First Drop

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:56:54 -0500

Well, I have to say I have been enjoying some down time since the big show at DTW last week. The whole project was just amazing! I am so happy to walk away with videos, bloging skills, photos, a great review in the NY Times and a fabulous new piece of dance. Thanks to everyone who came through to our fundraisors, offered up their time, space and materials. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such a beautiful community!

www.dance-enthusiast.com

www.ginagibneydance.org

www.gothamarts.org

Take a look at these wonderful photos from Let's Get Tangled. My heart goes out to my courageous and exciting lady dancers who poured their essence into the work. Nothing would be the same without you all! Hugs.

photo by Marilynn K Yee

photo by Steven Schreiber

POW! Video Episode 3

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:12:47 -0500

Enjoy the last installment of the video series by Jessy Smith and Ren Casey, which will seen on stage during the performance on July 14th and 15th.

HOUSE PARTY ALBUM & Costume Fitting

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:15:30 -0500

Many many thanks to all of you who came out to HOUSE PARTY! The evening was a big success for the company and

we are pleased to announce that we have met our fundraising goal! Take a look at some of the fun we had...

Amazing dancers participating in Sunder Ashni's moving meditation, eyes closed and hearts open!

POW girlies get improvisational with the Karaoke machine.

Hula Hoopers got the crowd howling with their hooping dance antics!

Thanks again to all of you who have continued to support the POW girl movement! We appreciate your kindness, artistic contributions

and support of our lady dancers.

Here's a sneak peak at what your donations have helped to create...

Kiki gives her yellow flapper a test twist.

Costume Designer, Lai Chung Poon, contemplates how to get

these slinky one-pieces over the POW Girl's signature "big bootys"...

"Just cut the crotch and let's put it on over our heads." Brilliant problem solving Jillian!

and

Just for good measure, Kate takes very close observation of Molly's boobs.

All this fun and hard work in a single weekend at POW Arts!

Please also take a look at the wonderful article written by The Dance Enthusiast on our BINGO NITE fundraiser.

Many thanks to Christine Jowers and Briana Blasko for coming out to document the event!

HOUSE PARTY, Let's Get Tangled

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:28:46 -0500

The countdown has begun and the Emerging Choreographers are at the less-than-one-month-to-the-show mark. My plans of creating 3 new works for this show was, I suppose, a dream to grand. However, the work that I have accomplished is fantastic and I will be proud to present POW!'s newest and (I think) greatest dance experience thus far.

Let's Get Tangled is a hip-hop infused contemporary rendition of the energetic dances popular in the 1920's Jazz Era. Within the highly rhythmic and detailed choreography, five women jive with a freedom reminiscent of the time where music and dance was essential to life. As the girls tangle and unwind, the visual inspiration of POW! PLAID! becomes more and more apparent.

I also will be presenting a new version of the company's signature Japanimation piece, POW! A fusion of video and live performance, POW! and The Bedazzlers features five sexy space-traveling heroines who transport you into the future from their influential existence in the 1960's British mod phase. Inspired by the 60's sci-fi movement (Barbarella, The Jetson's, Austin Powers) I am taking my sexy space superhero team and traveling back in time, baby!

And finally, last but not least, we will be performing our #1 song and dance favorite. The Gimmie Muney Hunnies, POW!'s modern Motown interpretation, celebrates the time when music, dance, fashion and collaboration united flawlessly within a single Detroit city block. This funky triptych features a trio of talent with fast feet, hot pants, and live vocals sure to get audiences dancing in their seats.

And last but not least, we will be hosting our final fundraisor this Friday, June 20th. We are only $150 away from our goal, and after this crazy HOUSE PARTY, I know we will make it! Festivities include a moving meditation led by Ashni at 9pm, old school dance contest BINGO with cash prizes, card room, Karaoke, live music and dance performances, and a candle-lit rooftop jam all night long!

Clinton Hill House Party!

293 Grand Ave, #3L (between Green Ave and Clifton)

G train to Classon or A train to CLinton Washington

email smith.jessy@gmail.com for directions.

Video Episode Two: Jacob Peter Kovner

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:54:33 -0500

Enjoy Dorian and Jacob's second episode highlighting the rehearsal process for his new piece, set to premiere this July at the SummerDANZ Festival.

Skybetter's Cold House

Sat, 31 May 2008 08:58:14 -0500

So after many many drafts, Cold House You Kept, was a total success. This is the first larger group piece that Sydney has done, I think. Ever. Even with the TREMENDOUS difficulty in having everyone at rehearsal, somehow a finished product was shown at the MFA II showing at Tisch last week. I was shocked by how down right rigorous this dance turned out to be...usually Sydney churns out more polished, reserved, "active neutral" products. Don't get me wrong, his movement definitely errs on the physical side but Cold House seemed like a new direction. Pictures are soon to come!!

Somewhere Out There

Thu, 29 May 2008 12:32:31 -0500

So the Movement Research Festival is going on right now. Their theme this year is "Somewhere Out There". Go! Bring a friend! As far as I am concerned, they are far and away the most interesting, intellectually significant dance org in New York right now. Sorry if I just offended anybody with that.

Check it out here.

Especially check out the party at Judson on June 8th. The Cheapcake Dance Club will be performing, and they're pretty much the best improv/research/performance group that I've ever seen... er... been a part of. But seriously though, we're working with some very interesting issues, and i think very highly of my Cheapcake colleagues.

Anyhow, the "Somewhere Out There" theme is hugely relevant for me: as of last Saturday, I am an official inhibitor of somewhere out there. I've left New York after 22 years, and am making a go of it in Berlin. However, as of right now, I am left with a series of interesting new problems. I have left New York, but much of my work remains there.

Anna and I have 6 weeks until the Emerging Choreographers show as part of Zia Artists SummerDanz series at DTW. The question is: how do we develop and deepen our practice of the work in this period? How do we use our new perspective as an advantage?

Some thoughts:

--Re-examine the foundations of the specific work. As the piece that me and Anna are doing for this show is highly improvisational, that means returning to the initial improvisations. I want to go deeper and re-examine the breadth and the specificity of what we're working with, so that when I return, I feel very comfortable in the context of the piece.

--Use the new perspective as an advantage. Making work in which I will also perform is quite hard. It's not easy to get out of choreographer mind and avoid making choreographic decisions when you are wearing the dancer hat. I find myself trying to edit the piece from the inside, rather than only working on the frame and allowing myself freedom when I am dancing the piece. I want to use this time as an opportunity to shift that perception. The work is more or less set now. I got to free my mind, and the rest will follow, as some very wise women once said.

--Start sharing. I plan to share a couple clips of the piece online with mentors and collaborators to get some feedback. This will (hopefully) make me more comfortable with having it be seen, taking ownership of it, and will make the process of it going up less stressful and more fulfilling.

--Hold the questions. When you're rehearsing many times a week. You can sit with questions as you're going, but you constantly have to confront them as you're working. With the hard questions about the nature of the piece, you don't have time to distance yourself enough to get new vantage points. Sure, there is definitely an advantage to inundation, but there is also an advantage to having the opportunity to really meditate upon the central questions and problems of the piece.

Let's see if these things help me.

Also, I just want to take a moment to plug another long distance piece I'm doing.

My piece, "Im Bade Wohnen (Bath Living)", will be performed at the Tank on June 14th an 15th as part of a shared evening curated by my good friend and talented colleauge, Bryan Campbell.

Get more info here.

Or just buy tickets right now here.

More plugging of that to come.

Video Episode Two: POWERSIZE!!

Mon, 26 May 2008 18:50:11 -0500

Videographer Ren Casey and Choreographer Jessy Smith do the "POW" thing once again. Warm up and get fit as the POW Girlies lead you through some deep stretching and strengthening powersizes. You can follow along to learn their favorite new dance inspired by the look and feel of the 1920's.

Dancing Day

Sat, 24 May 2008 16:46:47 -0500

An Email Rap sent to collaborators on May 7th
The Outcome: some super nice pictures by Ramon Estevanell (www.ramonestevanell.com)

lady lady lady lady lady lady gent,
i hope that your weekend has been time well spent
rehearsal is tomorrow from 4-6pm at BAX.
my friend Ramon is coming to take some pretty pics.
look hot. no, kidding, just be yourselves,
be ready to pump your memory
and rock the choreography
to use this as an opportunity
to be a visionary just like a kennedy
in peace may they rest
jessy jams to all the rest
bless
party like the best.

All pictures by Ramon Estevanell, THANKS RAMON!
www.ramonestevanell.com

New Work! Let's Go!

Fri, 09 May 2008 10:32:02 -0500

So once again a process begins :)

This time around I'm working on an all male piece.

I'm not too sure where I'm going with this right now. I have 5 wonderful dancers: Juel D. Lane, Telly Fowler, Donovan Herring, Keon Thoulouis, and Kevin Guy. It's really cool to be in the space with them because we're all friends :) They understand me and my process- which I sometime don't understand myself, lol!

I'm really interested in the theater aspect of dance, so I'm currently investigating the balance between dance and theater. In this new work, called Matchstick, I want the phrase 'dance theater' to really be evident in the movements and interactions of the dancers.

In this work, the dancers are placed in the space with a table and 5 chairs. Whenever I use props in my pieces, they are usually stationary. I want the look of my works to be very pedestrian. There might be simple movements here and there, but no too 'loud' where the props are propelling the dancers. I want the opposite to happen and give the audience the feeling of seeing real people interacting with each other.

We're all having a lot of fun and look forward to this new journey.

Volunteer Dancers

Fri, 02 May 2008 12:12:15 -0500

At play throughout this whole process has been the idea of "the piece doing you". I have often experienced being in some sort of time hold when I am onstage. I feel like I have stepped into an alternate world that is choreographed, has no relationship to my own life, where choices have been pre-determined. The piece dances me, and I just sort of experience. This seems to be a somewhat common experience. As a performer, I question how I can make every choreographed decision immediate and voluntary. Not pre-determined, but consistently chosen.

For the piece, Anna and I have developed a central, highly structure improvisation. The improv basically consisted of two elements: tableaus that express seminal, "landmark" moments in human lives and the transitions between them (which are just as important). We also have two additional sections that are a similar mix of choreographic elements with improvisational construction.

Now that we have established that we want to work in this world that is half choreographic, half improvisational, we are confronted with a very significant set of issues:

--How do you improvise and keep it rigorous?

--How do you work with composed aspects but make them integral to the improvisation that happens around those aspects?

Basically, our goal is to try and mediate the specificity and grander decision-making of choreography with the volitional, personal nature of improvisation. The goal here is to make a work that you very actively engage in every time you do it. That there are very clear tasks, and, in that sense, choreography, but the piece cannot do you. The choreographic moments are like pre-formed articles of clothing that Anna and I put on. It has its own shape and nature, and when we are in these moments, we become associated, but it retains its own identity and we retain ours. The choreography is something we experience or go through. Experiencing the choreography, is, on some level, an improvisational task. How do we come out on the other side? How does that change the choices that we make when we exit choreographic structures?

It's a bit like people's problem with musical theater: every time people start singing to one another the suspension of disbelief just goes. Thus people hate musicals. We must wrestle with the same issues in dance. How do we make the struggle between choreography and real time decision making rigorous, exciting and legible?

BINGO! BINGO! BINGO!

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:40:30 -0500

Friday, april 25th, the POW Girlies and I hosted our first fund-raising event for the DTW project at Grand Space in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. It was a beautiful time playing BINGO and having fun with our extremely supportive friends!

We spent the evening dabbing away at our cards, slurping Nik's delicious corn soup, dancing and playing music together. After the informal performance of our new material, the crowd broke out into a crazy dance party, showing off the wahtusi, the twist, the mashed potato, the old school dance styles that I love! One of my main goals with my work is to get people up on their feet, moving and trying new dances. Everything I create is influenced by social dance and I want it to make an impact in the social dance scene. It was like a dream come true!

Later in the evening, Damien came through and played his 10 stringed Puerto Rican guitar while little Jacob and friends tickled the ivories. We projected my pictures of the girls rehearsing and modeling Jacob's Eye bags, along with Robbie Lee's classic pictures of the Fort Green Soccer team, many of whom joined us for the evening. The drumming and dance circle led by Joel got the people dancing once again, letting loose and feeling free. It was an incredible artistic happening and a success of an event to help support my beautiful dancers and designers.

We will certainly be hosting another BINGO NITE in JUNE. Ill keep you posted.

The Dance-Enthusiast will be writing an article on POW's BINGO adventure with pictures by Briana Blasko, stay tuned...

Dancers With Needs

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:19:59 -0500

So over the past week, we have had our first sets of eyes in the studio. Having people look at the piece has been intense, but really necessary. Everybody who has come in has mentioned Deborah Hay which I find rather funny. I read "My Body, the Buddhist" and it didn't really resonate with me, so, in all honesty, I have been somewhat disinterested in her methodologies. I am also not really a huge fan of the "performance score" methodology and how it is often bandied about. It often just refers to performers who don't really know what they are doing,(which isn't necessarily the worst thing) but "score" seems to glorify the attempt.

However, one of our observers mentioned her maxim "where I am is what I need". I guess the underlying principle is that there is validity to taking on the next choice you make decisively and with commitment. Anna and I have been looking at that statement in terms of its application to our process.

For me, "where I am is what I need" has been really helpful in starting to set material insofar as it doesn't really require you to pin things down or set things in a way that is restrictive. If you look at each step as "what do I need here?" as opposed to "what would be the best possible next step?" it is rather liberating. Also, it encourages one to fulfill the need. Rather than leaving it because you're antsy or over-indulging it, you can move on once where you are is no longer what you need.

But the questions persist as always. What is the relationship between the satisfaction of the performers and the quality of the dance? Is there a relationship between the needs of the performers and the needs of the audience? Additionally, I wonder if this methodology of fulfillment encourages one to stay within one's comfort zone. Compelling drama seems to be, on some level, about what goes unfulfilled. I don't have answers on this one yet. I'll report back.

POW GIRLIES GET PHYSICAL

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:47:28 -0500

Last week the girls met up and got physical for our next Ren Casey exercise dance video. We started filming on the roof-top of a Williamsburg rehearsal spot that we frequent. It was a beautiful sunny day, just a real gem of a day. The girls were working up a sweat, demonstrating new moves created for our DTW performance...

working up so much of a sweat that they were apparently pounding down the ceiling under the roof (or so said the very unhappy woman who kicked us off). We braved the storm however and finished the shoot down on the street... it really is where we belong anyway.

Even though I felt like a guilty teenager, (seriously, this lady schooled me) the girls stayed on pace and finished the shoot like champs. Can't no body get their spirits down, oh no!

Let me question you though, people that read this blog: (are you there people?) if you looked on your roof and saw this group doing exercise, would you kick them off? Could you get angry at these girls (who can't seem to get their eyes open in pictures)?

I would like to thank (again) the woman who let us shoot on her rooftop. (even though, as she deftly pointed out, you didn't "let"us) We wouldn't have been able to make this video with out your generosity.

Stay tuned for footage of THE ULTIMATE SCHOOLING of DIRECTOR JESSY SMITH

Escaping Mythology

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:21:20 -0500

So, according to Roland Barthes, the image above is the anatomy of a myth.

Initially, we have a signifier and a signified. For example, we have a physical, real chicken, and then we have the combination of letters c-h-i-c-k-e-n and the associated sound. The signified, the existing chicken, is joined with the signifier, these conjoined letters, and they come together to form a sign that we are able to interpret. When i write "chicken" it conjures something.

A myth is that to the n-th degree. The example that Barthes uses is the following:

"Barthes demonstrates this theory with the example of a front cover from Paris Match, showing a young black soldier in French uniform saluting. The signifier : a saluting soldier, cannot offer us further factual information of the boy's life. But it has been chosen by the magazine to symbolise more than the boy; the picture, in combination with the signifieds of Frenchness, militariness, and relative ethnic difference, gives us a message about the French Empire and its citizens. The picture does not explicitly demonstrate 'that France is a great empire, that all her sons, without any colour discrimination, faithfully serve under her flag,' etc. ^[3], but the combination of the signifier and signified perpetuates the myth of imperial devotion, success and thus; a property of 'significance' for the picture."

Thanks, wikipedia!

This is the image described:

So, what does that have to do with anything?

A few weeks ago, I was talking about how the envisioned scenario for the piece involves a kind of disembodied mythologies. When I talk about that, I am trying to work with a destabilized version of Barthes' construction of the myth. Anna and I have compiled a list of seminal moments in lives: nervous breakdowns, dying in somebody's arms, giving birth, etc... These moments are deemed those which can reveal the essence of our lives, and maybe contain the hidden pathos or meaning of it all. They form the mythology of a life cycle (hence their popularity in hollywood movies).

What Anna and I are trying to do is destabilize the mythology by removing the building blocks of the form. If the myth cannot exist without functioning signifiers and singificants at the base (those at the very top of the diagram), the myth no longer functions, and must be re-examined or re-negotiated.

Why do these myths need to be re-examined?

Well, I think my interest in re-examining our mythologies of the sequence of a life is largely based on where I am in my own. As an aspiring artist, the peaks and valleys of my career seem to be already choreographed, and it is my role to fulfill them or not. What success is for me seems to be pre-conceived rather than based on my specific vantage point. What one is supposed to do after graduating university is similarly choreographed. Obviously, I am supposed to graduate, join a prestigious company and tour the world doing great dance works, impressing dance audiences everywhere with my understated virtuosity and captivating presence. But what does that have to do with me?

I'd like to refer back to the Godard quote: "Everything has been said provided words do not change their meanings and meanings their words." This relates to Barthes' understanding of mythology. We have such a comprehensive system of symbols, that when I write the word "rose" it means so much more than what is actually there. Similarly, when I write "success" or "failure" there is so much in our collective mythology that prescribes what that is. In that sense, everything has been said, and there is no room for self-determination, or for saying something new or individual. The world portrayed in Alphaville is truly that. Thus, in order to determine our own, specific path and leave the world of mythologies, we must destabilize our collective mythology.

But how does one de-stabilize a myth? That's where it gets hard.

My proposed system is the following: let's say we have an image of a dying man in a woman's arms. The signifier of observed death is combined with the signified to create a myth that means injustice/martyrdom/the like. When this image is juxtaposed against a tableau that confounds the premise of the first the myth is somehow rendered invalid. If we juxtapose the 'dying in arms' image with a subsequent image that could be as inert as the same pair waiting for something together, the first mythological image is rendered invalid. The man is no longer a martyr because he's not really dead, the woman is no longer tragic because she hasn't really lost anything. The sign/signifier (in the middle of the diagram) is knocked out and, hopefully, we are left to reexamine what it is to experience and witness these important moments in life. Perhaps the juxtaposition can lure us away from our knee-jerk understanding of obligatory emotions and acceptable reactions and bring us towards an interest in the specific peculiarities of any given situation or relationship.

We claim to have some understanding of the moral of the story in the seminal moments of our lives(i.e., death=sad, wedding=happy), but perhaps by questioning the signage supporting the mythology, i can convince a person or two to re-examine what it is to be with somebody else or even just to witness somebody else. Or even convince myself.