Performance week one was a success! The ADF school dancers showed up a few days ago and have been taking preview classes and doing other orientation type things before classes start on Thursday morning.
This past weekend, ROSAS, a big-deal company from Belgium, started the season off with a bang in the Reynolds theatre. I'd done some research on them in the spring and loved the videos I found of the piece they brought, Rosas danst Rosas.
I was on crew for this show (I requested to work with them!) so I was involved in loading them in, setting them up, and just being there for anything they might need while they were with us. I was on wardrobe for ROSAS so my job was to talk to the dancers and see what they needed regarding costumes. My job involved coming in a few hours early each day to dry the clothes that hadn't air-dried all the way overnight, rolling up the long sleeves of their costume shirts and stitching them in place so they wouldn't fall down, ironing the shirts and skirts, and laying out each dancer's leotard and stockings. They also had socks and shoes they picked out and placed themselves.
We had been hanging and cabling the lights they needed the day before and were as prepared for them as we could be when they arrived on June 9 and we loaded them in. They had an entire storage unit full of wooden crates they shipped (or flew?) over that we brought up to the stage.
Their stage is as follows: Instead of solely using the normal pipes that run from stage left to stage right, they had one for each side of the stage that ran upstage to downstage. The only way to hang them like that is to connect them to normal-facing pipes in several different places and fly them out at the same time. Directly beneath these pipes on the floor were mirrors that were set up on an angle facing the stage so the lights above would bounce off and shoot out straight onto the stage. They used their own marley so we laid that out for them and hung a backdrop that was made of a thick, shiny, black plastic material that reflected light in a neat way.
We began light focus after lunch and for the times when we weren't involved with focusing a light, we were doing other small cleanup jobs around the stage area. We didn't have intern light or sound board operators for this show because the technicians for the company had it all on their own equipment that they bring. The rest of the night they ran the tech rehearsal, while the crew stood by. The next day, we did some touch-up focusing and I began my costume prep work.
This past weekend, ROSAS, a big-deal company from Belgium, started the season off with a bang in the Reynolds theatre. I'd done some research on them in the spring and loved the videos I found of the piece they brought, Rosas danst Rosas.
I was on crew for this show (I requested to work with them!) so I was involved in loading them in, setting them up, and just being there for anything they might need while they were with us. I was on wardrobe for ROSAS so my job was to talk to the dancers and see what they needed regarding costumes. My job involved coming in a few hours early each day to dry the clothes that hadn't air-dried all the way overnight, rolling up the long sleeves of their costume shirts and stitching them in place so they wouldn't fall down, ironing the shirts and skirts, and laying out each dancer's leotard and stockings. They also had socks and shoes they picked out and placed themselves.
We had been hanging and cabling the lights they needed the day before and were as prepared for them as we could be when they arrived on June 9 and we loaded them in. They had an entire storage unit full of wooden crates they shipped (or flew?) over that we brought up to the stage.
Their stage is as follows: Instead of solely using the normal pipes that run from stage left to stage right, they had one for each side of the stage that ran upstage to downstage. The only way to hang them like that is to connect them to normal-facing pipes in several different places and fly them out at the same time. Directly beneath these pipes on the floor were mirrors that were set up on an angle facing the stage so the lights above would bounce off and shoot out straight onto the stage. They used their own marley so we laid that out for them and hung a backdrop that was made of a thick, shiny, black plastic material that reflected light in a neat way.
We began light focus after lunch and for the times when we weren't involved with focusing a light, we were doing other small cleanup jobs around the stage area. We didn't have intern light or sound board operators for this show because the technicians for the company had it all on their own equipment that they bring. The rest of the night they ran the tech rehearsal, while the crew stood by. The next day, we did some touch-up focusing and I began my costume prep work.
Then it was showtime! WOW. I’ve never seen anything like it. While it wasn’t the greatest thing I’ve ever seen, it certainly was incredible. It’s rare that you get to observe someone repeating something over and over and over and over again for an hour and 45 minutes with repetitive, Reich-esque music as the accompaniment. There are a few different sections (one of which is in complete silence) but they each consisted of one movement phrase that varied subtly as the piece progressed. Some audience members obviously couldn't take the repetition and walked out of the theatre, but I was intrigued just about the whole time.
I think it progressed beautifully. Maybe it was more apparent to me because I dance, but all the subtleties were pretty genius. HOW long does it take to learn a piece like this?! To learn the phrase, match the timing/angles/breath patterns near perfectly with the other three dancers, and then go back and change teeny tiny elements individually. And nobody ever (clearly) messed up! It is so precise down to the count. They were totally programmed for that dance.
The next show night was the presentation of the Samuel H. Scripps/ADF award for ROSAS' creator and choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker to recognize her lifetime achievement in dance (and has previously been awarded to dancers such as Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Alvin Ailey, Pina Bausch, Pilobolus, and others). It was also her birthday and she decided to perform in the show that evening. This evening-length piece has been in the repertoire since the company's beginning in the early 80s. It was neat to see her perform for a little bit from backstage. :)
I really enjoy being on crew for pieces and getting the opportunity to see them multiple times because I pick up so many new things each time I get to watch it. By the final show I had finally nailed down the rhythms I was hearing in the music, which was pretty satisfying.
My favorite section involves the four dancers sitting in chairs spread out on the stage. (A video version of it is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQCTbCcSxis) The music was the most satisfying to me and the movement in the chairs was so compelling.
My favorite section involves the four dancers sitting in chairs spread out on the stage. (A video version of it is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQCTbCcSxis) The music was the most satisfying to me and the movement in the chairs was so compelling.
All the interns and floating technicians came to help with strike, which I was extremely happy about. Struck the chairs first, then mirrors and stands, then floor, boom pipes, and backdrop. 8 or 10 of us went to the rail to complicatedly bring out/in the various electrics that were connected to things. Took a while. Then we struck most of the electrics, loaded fresnels onto the lift, and helped the Belgians pack the container to ship back home. We got out around 11:20 and said bye to the technicians Simo and Wannes. Saying goodbye to companies is the saddest part! And I’m sad I didn’t get to say goodbye to the dancers, but that usually happens since they just run offstage, shower, and leave.
**Coming up this week!**
Tuesday and Wednesday in Reynolds theatre - Yossi Berg and Oded Graf from Israel
Thursday-Saturday in DPAC - Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
I'm not on a crew this week so I get to jump theatres and see both shows from the house. I'll report back next week!
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