Regional Dance Critics Workshop in Jakarta + 3 Reviews in Real Time Arts Magazine

I haven't blogged since March and I apologize, there was just so many things happening that I couldn't stop to discuss. One was I danced in a local version of Swan Lake, and it's no mean feat to rehearse everyday, and run a ballet school, and update a corporate website, and update the Runthru website AND see the actual magazine out in print. See, so many things happening.

In the middle of all that, I was invited to attend a Dance Critics workshop by the good folks at Goethe Institut in Jakarta, Indonesia from June 14 - 18, moderated by Real Time Australia's Keith Gallasch, a very lovely man who walked in the rain with us. The workshop fell on the same week as the Indonesian Dance Festival and it was a whirlwind of dance, writing about dance, and talking about what we wrote. Despite all my years as a dance critic, I still learned a lot from that workshop, especially how to clean my words and word choices, and how dance criticism is a responsibility and not just a blowing off at the mouth. I know all this, but I needed them reiterated.

Here's Keith's account of the experience, with lots of photos of me (okay, 2 photos): http://www.realtimearts.net/article/97/9920

And here's a list of the three reviews I wrote in that crazy week.

Aspiration and Influence: Final Night Program at the IDF

They look out from behind the frame as if from a window, peering at the audience as we inescapably stare back. The man in the tutu, revealed to be the source of the relentless singing, pauses only to rudely ask, “What are you looking at?” From a choreographer who has danced for Madonna and appeared in films, Supriyanto is obviously questioning such scrutiny and what all the hoopla is about. What I find compelling is that the audience gets this.

Journey Into Light: Asri Mery Sidowati's Merah

The dancers are only very slightly illuminated by a smattering of light on the cyclorama that simulates moonlight shining through thick leafy branches. Because we had been in the darkness so long, I was not even sure if the second dancer, situated in an upstage corner, was indeed actually there; he seemed to blend into the cyclorama so much that my still-adjusting eyes were convinced that he was merely an image projected on the screen.

When Does Forever End?: Meg Stuart and Philipp Gehmacher's Maybe Forever

In Meg Stuart and Philipp Gehmacher’s Maybe Forever, the pair then sit with legs outstretched and backs to the audience, leaning to the side at the same angle, plagued by a weight that neither can ignore. The performance space is hazily semi-lit, reminding me of the way light creeps into your bedroom at dawn. There is little stylization in the way the couple suddenly grab each other and spread against each other full length only to discreetly remove themselves from contact to find another spot on the floor; but this push-and-pull feels like a dance.