#integrated dance

Spoke ‘n Motion Jewelry Party!

Does everyone love to party?  But you just don’t have the time, right?  How about a Party online?  And for a good cause?  Get ready for an online Jewelry Fundraising Party Dec 6-16.  I’m donating 30% of my sales from the party to Spoke ‘n Motion.  And my friend Joeleese from JMB Creations will be joining me in the donations.

My good friend Teri Wagner heads up the integrated dance troupe.  It’s…

With many restarts, here is trying to dance on a high pain day. From my bed, because I can’t leave it. I’ll be starting a dance challenge thing soon, so more videos. This video includes lots of fooling around, so if you wanna see a lil silliness from me, here ya go! I’ve been feeling a little stuck in dance, because it’s improv based, and I don’t have access to a regular class, so I don’t feel like I’m doing anything new, or progressing? Anyone have any thoughts/ideas/hints on what to do/how to progress? (Pictured: June on her bed. She’s wearing a blue tank top, and her tattoos are visible. Her orange backpack is in the background. The music is white blank page my Mumford and sons. A few times, she rested, acts a little silly, and tries to start again. Her pup coughs in the background a couple times and is gross)

Seven days, 24 Participants from both sides of the Tasman Sea, four Touch Compass tutors, one amazing dance studio – what an incredible way for Touch Compass to kick off 2015!

To have that much creative energy in our Touch Compass home is always a delight to experience.  The Touch Compass Summer School was born out of two purposes – to engage disabled and non-disabled dancers in a week long workshop and to audition new dancers to join the company.   Thanks to a huge effort from the team at TC – management and dancers alike – we created a highly successful Summer School, enthusiastically enjoyed by all of the participants.  Without a doubt, we could not have asked for a better response to our very first Summer School.

"Best workshop ever. Met amazing people, it changed my life. Never been in a room with so many talented people before." - Participant

The week was fairly focused on the company’s latest work “Watching Windows”, which premiered at Acquisitions ’14.  The work comprises of three duets, set in and around various sizes of wooden boxes.  As there was a dual purpose to this workshop, the participants had been assigned to groups to learn a duet from “Watching Windows”.  My group had a slightly different approach as they didn’t have to stick entirely to choreography. First they had to learn my 'hand solo' but from there it was up to them what they created.  The result was three unique duets from one solo.  

All of the participants had sessions together exploring tasks such as ‘tableaus' and ‘flocking'. Tableaus are where pictures are created against a wall with people adding themselves one at a time.  Flocking involves everyone following the movement of a leader or whoever is in their view, leading to an eventual combination of numerous leaders as well as followers.

To wrap up the week the TC team of tutors created a score for the participant to improvise with.  Various sets and props were arranged in the space and the score was mapped out on the whiteboard for reference.  It was a brilliant hour filled with solos and duets from the week.

Trailer for the film Invitation to Dance. Here's the trailer with audio description of the visual elements.

This piece is one in a series of 4 pieces themed around the elements. I watched Alice and Robbie rehearse this piece quite often actually, and it was a pleasure to watch them work through it.