C O M I N G U P
"...not scared of time & humor"
-audience member
"...this class is the most important aspect of my life here in Brooklyn."
-class-taker
The Lovelies are a compositional improvisation dance company. We show up and pay attention. What we do in the studios we take to the streets and beyond. We laugh, we laugh so hard we cry, and we do it in the moment. We practice telling the truth in the midst of the awkward, the dramatic, the comical and the gems it all reveals.
The Lovelies have been exploring the possibilities of compositional improvisation since 2013. We have had the honor of being presented at Judson Church, Triskelion Arts, The Tank, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Shapeshifter Lab, in breweries, salons, parks, hotels and many other theatres and site-specific locations.
The Lovelies teach compositional improvisation at Mark Morris Dance Center and the Joffrey Ballet School and present a space residency and split bill series called The Lovelies Present: Slice & Dice.
With little to no structure, performers allow themselves to be seen through the choices they make, the places they choose to go to, where their focus lies all in real time --- a risky and exhilarating challenge all in front of an audience. After witnessing and performing improvisation over the course of three weeks as part of the NEVER BEFORE NEVER AGAIN Festival in January at Triskelion Arts, I have even more respect and admiration for performer...
Assumptions. What a loaded word. To Assume- The act of taking for granted, or supposing a thing without proof - can create a non existent reality. Think about how many stories we create at any given time. The assumptions we bring into a room about ourselves, about each other, about the work.
Assuming something takes us out of the present moment and limits curiosity and possibility.
I've let my own stories and assumptions run rampan...
I thought I was finished writing after the last post. Well I'm back! And I'm literally on my back, back spasms and all. The body doesn't lie. Every year for the past three years, I've had a back spasm that takes me out for at least a few days, if not weeks around the same time in July/August so as to say LISTEN UP. It could be a combination of things- the extreme heat vs over air conditioned spaces, not warming up properly or my way of saying sum...
Fresh off the heels of PICI (The Peoples Intensive in Compositional Improvisation) during this MICI gap year and what a whirlwind it was. I'm still trying to process, decipher and remember all that happened. There is a lot I could write about. But really two things come to mind:
-Choosing is caring
-Patience vs waiting
Katherine Ferrier's eloquent words through Skype started us off , creating a space from where the rest of the day could unfold. She...
“A future that is so universal should be anything but controversial. There is no rehearsal, the time is now now now.”- Amanda Gorman
Calling on the individual. On the ensemble.
Do I believe we can build a cross-issue, multi-faith, multiracial movement to achieve true environmental justice?
I most certainly do.
It's already happening. But It will require us to all show up in a multitude of ways. To wake up to the urgency of now. This moment. Tuning in...
Pause.
There is so much I want to say. So much I want to do. So much I NEED to do. That WE NEED to do. So many humans I want to wake up. Movements I want to build. Species I want to salvage. Seasons I want to cherish. Ecosystems I want to hold on to. Reparations I want to make. Relationships I want to save. Relationships I need to end. Commitments I need to rethink and boundaries I need to create. Expectations that I ......
Let's talk feedback loops. YES LET's!!
In order for an ecosystem to survive, a healthy feedback loop is essential. The voter feedback loop is the bedrock of democracy. Feedback loops regulate a system. And when feedback is not taken into account, when feedback is continually ignored, the system starts to fray.
Zoom out for a moment and we see this happening in many areas: The #MeToo movement. Voter Suppression. Systemic racism. CLIMATE CHANGE...
Today is chaos. Yesterday was chaos. And the day before and the weeks before.
I am finished watching the implosion of what I took for granted, things I thought were etched in stone fall apart when the consequences are so far reaching. I have to find another way to be with what's happening in this world so that I can support the change this world so desperately needs.
I was fortunate enough to spend last week at MICI, a Movement Inte...
What a world we live in right now. So much beauty. So much suffering. So much change. Always. But the planet feels like a different place then just one year ago. As a whole, we are being forced to look at a lot of things right now and nowhere is this more apparent than looking at the state of the planet. Business as usual is no longer working, the earth is literally (to put it mildly) screaming, Capitalism is reaching its limits, as systems of opp...
It is hard to believe that this is the last post of 2017. Wow. What a year. 2017 has been one of growth for the Lovelies and for me personally. It has also been one of eye opening heartbreak, overwhelm, and new terrain to navigate. With the amount of uncertainty on the local, national and global scale, we have an opportunity to practice this work in ways we’ve never practiced before: taking it outside the studio and applying it to all aspects of o...
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