Yesterday I was blessed with the opportunity to speak with, take class from, and be taught by Matthew Rushing, rehearsal director and senior soloist with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater prior to seeing their performance at the newly renovated Northrup Auditorium in Minneapolis. In regards to pre-existing works and how a dancer inserts themselves into a work that existed before they did, and took place in a time that they know very little about, Matthew spoke of stripping. I had some problems with this initially, and still do perhaps, but I have never gone into a work with such history like he has. Maybe I never will. However, to have that little nugget in my back pocket, that one must completely strip themselves of all their notions, their person, their background, their abilities, in order to embrace the notions, person, background and abilities of the body that originally developed the work, is a true gift. Just thinking about a person having to do that is humbling let alone actually doing it. The dancer must realize, this work is not about them or for them, they are just representing it. They are doing it for the sake of the work and its history. How then, can they allow themselves to be fully engulfed by the work while still shining enough from the inside, that no one can quite tell if it is the work shining or if it is the person representing the work shining? That blurred line is quite lovely. Will I ever want to do that myself?
|
AuthorDance professional and instructor always hungry for new experiences and inspirations. GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® are registered trademarks of Gyrotonic Sales Corp and are used with their permission.
|