Critical Correspondence
Jack Ferver in conversation with Marissa Perel
New York based performer, choreographer, writer and teacher, Jack Ferver spoke with CC Co-Editor, Marissa Perel via Google Hangout about the process of making his new solo, “Mon, Ma, Mes,” which will be performed October 6 at Le Skyroom for FIAF’s Crossing The Line 2012. Ferver discusses returning to Interlochen as a guest artist, sculpting performance out of chaos, the art of the Q & A and the performance of persona.
Marcus Schulkind in conversation with Lizzie Feidelson
Marcus Schulkind is a beloved teacher, choreographer, and veteran of New York and Boston dance worlds: a former dancer with Lar Lubovitch and the Batsheva Dance Company, he now co-owns Cambridge’s Green Street Studios, a hub of the Boston dance community. Schulkind spoke with Critical Correspondence member Lizzie Feidelson about Boston’s 1990s dance boom, how acupuncture has changed his teaching practice, and Boston’s “schizophrenic” attitude towards the body.
Utopian synesthesia: DD Dorvillier in conversation with Jennifer Lacey on Danza Permanente
Jennifer Lacey and DD Dorvillier discuss joyful work, physical memory, eurhythmy, and DD's process of making human future dance corps' Danza Permanente, opening on September 15 at The Kitchen, co-presented with the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)'s Crossing the Line 2012.
Nora Chipaumire in conversation with Jaamil Kosoko
Nora Chipaumire is a Zimbabwean choreographer, dancer and director who has toured extensively through North America, Africa, and Europe. She speaks with Jaamil Kosoko about traditional versus contemporary modes of creation, questions around gender in contemporary dance in Africa, biculturalism, and her numerous international collaborations. Chipaumire is a graduate of the University of Zimbabwe’s School of Law and holds graduate degrees in dance (M.A.) and choreography and performance (M.F.A.) from Mills College.
Carolee Schneemann in Conversation with Marissa Perel
Carolee Schneemann speaks with Critical Correspondence editor Marissa Perel on the 50th anniversary of the first Judson Dance Theater performance. Interview date: July 6, 2012 Download this interview as a podcast
Kariamu Welsh in conversation with Laura Katz Rizzo
Kariamu Welsh is a choreographer, educator and founder of Umfundalai Technique, a movement vocabulary that incorporates steps, rhythm and sensibility from a range of African dance traditions, which has been taught for over 40 years. Welsh developed Umfundalai, which means “essence” or “essential” in Kiswahili, after studying with Pearl Primus and Katherine Dunham and traveling to Africa to study and perform. She speaks with fellow Temple University faculty member and ballerina Laura Katz Rizzo about the process of codification and integrating the Western versus African attitudes about technique.
Aretha Aoki and devynn emory in conversation with Tara Sheena
Aretha Aoki and devynn emory presented an original duet as part of the Movement Research Festival Spring 2012 event, “stillness-action-sweat-effort.” This marked the first time they shared the stage in a work they collaboratively conceived and choreographed. Touching on themes of restraint and limitation such as financial woes and scheduling conflicts, they performed a score of improvisation and personal e-mail exchanges. In another e-mail exchange, CC intern Tara Sheena engaged in a dialogue with the artists on the process and experience of their collaboration.
Maria Petschnig in conversation with Marissa Perel
Maria Petschnig and Marissa Perel view and discuss the documentation of Petschnig’s live video performance, See-saw, seen-sawn at the Austrian Cultural Forum on November 10 as part of Performa 11. The audience sat facing a theater wall with projection, which alternated between live-feed and recorded video, controlled by Petschnig who was performing in a space above the audience and the stage.
Julia Koch and Daniel Zippi in conversation
“We are exploring the notion of crossroads or intersection, where a person comes to an intersection and has four directions they can take.” Julia Koch and Daniel Zippi, co-directors of the Barcelona-based collective por instantes, talked in advance of their U.S. debut at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, where they will perform the dance-theater work “La Travesia” from June 14-17. Zippi and Koch discuss their roles as theater director (Zippi) and choreographer (Koch) and their interest in translating urban spaces to the stage.
Rachel Thorne Germond in conversation with Greer Dworman
Chicago-based choreographer Greer Dworman talks with choreographer Rachel Thorne Germond. Germond will present “Return,” an evening of work by her company and friends, at Links Hall in Chicago, June 22-24. Dworman and Germond discuss the Chicago dance scene and queerness in concert dance.
William Forsythe in conversation with Zachary Whittenburg
In the second of two wide-ranging interviews exclusive to Critical Correspondence, choreographer William Forsythe discusses his movement language, cataloged in a 1999 toolkit called Improvisation Technologies, and how he defines and organizes dance geometries and architectures, both temporal and spatial.
Ohad Naharin in conversation with Zachary Whittenburg
May 31 through June 3, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago performs its Summer 2012 Series at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. Alongside works by William Forsythe and resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, the company revives THREE TO MAX by Ohad Naharin, director of Batsheva Dance Company. Ohad discusses his approach to dance in a wide-ranging interview exclusive to Critical Correspondence.
Sarah Michelson in conversation with Marissa Perel Part Two
Critical Correspondence co-editor, Marissa Perel interviewed Sarah Michelson on “Devotion Study #1 – The American Dancer,” which was presented at the 2012 Whitney Biennial. Since the publication of Part One of this interview, Michelson has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 Bucksbaum Award, which is given every two years to one of the artists in the Biennial. Regarding the process of preparation in the museum setting, Michelson reveals, “Sometimes, if the dancers were having a rough day, it was hard. There was no place to go. There was a green room that we thought was going to be locked, but it was an art installation, so it had to be open!”
“Firmly Mid-Career”: Yoshiko Chuma in conversation with Penny Arcade
Penny Arcade and Yoshiko Chuma discuss Chuma’s new work “Love Story, Palestine,” which will be at La Mama May 9-12, 2012. Arcade and Chuma discuss Chuma’s yearlong documentation process in Palestine, the sensation of border crossing and wanting to “stay.” This interview was conducted at the suggestion of Tatyana Tenenbaum, who is a performer in the work.
The Money Conversation: Sara Juli in conversation with Juliana May
Artist Sara Juli talks with choreographer Juliana May about her work as a fundraising consultant to independent artists and Juli’s 2006 work “The Money Conversation,” in which she handed out her life savings to members of the audience. As Juli says, “There’s nothing wrong with making art in your living room… but as soon as you want funding or you want money in a formal way, then you have to be prepared to answer difficult questions about your process, who you are, why it’s important, and why should I care?”
