NEVER BEFORE NEVER AGAIN
A note from the curator
NEVER BEFORE NEVER AGAIN has been a highlight
performance for The Lovelies since 2015. We have seen
this brainchild, created by Rachel Mckinstry, Artistic Director and Andy Dickerson, former Technical Director and current Board President at Triskelion, grow. It has held the space for improvisers to continue to take risks and rub up against mystery.
The Festival, initially one weekend and now three, has
produced dances all operating under the idea that the works have never been done before, and never will be done again.The idea is that the works are based in improvisation. But what does that mean? Aren’t ALL THINGS BASED in some sort of improvisation? Isn’t the entire world operating from a decision-making platform that is based on making it up in the moment?
Improvisers and the form itself can get a bad rap: 'we only do what we feel', we don’t need to rehearse, there are no skills needed, it’s a solo practice so there’s no accountability, etc. The Lovelies, humbled and hired as the Festival’s guest curators, set out to change the trajectory of that concept. While much of this is absolutely valid in other realms, none of the above is the case for what The Lovelies do, or have asked our cohorts to do for NBNA 2020.
We are pushing our colleagues to step further into the unknown - to move away from pre determined choreographic ideas and call it improvisation, to loosen the grip on a structure to hold up the dance, to trust in a practiced, skillful, rigorous form. We believe, thanks to our mentors and lineage, that the skills necessary to improvise, with others, as composers, are gained through rigor and practice.
NBNA provides an immense step towards this - towards working ensemblicly, towards working without structure, towards true improvisation, as this is where the magic lies. It’s here where we’ll change the world.
Please know that you are indelibly invited to delight in these wonders with us this month; that transformation is inevitable, that we believe this work MUST be practiced by everyone. The ensemble beckons - jump in with us.
JKL