Rehearsal Log - 10/7/11

Today was our first rehearsal.  I was very excited and nervous since I had no idea how successful it would be and how the group would work together.  As of now, there are four people in the project: myself, Mati, Alex, and Allison.  I was worried about the dynamic in the group, because Mati (my fiancé), Alex, and I are extremely close, whereas Allison was new to the group.  Allison and I were connected by a mutual friend who heard about the project on facebook and thought she would be interested.  My primary concern during the first rehearsal (and subsequent project) was that Allison might feel left out.  Knowing that she was a Pilates instructor, I thought it best that she lead the first warm-up (which was amazing).  I thought it was important to have her voice heard from the beginning.  After the warm-up, I asked everyone to remember an early movement memory.  Then I split us up in to pairs and asked everyone to share their memory with their partner.  Then I asked everyone to make a dance based on their partner’s memory.  Then we split up into different pairs, and taught each other the phrases and combined them and performed them as two duets.  We then took those two phrases and combined them into a long phrase, which we all learned.  Lastly, I instructed everyone to take the long phrase and play with it to create a version that felt natural to each person’s style of movement.  Here are those phrases:

Allison Shir

Alex Fred

Mati Bardosh

S. Asher Gelman

I finished up rehearsal with a 20-minute improvisation.  I was really impressed by the work everyone did.  The energy in the rehearsal was fantastic.  My fears that I may have inadvertently created an uncomfortable situation were completely unfounded; Allison was a wonderful addition and had a great positive energy.  One would not have known that she was new to the group.  I was really glad, because while I had met her before and knew she was very friendly and positive, I had no way of knowing how she would get along with the group.  I was also very impressed with my “non-dancers.”  Alex had had training when she was younger and takes dance classes every so often, while Mati had never danced before in his life.  While initially, both of them struggled a bit with the material, once they made it their own, their individual performative qualities really shone through.  Alex brought a more feminine, fluid quality to the movement, while Mati brought a more angular, precise quality to it.  I couldn’t be happier with their natural abilities.  I am very lucky to have these people in my project.  I was worried that I might have difficulty working with my close friend and my romantic partner, but when both of them entered the studio, they were nothing but professional.  I can only hope that future rehearsals will be as successful as this one was.