The New York Baroque Dance Co.

First of all a big Thankyou to Jennifer Meller for helping me manage Historical Dance at Play. She also acted as our tech person and was a great help to the presenters. This was our 15th multi-era summer workshop and I would like to acknowledge Richard Powers and Joan Walton for being a part of our creative team behind the scenes and helping to form the nature of these workshops.

We had 16 presenters for the 12 sessions and I cannot be more happy with what was brought to light, examined and truly enjoyed, as our eyes, bodies and souls opened to new vistas. Here is the wrap-up I presented yesterday for those who missed it…

“Thank you to all our presenters for sharing your research and artistry these past two weekends. I feel a new energy coming from the historical dance field and that we may be on some sort of edge.

In astronomy, the birth of a new star tells us so much about the universe and creation. In our session with Terrance Smith, he brought to us a new dance form emerging from today’s Memphis. Was this the kind of excitement the galliard created when it first appeared on the scene? His explanation of the history of jookin, the style, the moves, improvisation… Is the “bug jump” so different from the  Renaissance ru de vache or kick of the cow? He deftly taught us the moves of this new urban ballet and it gave us so much to think about as we try to make sense of the past, present and future of dance.

On the same line of thought, Bruno Benne brought us into his dance inspired and emerging from Baroque forms. His class restored a natural weight and swing to Baroque dance steps. He is clearly not making a recreation of an historical style, but taking the style from the Baroque ballroom and stage directly to a minimalist form reminiscent of Merce Cunningham or Lucinda Childs with whom he has collaborated. He is taking what he learned as a dancer with Beatrice Massin and Marie Genevieve Massé further into the future of education for the common pedestrian and mixing, at times, his work with this group and his professional company, much like the court performances where professionals danced with the nobility. Both his classes and his staged work are Historical Dance at Play.

Yesterday we heard from the very articulate Caroline Copeland who is incorporating historical dance ideas from art theory, historical dance treatises, iconography and notations into her ballet, modern and dance history classes. She has made a call to action, encouraging today’s teachers to understand and use the past in their own teaching as a way of giving their students a fuller appreciation of the art and as a path to liberation, honoring the unique intelligence and abilities of the individual.

But what about traditional research, discussion and performance of historical dance with its recreations and new creations in the style? This work is continuing from a fresh perspective. Ana Yepes, Jeannette Acosta-Martinez and Ramon Martinez joined forces in comparing movement in dancing and fencing of the Spanish Golden Age. Their collaborative efforts underscored a necessity for our dance field to see movement in the broader sense, as a part of physical culture from an era. They opened the challenge to see beyond our own discipline into related physical arts.

Deda Cristina Colonna and Sarah Edgar gave insight to the value and process of an artist looking into the dance and music scores to bring past art works to us. With Deda, her research, the details of the notation and questions raised by the nature of the choreography were illuminated by her own experience as a  choreographer. With Sarah, she looked into the life of Joseph Boulogne to create a cultural context which informed her stage direction and choreography. This was in addition to doing her due diligence of research and reconstruction of the late 18^th century style. Both women were trained in dance techniques of today and are experienced in making contemporary work. I somehow feel this sharpens their eye in their reconstructions because they are familiar with the creative process in general.

In my own presentation I took our students into my choreographic process involving Baroque aesthetics and theory. How does one create the look of the style from theory and rules? Can these rules be an inspiration, liberating the creative flow of the artist? This practical application of the words of the dancing masters can release a new energy still within the period definitions of art. And as Caroline and Bruno showed us, it can release a new energy into contemporary art as well.

The exploration of Alan Jones into an almost unknown dance notation system took us into the late 18^th century and early 19^th century shedding light on early ballet technique and choreography. It was a delight to dance the exercises and to really see through Alan’s analysis the art of Despréaux. Alan opened our eyes to how much work still waits to be discovered. He is busy making cross cultural connections in geography and time. His research is original, deeply disciplined and groundbreaking.

How fortunate to experience the work of Edmund Fairfax on the same day as Alan’s presentation. The passion and urgency of Edmund’s video challenged many areas of assumed knowledge. Understanding the importance of researchers/practitioners in the last century such as Wendy Hilton, Shirley Wynne, Francine Lancelot literally breaking the code of the notation system and treatises, Edmund underscored the importance of continuing to challenge our knowledge of the past. What is really known? What has been assumed? In studying books published 30 or 40 years ago on the subject of historical dance, we must understand this was an early dance movement still in its beginning stages, there are mistakes, just as there are mistakes in my own past lectures which I strive to correct. We can only see what we can at that moment. And for Edmund Fairfax, he is unique in striving to really build an encyclopedic knowledge of ballet from its beginnings to today. With great determination and an open mind, he continues to unearth riches. In his presentation we discovered he welcomes questions and uses these challenges as part of his own process.

In today’s presentations we looked into the more recent past of the 19^th, 20^th and 21^st centuries. Talitha Mackenzie brought us the sophistication of social dance and how the latest steps were transmitted in Scotland. Her own work embraces a larger platform for dance outside of social and theatrical forms, including traditional dance. This broader perspective reminds us that multi-era workshops in social, traditional and theatrical dance can be a breeding ground for new thought and discoveries.

With Millicent Hodson’s presentation we began the process of looking at recent history, but history which was and is about to disappear. Is the information documented or gathered from conversations? Is one method of thinking more valid than another? There were so many versions how do you choose and what gives you that right? She and her partner and Husband, Kenneth Archer are brave. They show us how to search out the soul of the work, to appreciate the human struggle at the time the dance was created and to restore a sense of what these lost dances are. The complex exploration of there work brings dignity to dance and does give it a voice. The work of Marcea Daiter, Thomas F. DeFrantz and Loris A. Beckles honor their legacy and also give a voice to the history of African American dance. I am so thankful they shared their experience and showed us how the very heart of history remains with us now and that as we push the art forward we are also affecting its history.

Perhaps Thomas F. DeFrantz  helped to summarize our efforts with this workshop when he said we are “Rendering history as an active process of creativity.”

Catherine Turocy, Artistic Director of The New York Baroque Dance Company and the Historical Dance at Play workshop