earth around them.

These citizens created impressive work from stones, seeds, pipes, sticks and nearby materials on the ground. It was breathtaking yet poignantly sad and wonderful. The will to survive, to stay grounded and sane, was seen in their engagement in creating beautiful objects from their surroundings. Mikelle’s mother and grandparents were in one of these camps, so her sensitivity and
history were perfect for this project. So, as you see our Hideko born aloft like a bird, think about this: the earth is what grounds us, even as we reach upward in flight for hope, release, light and freedom.

Petr Zahradníček has actually studied meteorology, so the fact that he chose clouds to think about was no surprise. He uses their formation, change and dispersal to express his fear that human beings might realize too late that we must cherish and take care of our earth and its atmosphere. The very breath that gives us life is gently at the base of this abstract and tender work.

Julia Adam looks at water in her own inimitable and interesting way. As water touches us so often, you will see divining, sailing, swimming—and be reminded about how taking a plunge might mean a myriad of different possibilities, both real and metaphorical. As water lays in various pools around us, or flows through our earth, how can we not think of the timeliness of this new work?

Across the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese people are trying to deal with an environmental disaster of huge proportions. The river we live beside has crested to new flood levels, and the sky has been gray and twisted into tornadoes that have damaged huge swaths of land, buildings and lives all around us. Yet we gather together with family and friends to think carefully and enjoy fully the better side of who we can be, dancing again to tell our stories and explore our connections to each other and to our world.