Day 31.

prompt: "to give love is as necessary for life as taking a breath."

music: "playing possum" by maxwell

WELL, this is it! done with january! and what a rewarding month it has been! even if i use nothing from this experiment, it got my brain moving even more on this show and i'm excited to create.  thanks for sticking with me!

Day 30.

prompt: "love is like jumping off a cliff into water.  you fall and fall, you get butterflies on the way down and you wonder how hard you will hit, and then you come up fast gasping for air and refreshed and can't wait to do it again."

music: "minha (all mine)" by michel camilo
thoughts: i saw the movie "Pina" last night.  it was so beautiful! there was a moment from Cafe Muller, i believe, in which a couple starts in an embrace and then another man places their limbs and bodies so that the man is carrying the woman, and then she falls out of his arms and it happens over and over again.  seeing that bit made this prompt stand out to me and the movement is definitely influenced by that.  granted it's just sllllightly less well-crafted than the shots and choreo in the film. ;)

Day 29.

prompt: "someone who's an 'adder,' to quote a friend.  when you do something with a group, some people are neutral; some people detract from the experience, but some people always add energy/excitement."

music: "don't start lying to me now" by joss stone

Day 28.

prompt: "find someone whose strengths you admire and who tolerates your weaknesses."

music: "let's call the whole thing off" by billie holiday (again!)
thoughts: i really thought this should be danced side-by-side by a couple, but since i'm just me and i'm not a savvy enough imovie user to make it split-screen, you'll have to use your imagination.

also... i'm a day late.  i take responsibility for this.

Day 27.

prompt: "[love is] annoying, confusing, wonderful, and fulfilling."

music: "love is here to stay" by richard glazier

thoughts: this is one of my favorite gershwin songs, and actually one of my favorite songs, period.  my itunes has 11 versions of this song in it (richard glazier, blossom dearie, mel torme, marcus roberts, michel camilo, oscar peterson, gene kelly from An American in Paris, ian pace, diana ross, billie holiday, how's THAT for an inspiring list of performers?!)  also, as some may note, this choreography is very evocative of other parts of the existing versions of TWWDTT... some clarifications about the chair and the hat as props came out of my showing in october, and they've been on my mind, so this is kind of a blend of ideas from that.

Day 26.

prompt: "[my greatest relationship dealbreaker is] lack of ambition"

music: "music for marcel duchamp" by philipp vandre

thoughts: only 5 more! also this music/choreo combo is kinda scary.  also so is my outfit...?

Day 25.

prompt: "completely involuntary, tremendously forgiving and understanding. by far, the most precious thing life has to offer."

(in response to: give me your philosophy on love in two sentences or less)

music: "someone to watch over me" by richard glazier

Day 24.

prompt: "....soon?"
in response to "when will mr/ms right show up?"

music: "let's call the whole thing off" by billie holiday
thoughts: i got this little bit out, but i think i want to do more with this music - i love her voice and this song, and this doesn't quite cut it... yet.  :)

Day 23.

prompt: "when i'm looking the other way."
(in response to: "when will mr./ms. right show up?")

music: "love walked in" by oscar peterson

Day 22.

prompt: climbing cliffs and swimming seas
(in response to "give me your philosophy on love."

music: "NY snow globe" by rachel's (we just got snow! i couldn't help myself with this title!)
thoughts: ahhh ha.  20-some-odd days in, and i'm finally getting to something that feels interesting.  not, necessarily, interesting to watch or interesting to put on stage, but interesting in that finally i feel like i come to a clear idea in time to capture a root of a real thought on camera.  ...i guess that takes practice.  huh.

i'm looking back through the videos and my notes, actually, and a couple things stand out.

1. ACTUALLY doing this daily has progressed from feeling guilty because i wasn't "putting in enough " to feeling like a chore to finally becoming something that's on my mind, and if it's approaching 24 hours since the last one, i feel drawn to do.  it's like.... a habit?!  what??  this is working?!?!


2. the first bits were just sludge.  the next bits sort of had interesting ideas that were poorly executed.  we don't get into any movement that's actually interesting until at least two weeks in.  it's remarkably like getting in shape.  first you force a terrible workout, then you're sore and it's hard to motivate, and then finally it gets smoother.

3. thinking creatively and in an embodied way every day has opened up ideas and thoughts about the project as a whole that i wouldn't have thought of on my own.  i'm starting to feel inspired about different options in the way i was right after the showing in october, after i took in reviews from chicago, after my first few rehearsals... in short, it usually happens with creative stimulation from others.  i guess this is also the point of making creative thought a habit.

as an experiment, both with technology as an artistic tool and with this movement as something usable, here's the same video with the sound taken out and marcus roberts' "how long has this been going on?" added in.  kinda takes on a desperate quality it didn't have above.

i mean, none of this is ready to see an audience, or really ready to see dancers in rehearsal, but it's a touch more intelligent of an output for me as a creative artist to revisit and digest.

also: happy birthday to the coolest mom ever! :)  i love you!

Day 21.

prompt: "if you're not happy, change something."

music: "all the things you are" by the oscar peterson trio

only 10 days left!

Day 20.

prompt: listen to the text :) it's answering "describe your perfect mate."

have you filled out the survey yet? consider it.  every single response seriously inspires me.

Day 19.

prompt: "[love] comes naturally but takes work"

music: "4 or 5 trees" by rachel's

Day 18.

prompt: "i like it when guys call you instead of texting full conversations for hours and hours. calling is nice. it takes guts these days."

music: "how come you don't call me" by alicia keys
thoughts: ok, obvious song choice.  but the idea is less that he doesn't call at all and more that he only texts. also, this is the part of the process where after you worked all day, sent your boyfriend off to germany, danced onstage for an audience and then went to your work-study job, you still get home and choreograph before you go to bed.  (i'm feeling proud of myself.)  you never know when the muse is gonna get in there, so you gotta put in that work, right?

Day 17.

prompt: describe how you felt right after you last breakup, in one word.  "relieved."

music: "tunglio" by olafur arnalds
thoughts: my computer clearly didn't know how to handle the lighting in this apartment.  i also clearly took suzi taylor's class today.  going with it.

there's still more to say

last night i had the incredible privileged to see an excerpt of "Who Cares?" danced by the New York City Ballet at the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation's presentation, Destiny Rising.  it was an exquisite pas de deux to "The Man I Love." the music was orchestral in the Gershwin style with a sultry brass line giving us the melody.  the dancers, Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck, were stunning, technically flawless, and amazing performers.  Balanchine's choreography was a tough and oh-so-clean ballet pas de deux with some jazzy shapes (especially for Robert Fairchild) thrown in.  the chemistry between the dancers was exciting and i couldn't take my eyes off of them.

i haven't watched parts of "Who Cares?" since before the premiere of TWWDTT, when i was researching all sorts of dance and film done to Gershwin, from NYCB to Fred Astaire to movie montages with Rhapsody in Blue playing in the background.  when i saw this pas de deux listed on the program, i had a little feeling of dread and self-doubt as i waited to see the show.  after all, if Balanchine has done this choreography to the Gershwins' music, who the hell am i to make a show of it?

as i watched - and fully enjoyed - the performance, the dread melted away and i realized, oh, this is so gorgeous and they're saying something complete and articulate and beautiful with this performance, but that isn't all there is to say.  there's so much more in there - in the music, in the human romantic experience, in the vocabulary of dance - that could be explored.  and i want to explore it!  fred astaire doesn't quite capture the modern romantic cynicism that my generation has embraced.  and NYCB didn't quite capture the humor that i see in the blessedly human approach to relationships.  there's more to say! and the Gershwins' music can support all those conversations so gracefully.

and isn't that the thing about art?  there's always more to say.  there's always more music to write, more landscapes to be interpreted with a painter's brush, more movement to be created, more of the human experience to be recorded and expressed in an artist's unique voice.  art (like fashion!) is never finished.  and i'm feeling grateful to be a part of the journey.

Day 16.

prompt:  "we were both at the same bar, and he walked in and said 'hey let's go on a date.' i said yes and he walked out.  that's a true story."
(in response to "how did you two meet?")

music: "knock on wood" by seal
thoughts: more than halfway!!

Day 15.

prompt: (in response to "give me a one-word summary." being single is...)

irritating
fine
independence
lonely
interesting
quiet
productive
free-ing
challenging

music: "cameron" by matt & kim

Day 14.

prompt: "it takes time for people to grow up. i'm still waiting to see if this advice pays off."

music: "growing pains" by la roux
thoughts: once again, restricted by time and hallway space today. getting bored with that. i think it's important for me to remember that this is an exercise.  this is not how i create finished product.  this is how i begin to create finished product, but i'm not limited to this. it's just the practice of beginning.

Day 13.

prompt: "it's all about balance."

music: "street lights" by kanye west

thoughts: full disclosure.  i'm home late after performing and subsequent celebratory dinner/wine this evening. this i actually choreographed and video-ed the other day, but i revisited, edited, and posted (sort of) today.  (it's 1:12am, after all... not exactly still the 13th.  but i haven't gone to sleep yet!)  ...

Day 12.

prompt: "listen to your gut.  if you can't hear it, work on listening to it before making decisions."

music: "embraceable you" by billie holiday

thoughts: today i REALLY didn't want to go choreograph.  it was 10pm, i was full of my dinner and i was tired from a long day and i was feeling like putting on a sweatshirt and sitting in front of the couch and NOT moving this body.  but i did it anyway.  that's the point. i thought "ok. listening. and guts. maybe if i hold a plank and my ears...." and i kind of like the weirdness and un-pretty un-coolness of the movement.  i am doing the work, and sometimes something new comes out.  that is so the point!  

Day 11.

prompt: "love someone the way you want to be loved."

music: "soon" by ella fitzgerald & ellis larkins
thoughts: back to gershwin today... because don't you all want to be loved the way ella's voice makes you feel?

Day 10.

amazing prompt given on the end of the survey (the say-whatever-you-want part): "i'll never give up on love in new york."

music: "to build a home" by the cinematic orchestra

Day 9.

prompt: "life/relationships are about COMPROMISE, not getting what you want all the time."

music: "let's call the whole thing off" by oscar peterson

thoughts: as the process goes on, i find that i like the concepts i'm using and the inspiration gathered from the survey (SERIOUSLY inspiring!) more than the actual movement.  which is very different than doing this exercise in the past - for last year and the year before, i would like specific phrases of movement very much, but cared less about the concept or impetus behind them.  should be interesting to see what (if anything) ends up useful out of this year's bits.

on another note: survey is here for anyone who wants to join in!
on yet another note: 9/31! i'm 30% there! (thanks to dan for pointing this out.)

Day 8.

prompt: "no one outside a relationship can ever really understand what is happening within a relationship. so, in the end, you just have to trust yourself."

music: alan loveday and neville marriner (unknown title)
thoughts: this bit of movement i choreographed without music, and set it to this later.  also, i went downstairs to do this knowing i wanted to cover my eyes, but i had completely forgotten my prompt... so the prompt led to the motif, and the motif led to the work, and the work led to the music choice.

Day 7.

prompt: "take it or leave it"
(in response to: give me your philosophy on love in two sentences or less"

music: "mandali" by africando feat. medoune diallo
thoughts: some days less boring forms of movement come much more easily. other days i do the same borinngggg things over and over.  this wasn't such a terrible day.

Day 6.

day 6, everyone, brings something new.  the first 5 days were created using prompts from audience slips of paper from the show in chicago.  today i'm using something from the survey i've created for this very purpose! i LOVE reading the responses.  (it's anonymous - if you haven't already, fill it out!)  so here we go.  this was from the "tell me anything you haven't said yet" question at the end of the survey.

prompt:  I kind of think of it like a puzzle on a table. Step away from it and look at the whole and you go "Shit. That's hard." But putting each pair of pieces together is no thing at all. "Of course this one goes here, look at the little stripes..." So basically if you work in your relationship like you're putting the easy pieces together, all of a sudden you step back one day and you made a fucking 2000 piece Thomas Kincaide painting or something without even thinking. The whole puzzle together is amazing and beautiful and a feat, just like love. And the tiny pieces are great too, like a couple's brunch tradition or the six pieces that make the lilac bush by the church. I sincerely hope this makes sense in writing because I believe it so strongly and I think it could make a lot of people feel better about life and love and relationships and all that. Maybe I'll send it to Oprah.

music: "there's so much energy in us" by cloud cult
thoughts: this is a poorly executed exploration of an idea i'm actually interested in.  sweet!

Day 5.

prompt: "love is letting the other person have the last piece of bacon."

music: "the love you save" by jackson 5
thoughts: i mean, how could i NOT make use of this amazing prompt?  also, please don't forget that i'm cool (sometimes.)

Day 4.

prompt: "knuckle down and win big."
(in response to: "what is your philosophy on love?"

music: "stronger than me" by amy winehouse
thoughts: totally not feeling it today.  fortunately there are some incredible prompts to work with.  "knuckle down and win big?!" whoever wrote that, you're my hero.

Day 3.

prompt: "love is finding the person who brings out the best in you and loves about you what you love about yourself - and vice versa."

music: "i was doing all right" by oscar peterson

thoughts: this prompt has a lot more to it than this! this is just some first movement.

Day 2.

prompt: "ask my wife, she has all the answers"
(in response to: "what is your philosophy on love?")

music: "zing! went the strings of my heart" by rufus wainwright

thoughts: short and silly and in a hallway.  i should probably find a studio space somewhere to do these in!  (makes me miss LPAC.)

Day 1.

prompt: "It exists if you believe in it."
(in response to "what is your philosophy on love?")

music: richard glazier - "concert transcription: summertime"

thoughts:
it's new year's day, i just worked all afternoon, i am hungry, i wasn't in the mood to come up with anything good.  i felt afraid of this resolution.  (pretty silly since i'm just doing it to myself... but not living up to one's own expectations? oooh boy. scary stuff.)  as i type i'm having to stop myself from making excuses like "UNFINISHED WORK!" "JUST PLAYING AROUND!" "DID THIS IN MY APARTMENT HALLWAY!" but i know that's all just creative resistance.  so, a start.