more transitions.

(moved from jaemajoydance.com on june 20th)

march 24th, 2011

well well!  it's been awhile.  and i have some updates!

as i put all over facebook, i presented an excerpt of "The Way We Danced 'Til Three" at Dance New Amsterdam in january for their "works in progress" showing series.  it was a lot of fun, it felt wonderful to get some rehearsal going (props to the ever lovely nicole west and michala stock for learning the dance in... oh... three rehearsals), and it was sneakily videotaped for me and you can find it right here!

also in january, i was lucky enough to perform work of the talented and wonderful jenny shore butler. it was a fun and rewarding process, an amazing opportunity to dance with some old friends (and new ones!), and i'm proud of what we created!


and finally, as mentioned below, i've been working on my 50 days of choreography for 2011.  yes, geeks, it's true, there have been way more than 50 days in 2011 so far.  i haven't quiiiiiite done it every day.  but i'm pushing through to 50!  and i've been playing with interesting constraints.  last year, i did most of my work in the studio of my gym, which had wood floors, mirrors, normal dance studio-y stuff.  this year, the fitness center in my building has been the site of most of my creation, but the floors are recycled rubber nonsense (aka, sticky as maple syrup that dribbled on your counter) so i've been not only working around that, but taking advantage of other less dance-designed spaces to get a little movement out!  i get weird looks everywhere.  sometimes i stop and say to myself "this is why people think new yorkers are crazy."  i'm clearly reveling in the sweet anonymity of this city. see a little highlight reel of what i've done so far under choreography.

that's it for now.  hopefully much more news soon - i submitted a bunch of applications this week for spring and summer fun, both excerpts of old work and proposals for a BRAND NEW work that my brain is stewing on... (yikes!) cross your fingers and i'll keep you posted!


december 29th, 2010 - news and reflections

the blizzard that knocked out all of NYC has had an unexpectedly lovely side effect:  i am stuck at home in michigan until new year's eve!

what does that mean?

it is time to dwell on a new year's resolution for 2011.  for the past few years, i have done a "january resolution," with the thought that devoting myself to something for a month will influence my mindset for the year to follow.  after all, as aristotle said:

"we are what we repeatedly do.  excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."


last year i did 31 days of choreography.  it was an exercise.  i decided to CREATE with no express purpose, no specific goal other than to just get it out there.  miraculously, some of it was usable, and it ended up feeding a lot of the work i did for "The Way We Danced 'Til Three."  (see what i mean.)

without even concentrating on it, i really think it did affect my mindset for an entire year.

i've had some time to reflect on that, and a huge theme of 2010 for me is just how powerful it is to develop creativity as a habit.  a little over a year ago, a good friend turned me on to a TED talk by elizabeth gilbert.  (consider listening.  it's really good.)

she talks about how in ancient greece and rome, the idea was that creativity did not come from human beings.  there were these divine spirits, these "geniuses," who were attendant spirits to us mere humans walking the earth.  they could, at any time, work through the human beings they attended to create extraordinary work.  but it was the spirit that was the "genius," not the human.  and how to get the genius to come through in your work?  well, there's nothing to do but show up and get working.  if you don't work, the genius has no chance to descend upon you and make something brilliant with you.  so you just gotta show up.

so the goal, ultimately, is to make creative work-- creativity--a habit.  a day-in, day-out activity that i don't think about, i don't judge, i don't dread, i don't carve out special time for... i just DO.
so 2011.  i've done 31 days... let's make it 50!



elizabeth gilbert also talks a bit about fear as a response to devoting one's life to creative pursuits.  i've felt that firsthand this year.  when i started working for accenture and dove into that life, no one asked me if i was worried about that, or afraid of doing that as a CAREER.  but choreography?  of course!  everyone is wondering about whether or not this is a good idea, and jaema aren't you worried about that, and jaema do you have some backup ideas? is that going to be a CAREER?

i sure hope so!  and i mean sure.  there's not *quite* as much financial security in choreography as there is in supply chain consulting.  but i'm still the same person, with the same education, the same strenghts, the same skills... and maybe more determination.


other than reflecting, what else have i been doing?
uploading video, of course!  there's gorgeous video footage of "The Way We Danced 'Til Three up and ready for action.  i rearranged the site a little bit, too, and there are some other little goodies posted along the way (including an updated resume!  download and send to all your well-connected friends from the bio page! haha).

that's all for now, friends.  browse and enjoy and let me know what you think!  and most of all.... HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you and yours.