Wednesday, February 28, 2007

february

Snap A Dozen Days


this year's costume for the Rakassah

February
February is about dance rehearsals. The Sabah Ensemble often performs at the Rakassah in March, making February a busy month for rehearsals. Sometimes instead of, or in addition to, working with the ensemble on the Rakassah, I have occasionally spent this time of year working on some other project. this is also the time of year that I have produced solo works, and one year, I even produced and entire benefit concert. Sometimes it's been a student performance with another class, or like last year, I worked with another dance company.
Whatever production is in process, it seems to me like February is always the month of intense rehearsals. Things have usually been quiet during the holiday season, and even though there may be rehearsals in the first month of the year, it's like a "slowly coming to speed" thing. It's like the the creative impulses that have been brewing over the long winter months get to do this "unfolding" and we all get to just witness what is there.
February, however, is usually the month that we begin to put the nose to the grindstone. Those early impulses will get shaped into something more structural, and later in February comes the time that sequences get rehearsed over and over and over again, not to get them perfectly fine tuned (that comes later), but so we have more opporunities to explore the piece in layers, and to delve deeper.

February is about my birthday. I love birthdays, everyones...but especially mine. This year I turned 40, and at the last minute ended up having a fantastic gathering of friends.


February is the warm wooden floors of dance studios, layers of exploration, layers of fabric and costuming, candy hearts, and birthday cake.

1 comments:

~Donna~ said...

Sounds like you are feeling better? Hurray for fabric and costuming! Just a few of the many reasons I love to dance. Damn I've been missing it. Time to add it back into the chaos...

C u at Rakkasah!