But with a 1st class degree in Contemporary dance, surely one of the most unemployable subject in the world, I'm kind of stuck for options and to be honest a little anxious about my future.

I'm in a lucky position where I have options to continue dancing with well known artists who I both like and admire.

But to be honest, I just dont feel like dancing at the moment, after 3 years hard slog, having to obey by the constraints set by the school, being so tired I barely remember half of my student life and trying to create a name for myself (I realize the irony of me being anonymous).

I feel kinda, wiped. This cant be case surely, having working so hard to be in the position I am now? Do I want to spend the rest of my life tired and saw? I'm happy to be part of other peoples artistic visions, but at some stage I would like to create my own as well.

Maybe that's what I feel like doing, doing what I want to do, create what I want to create!

...

Ah I have no money.

So After my early life crisis I've come to the conclusion that I'm young, only 21 in fact. There a lot to learn about the inner workings of companies and artists, the management side of things, the touring, the networking.

Then perhaps I'll be in a better position to create my own ideas, which by the way, I have many of!

So its a months holiday then back to the grill again. I'm sure in that time I'll be ready to dance again.

John Ashford talking to Lyndsey Winship in Time Out

He's right, he's so right, righter than right, completely right. Oh my god.

Does make you wonder why he brings it up now once he's left his position? His position in which he was actually in power to change things? Maybe that's harsh, been around the Place for a few years now and there's been some very interesting stuff. Apart of course from the Place Prize which, oh my god, was awful. A final of not very good pieces, and the worst one won! (Who was on the panel again?)

Anyway at least there's someone in power with the balls to say something, even if it is over his shoulder as the door is shutting!

Farewell John Ashford!

Now then...teaching.

Its the done thing, every dancer says "have to teach at some point" or "I'm gonna dance for a few years then go into teaching" or "I need some money so have to bloody teach"

All I can say is poor students

hundreds maybe even thousands of students being taught by people who just do it because its the done thing, or want a regular income (which there is nothing wrong with).

But do these people have anything useful to teach? Or just doing it because, well, its teaching, its what dancers do.

In my experience the best teachers are the ones who either really really love what they do, and are a complete Adonis when it comes to their certain subject, or have an approach to their subject which is original and interesting and they want to show other people that it can be approached differently.

For example if your learning Cunningham, you know what your going to learn before you enter the studio, anyone can make up a Cunningham phrase and teach it with little to no passion or skill themselves.( God the tediousness of generic contemporary dance classes. )But if you have ex-rehearsal director of the company who is a goddess of the technique and really loves what she does, and wants to obliterate the perception that Cunningham is dull (that so many generations of generic teachers before her have battered into our heads...
)
Then dam Cunningham the most interesting subject in the world!

Or when it comes to floor work or release technique, you don't want a teacher to come in and do swings followed by generic phrases that the contemporary dance world has repelled young audiences by boring them to death with.

You want some one who has not only discovered a way of approaching their subject with an originality and individuality that only that person can bring into the studio. But have discovered an effective way of teaching/transferring their approach to the rest of the students.

I've experienced many a phenomenal dancer, fall over their words and reduced to trembling wrecks at the hands of 10 year olds. Just because someone is a good dancer, it most definitely doesn't mean that their a good teacher.

Dancers of the world, make this pledge with me if you would.

I (insert name) Pledge to the youth of the world, that I will try my up most not to teach (unless in complete financial hardship), until I have mastered and loved completely my chosen subject or have discovered my own special way of approaching my art, and found a way to teach it effectively. If I ever do teach swings of a generic Cunningham class, let my dance clothes become ridden with moth, and my bunions become so enormously large, that I'll never be able to set foot in a dance studio ever again.

It rolls off the tongue, the dancers Grottocratic oath.

I don't know.

I recently watched a film that asked many different types of dancers, what makes the ultimate dancer? Everyone went straight to performance. There was a mixture of dancers, from commercial to contemporary and some pretty well known faces...

The commercial dancers went straight for the cliche's

Passion
Talent
Love
Determination
Simon Cowell

All responded through fake tan, eyeliner and glowing white teeth (think appearance has anything to do with it guys?!)

The contemporary dancers

Um,
er,
Technique? ('no shut up' from the background)
no?
well,
er,
creativity?
Contacts?
hhmm,
Space?

No one knows.

But this is the point!!

This is why someone is interesting to watch, is a special performer. Its nothing to do with flexibility, technique, strength. I mean don't get me wrong these things help a lot.

In the video one of our lecturers, Rick Nodine (massive name drop, I hate doing those, but i guess he deserves the credit!) mentioned something about the mystery of a performer.

That's it! That's the point!

When someone can stand out from a crowd in a unison section, can stand still and still hold your attention, can do anything and still look pretty damn good.

It's the fact that its a complete mystery why! No one knows and can put there finger on it, it's just there and everyone knows it is but no one knows what it is.

This mysterious stage presence wish I could help in terms of how to achieve it but, I think it comes down to being very very comfortable with everything.

There I solved it.

Be comfortably mysterious.

I've always thought that learning rep for dancers is like reading a script for actors.

Its something already made, with clear parameters. Some authors allow artistic interpretation but I think its fair to say that most don't.

Repertoire, is quite a conservative word.

Well it has to be! In order to learn it the piece/script must have already been shown/read, to some critical acclaim (otherwise, why do it again?). With either a video or someone who's already experienced it for teaching purposes. So its probably been around a while.

However when performing actors have an advantage we dancers do not. I'm not in anyway undermining the talent/skill of an actor but actors spend a long time training to perform something that is not happening.

When a script is read, its not actually happening on stage. They are not in a living room or on the street or in 18th century Russia. Their skill is making us believe that what their saying is happening, right now, in front of us (when in actual fact its not). Which I guess leaves room for interpretation. Depending on the strictness of the director can be interpreted through set,movement,voice etc

As dancers we dont have this luxury of interpretation. Because what we're doing is happening, right now, in the moment, with our body's. We cant change the rep, change the setting, the way the movement is done, the music or mood of scene...because then it would not be rep. Although dance evolved from pedestrian movements its now very much a theater based art. Some dance tries to comment on real life but struggles because of the very nature of dance...

Its an exaggeration of everyday movement, it wouldn't actually happen like this in real life. Dance never had its realism faze like acting did. We can't try and replicate real life through dance, that's how musicales happen, and no one wants that

So I guess rep is the closest we get to realism, to try and make it seem like the performance is as real and close as in can be to the original.

BellyFlop

Enjoy, click on HQ to get better quality...not high quality but better quality.

OOHHHH its purple.

Anyway I would write about my experiences of performing at different venues with a variety of pieces, but it would be long, boring, and only relevant to me so no one would read it. So here are some similes to describe what I think performing the same pieces repeatedly is like.

1st Show: Like a meal you've been slaving over for a very long time, put your heart and soul into it...and your staving...A lot of anticipation, some times it lives up to your anticipation and sometimes it doesn't. However, its whoever eats the food is what the chef judges them self on!

2nd Show: So you made a little too much of your meal and you have to eat the same thing twice in a row. You have already experienced it so the anticipation and excitement have gone. We start putting other random ingredients in to make it taste different, little more salt, bit of cheese...Tabasco maybe, so it never tastes quite like the 1st time.

3rd Show: Either your tired of eating the same thing and it dramatically affects your experience of it, or you've found extra ingredients which actually work very well with the original recipe, in which case your laughing all the way to receive your compliments from the fat people who ate everything.

4th/5th Meh, you've gotta make food to survive,

I haven't had dinner yet...

The last time was a complete success, for all of you who couldn't make it, we managed to get a good 60/70 people improvising in the turbine hall...

But it wasn't enough, still think we can fit more in! Especially as its more than likely that they wont be doing anything of use in the space anyway. It'll start at 1pm sharp, a designated group will start flocking to signal the start. It'll begin with a technique called flocking to bring everyone together (e-mail or go to facebook group if you don't know flocking)...then just go nuts.

Come one, Come all and bring a friend.

Lets take it over!

For more info you can e-mail someone @ turbineimprovjam@gmail.com

Or if your a bit more normal check out the event/group on facebook for all the info. Group and Event

I do think of myself slightly lower now for advertising on a blog, apologese

After watching people perform and then meeting them after, I often visualized their personality off stage, very different to how they actually are off stage. Then I ask myself, is this because there a good performer? or a bad one?

I'd like to think the person I see on stage is the same person you see in the pub, on the tube or looking desperately nihilistic in technique class. (Happens to the best)

I think being in "performance mode" shouldn't mean having separating our "normal" self from our "performance self". There's a large amount of performance done offstage, fashion for example could be seen as a performance, personality, music, anything could be a performance. So why cant we transfer this part of our self on "stage" without feeling the need to become someone else?

I have a theory (bare with me comments!).

I find the most naturalistic performers the most interesting/intriguing to watch, I think because when we stay natural on stage we are still communicating through none-verbal communication all of the time (posture, head position, focus etc). If we block off these basic human communications to "perform", the performer becomes just a body, just a tool with no intention behind them, which is fine for some people, but for me this dehumanization of performers is horrible to watch. Its just plain...not real, and very obviously so, because there not communicating with me on any meaningful level. We're all experts in NVC, you cant teach it, but you can feel it as a performer/audience member.

Being expressive is being very natural. This I think is one of the differences between modern and post-modern dance. A conscious decision by the choreographer or performer to include or ignore this element of performance.

It seems to me really good performers are either very good at hiding these signs...or very good at showing them. But we're not actors, so I'm always skeptical about hiding them.

It can be a bad thing too, transferring our off stage self to our on stage self.

For example, trying to be natural to myself when performing is hard when I'm asked to be angry/violent...I'm not an angry or violent person? So...

I dunno. Faking time I guess.

Your more likely to be punched in the face than smiled at walking down the street in winter, but if the suns out, everyone's happy.

Its like Barcelona, everyone's outside is cafes or pubs, the bright clothes come out, we walk everywhere, I regret living in a flat with no outside space.

Going to see dance/theater becomes much less appealing because we must stay outside for as long as possible! Indoors is a no no! Art is a downer! We'll never be able to be outside every again! Global warming will have it raining all next summer!

Currently surviving by waking up super early, doing stuff, then passing out about 5ish.

American contemporary dance is a strange thing, having met a few dancers out here, there some of the most determined people I've ever met.

Because theres no arts council, barely any companies pay enough to survive on, so they work 2/3 jobs...constantly. In England we do this too, but generally if you get a paid project, you can concentrate on it. Instead of working with 2/3 companies at the same time, or 1 company, a bar and a cafe.

New Yorks even more expensive to live than London! (even if you live in a less privileged area, I'm staying in Spanish Harlem, Ciao!)

Its like being in a Spanish speaking country, people actually cant speak English here. Then few blocks over its the rest of Harlem which is a predominantly Black area...all with in a few blocks!

It seems very segregated, I do slightly prefer the jumbledness of London.

Although I've been told these areas are being gentrified, which is almost a shame.

Its a strange country, the multicultural inhabitants are the culture, with very little history, these people are the culture! But I don't really see it being celebrated, not publicly anyway.

To be brief, back to dance. I've only been here for a few days and I don't really know much about the dance scene, but from 1st impressions. Its fairly traditional. Not a huge amount of the physical theater style we see in Europe. (Of course we have our fair amount of traditional companies but theres also big physical theatre names to match)

Which there doesn't seem to be here. No question America has aided contemporary dance, hell they basically made it up! But pushing the scene forward seems to be a bit of a struggle.

Its no secret that America has a short (but successful) history.

But in 'modern' dance they really did found it, they have history in dance which they don't have anywhere else. Perhaps thats something they don't want to let go of or something their rightly proud of.

founders but not progressors.

Initial reactions, only been here 3 days.

I really like auditions, I actually enjoy the tension, the competitive edge...

I actually really enjoy being put on the spot, in front of lots of people I don't know, being uncomfortable is great, challenges are great, pooing your pants (metaphorically) is great.

However open auditions...pile of Sh^t.

No one choreographer needs to see hundreds of people for 1/2 jobs, is it just an ego boost or something, to have that many people auditioning for you?

especially if your looking for something specific!

Invite specific people!

Its slightly more understandable if they don't know what there looking for, but surely they know what they like and what they don't like.

" But picking from C.V's is horrible" - They say

...Yes it is horrible, no argument there, most jobs people get through networking anyway!

Here's my idea...youtube, its already being done in various ways on the continent.

You post up an audition notice video...and people apply via C.V's to an e-mail and a short video of themselves, which they respond with on youtube!!!

That way you'll get an audition of people your sure to be interested in, rather than wasting a lot of peoples precious time.

Choreographers try to make open auditions a fun "experience" thing.

Word to the wise...there not. Unless you like being smacked in the head repeatedly in an over crowded studio (I'm not that sick in the head!)

The difference is gigantic, not just technically, but artistically as well.

It does just beg the question, what are these courses for? Of course I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to study dance, whatever their ability level, but then I also think, where to the courses lead the students? What are they meant to be for?

Vocational schools are very clear about this, produce dancers/choreographers at the very top level. But then again since the institutionalization of the courses, students at vocational schools are made to do much more academic work on top of their physical training...

But I always had the opinion that the university courses were the academic ones? I mean it would take a very special university trained student to make it as a "professional" dancer (by professional I mean the big touring companies, but of course this is only one aspect of the profession)

Not because university trained dancers are bad dancers, just in comparison to the hardcore training their counterparts recieve at vocational schools, their just not on the same level.

Alot of these students tend to go into dance management, which is a completely rewarding profession, but is this what the university's advertise the course for? do the students go to university to study dance to be in dance management? I think probably not.

My advice for people looking for dance courses...If you want to be a full time dancer you need to be at a vocational school (its still hard to get a job even when at vocational school, but it'll give you the best chance)

University courses are great too, but keep in mind there aimed slightly differently!

"Excellent employment prospects in education, the community, theatre and industry" Surrey University

They don't mention performance for a reason me thinks

Its not that good.

But that's besides the point, it's been in the middle of huge controversy regarding its racist content, when I went there was huge security because someone managed to get onto stage in the materne in protest.

So I was expecting KKK homages and Hitler glorification....

What I found was a quite funny (not that funny, sorry script writers!) light hearted mocking of stereotypes.

The play was about a commune of immigrants in England in what I can only presume is a holding camp in which people are waiting on their asylum (I think, it wasn't made clear)

And guess what? They're putting on a play!!!! About the history of Immigration into England!!! Oh the Irony!!!
...

So they begin to rehearse this play...

We sit through those bloody French coming over and building our houses, then the Irish coming and working there bones off, then those dam Jews coming and propping up the economy, then the dam Asians coming and giving us the richest foods, cloth and general culture...

"Hold on a second, this play must be racist! You can't talk about anyone, ever. that's racist" - Quote from random idiot protester

Each stereotype is trying to be a funny light hearted mocking of the subject. In the 2nd half they try to deal a bit more seriously with how immigrants get assimilated into our society...but although the play has a bash, it doesn't quite pull it off.

So to those people who took offense, take whatever is up your bottom out, and get rid of your own self righteous paranoia.

And if you think that the plays not politically correct, and your're that anal. Then I say interrupting me watching a play is politically incorrect! Put that in your none herb smoking pipe and don't smoke.

I'll storm your house while you're watching T.V because I disagree with everything to do with Hollyoaks...

Stop looking to be offended, because a lot of us will happily offend you.