I have a sneaky suspicion that the rest of senior year is going to feel exactly like that: one moment in the studio, and then we’re launched out into the world. Before we get there, however, we’ve got a show to create and perform, and we arrived this week to a moment we’ve all been waiting for; rehearsals for senior production have officially begun! I want to take this opportunity to share with you a little of the inside scoop from the start of the rehearsal process. All aspects of senior production are exciting learning moments for us, but speaking for myself and possibly for many of my classmates, none is more rewarding than the actual creation of the dances that will make up the concert. I interviewed my choreographer, class of 2016 member Daniel Ching, about the start of the rehearsal process and what it’s been like from the creative end.
Cleo: Did you have any expectations coming into this rehearsal process, and now one week in, has it been going as you expected?
Daniel: I did have some basic notions of what I wanted to do as I came into this process. I wanted to jump from the starting place of a piece I workshopped earlier this year, and expand some of those ideas. I was working with the idea of crafting some narrative elements to drive the piece, using recorded text, in a theatrical way. I knew as I began working on this piece that I wanted to keep going with that, but find how I could also work from the other direction of a lot of physical, straight dance phrases, and let them somehow meet in the middle. Aside from that basic starting place however, I’ve been trying to let myself accept a greater sense of not knowing as I go in to create, freeing the piece so I don’t try to micro-manage everything. Starting to work with this small group of dancers, all of whom I already know very well, I have the ability to let this piece move beyond myself and be formed by an experience we go through together in these next few weeks and months. It can be a little frightening to give up some control and embrace all of the possibilities during our first rehearsals, but I’m excited to utilize the relationships we create in the studio together and let the piece grow out of that, instead of just being a product of something I create fully in my mind and translate straight to the stage.
Cleo: Have you been thinking at all about the context of your piece within the full program of the other six dances in the concert, and has that affected your choices at all?
Daniel: I’m definitely aware of creating this piece within the framework of the works of the other six choreographers. I think it’s interesting to find the niche this work will fill in the concert, and I’m hoping it might be able to offer some much needed lightness and possibly some humor. Creating in this context is different in many ways from when I workshop pieces just for my own interest, and for this concert in particular, I think it’s influenced my decision to make sure this really holds up as a dance piece in its own right, even though theatrical elements will be present.
Cleo: How are you feeling considering the unusual rehearsal timeframe for this project- only one more week to work before taking a two month break and then coming back for just a few more weeks before the show?
Daniel: This rehearsal period is actually really great for our process right now, I feel, because the quick two weeks at the beginning forces me to just make a whole bunch of material with the knowledge that we can always throw things away. I think that allows us to come up with unexpected things, and helps me let go of the micro-managing control I’ve been trying to free myself from. Also, because of the way I’m working to build the underlying music and text score, the time off from rehearsal will give me a nice chunk of time to work on and develop that before we get back in the studio to put it all together.
Although we’re only one week into rehearsals, I know ideas are exploding and cascading around in the studios of all seven choreographers on the third floor of the Juilliard school. I hope you’ll stay tuned in the coming weeks as we get even deeper into the creation of this exciting show.
Written by: Cleo Person
Cleo: Did you have any expectations coming into this rehearsal process, and now one week in, has it been going as you expected?
Daniel: I did have some basic notions of what I wanted to do as I came into this process. I wanted to jump from the starting place of a piece I workshopped earlier this year, and expand some of those ideas. I was working with the idea of crafting some narrative elements to drive the piece, using recorded text, in a theatrical way. I knew as I began working on this piece that I wanted to keep going with that, but find how I could also work from the other direction of a lot of physical, straight dance phrases, and let them somehow meet in the middle. Aside from that basic starting place however, I’ve been trying to let myself accept a greater sense of not knowing as I go in to create, freeing the piece so I don’t try to micro-manage everything. Starting to work with this small group of dancers, all of whom I already know very well, I have the ability to let this piece move beyond myself and be formed by an experience we go through together in these next few weeks and months. It can be a little frightening to give up some control and embrace all of the possibilities during our first rehearsals, but I’m excited to utilize the relationships we create in the studio together and let the piece grow out of that, instead of just being a product of something I create fully in my mind and translate straight to the stage.
Cleo: Have you been thinking at all about the context of your piece within the full program of the other six dances in the concert, and has that affected your choices at all?
Daniel: I’m definitely aware of creating this piece within the framework of the works of the other six choreographers. I think it’s interesting to find the niche this work will fill in the concert, and I’m hoping it might be able to offer some much needed lightness and possibly some humor. Creating in this context is different in many ways from when I workshop pieces just for my own interest, and for this concert in particular, I think it’s influenced my decision to make sure this really holds up as a dance piece in its own right, even though theatrical elements will be present.
Cleo: How are you feeling considering the unusual rehearsal timeframe for this project- only one more week to work before taking a two month break and then coming back for just a few more weeks before the show?
Daniel: This rehearsal period is actually really great for our process right now, I feel, because the quick two weeks at the beginning forces me to just make a whole bunch of material with the knowledge that we can always throw things away. I think that allows us to come up with unexpected things, and helps me let go of the micro-managing control I’ve been trying to free myself from. Also, because of the way I’m working to build the underlying music and text score, the time off from rehearsal will give me a nice chunk of time to work on and develop that before we get back in the studio to put it all together.
Although we’re only one week into rehearsals, I know ideas are exploding and cascading around in the studios of all seven choreographers on the third floor of the Juilliard school. I hope you’ll stay tuned in the coming weeks as we get even deeper into the creation of this exciting show.
Written by: Cleo Person