We're Moving!

Battery Dance Company's blog can now be found at batterydancecompany.tumblr.com .  Keep an eye out there for new photos and stories from Teaching Artist Carmen Nicole's residency at Curtis High School in Staten Island!

Dancing to Connect: Uganda, Day 2

Day 2 of teaching...oh, but before I get into that...
So, we were told that the dance jam that took place last night would be a very informal improv jam session. We arrived at the theater in time to see the kick off dance week performance....an evening of latin dance.  As we were exiting the theater, we were told that we would need to get into costume and get our cd to the sound guy.
We performed "She loves me.." outside, on concrete, at night, in between several poles not warmed up...and we did a damn fine job.
Today, I taught a group of about 15 children...some orphans and some from very poor families.
It was definitely work....but very fulfilling.
Then Sean and I taught a joint class at makarere  University.  The floor was covered in red dirt, I think blown in from the rain earlier in the day and everyone was filthy by the end.
We worked the students very very hard, but I think they liked it.
Tonight we treated ourselves to a fancy dinner...then try to put together the DTC piece that we began on Wed.  And tomorrow night is the show...
I can hear the crickets and frogs getting loud now...so that means its evening time in Uganda.

Getting Ready for Dancing to Connect 5th German Edition

 Two important meetings took place today that set the groundwork for the first Dancing to Connect project in Frankfurt.  At the end of the day, teachers gathered from the Otto Hahn, Ernst Reuter and Theodor Heuss schools to discuss the ways and means of organizing DTC workshops in June.  They were very enthusiastic and have groups of students already set!  Earlier in the morning, Jonathan met with a great team of masters degree students from the Hochschule, organized by Kurt Koegel, an expat American who runs the program.  The goal is to guarantee the sustainability of DTC in Germany by incorporating German teachers into the program this summer. Early indications are that this group in Frankfurt will bring strong backgrounds and interest to the project!

BDC on Two Continents: Europe and Africa

From Jonathan in Frankfurt:  Having arrived at mid-day on Sunday, I met up with Kirsten Gerstner, Cultural Affairs Specialist at the U.S. Consulate General in Frankfurt, BDC's friend and advocate since 2005, for a debriefing on my program here.  We headed over to the Gallus Theater to pick up our tickets for the ZuKT_Wintertanzprojekt 2010 and then met up with Dorsey Bushnell, Assistant to William Forsythe, for supper at a Turkish Restaurant and an intensive sharing of knowledge and experiences regarding dance, outreach to youth and seniors.  Then it was time for the show.  We joined the packed audience to see students from the Hochschule fuer Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main perform several pieces, highlighted by two outstanding performances of excerpts from works by William Forsythe (dance God of Frankfurt!).
Ramon John, the male dancer who performed a solo from "In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated", was absolutely incredible:  tall, thin, elastic body, perfect pirouettes that he threw away so casually that they seemed as effortless as any other step, terrific rhythm:  WOW.  And then there was a gorgeous duet from "The Loss of Small Detail" -- Ye Jin Kwon and Robin Rohmann --  both very young and unaffected, she with a very unusual full-body engagement with the movement, he very subtle, supporting her in amazing lifts as if it were all second nature.  I left regretfully at the end of the first act, victim of jet lag.

Meanwhile in Africa, Robin and Sean begin their program in Uganda.  We wait anxiously for reports, while the www is full of sublime reviews of their performances in Algiers and Oran last week.  

First Performance in Algeria -- Oran

Our day off was spent on Good Morning Algeria...as I'm sure you've seen by now....followed by a day trip to Tipaza to see the Roman ruins. They were amazing!
In the evening we were taken to what we were told would be a contemporary dance performance but was a pop concert instead:  We tried to picture you there!
Yesterday we took a very early flight to Oran for performance number one. We gave ourselves 3 hours to prepare at the theater.... But it wasn't enough. We really really needed Barry! We weren't even able to warm up. I really had to crack the whip to get what I wanted our of the tech crew. Amazingly, the show went well! Only a few technical glitches that should be smoothed out tonight. Even the projection worked. (-although it played backwards) The students performed like absolute pros. They really pulled it together... And the evening culminated in a standing ovation. Great responses from the audience after. They told us they had never seen anything like this. They can't wait for more.
So tonight... The big show in Algiers.
-Robin

Dance Diplomacy on the Airwaves in Algeria

Robin and Sean hit the t.v. news in a big way in Algeria today:   

Check out this clip from today’s Bonjour D’Algerie (national morning news show in Algeria):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b139uTLRAzw

Algeria Update from Robin

Today was the last day of workshops, and my piece is finished....

Barely!

We were interrupted mid day by a press conference, and a camera crew and interview at day's end.
Everyone asks pretty much the same question: what style of dance will you be presenting?
I've learned that it's almost useless to answer since "modern" or "contemporary" seem to mean completely different things depending on what part of the world you're coming from.
Tomorrow we have a much needed day off... But only after we appear on Good Morning Algeria!
We've decided to go with "Moonbeam", "Body Morphic" and "She Loves Me" for our repertoire here. The director was not enthusiastic about our minimal costuming for "Black and White". In fact, he offered to let Sean wear traditional Algerian garb for the piece. Sean respectfully declined.