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| Strike a "Love/Lost" pose. |
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| Stretch! |
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| Tulsa skyline. |
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| No, kids, we don't smoke. Just inspired by the Soda & Cigars & Prescriptions sign. We're naturally cool. |
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Photos from Tulsa
While the beautiful dancers of Jennifer Mellor Dance Project were in Tulsa for the show with Tulsa Ballet in May, we did an impromptu post-rehearsal photo shoot with local photographer Dylan Duvall. Here are a few of our favorite shots!
Take a Breath
The past year has been another whirlwind, and I finally have a chance to catch my breath, a little.
Jennifer Mellor Dance Project has been busy with new work - Love/Lost - as well as performances of existing rep, Les Muses and Libretto (duet). We have performed twice as guest artists with the Tulsa Ballet in their Creations at Studio K program in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. We performed Les Muses in the first-of-its-kind live streaming arts festival seen world-wide, the WiredArts Fest presented by VirtualArts.tv. Also, we performed in DUMBO Dance Festival, Wave Rising Series (right after Hurricane Sandy, with featured preview on PBS Channel 13's NYC-ARTS program), CoolNY Dance Festival, EXCHANGE Dance Festival, with Movement Research, Triskelion Arts, and Dance New Amsterdam. We were also commissioned to choreograph and dance in Andy Byers' film-based performance "Goodbye Brooklyn". Whew!
Now we have one more performance of Love/Lost (excerpt) at Dixon Place in NYC on June 26. I've intentionally kept the schedule clear after that, except for a long weekend residency in Pennsylvania in October. It's actually really tough not trying to fill up the calendar with shows, not sending in applications. But the plan is to create some dance for camera work instead of focusing on live performance for the next several months. Okay, there, I've put it out there, so that means we better find a videographer to work with and actually do it.
I'm in brainstorming mode with the composer about the new project and new music. Right now, all I'll say is that it has to do with beginnings. Also, I might do a better job of blogging about the process. But we'll see. I'm a fan of the big reveal when things are done.
Jennifer Mellor Dance Project has been busy with new work - Love/Lost - as well as performances of existing rep, Les Muses and Libretto (duet). We have performed twice as guest artists with the Tulsa Ballet in their Creations at Studio K program in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. We performed Les Muses in the first-of-its-kind live streaming arts festival seen world-wide, the WiredArts Fest presented by VirtualArts.tv. Also, we performed in DUMBO Dance Festival, Wave Rising Series (right after Hurricane Sandy, with featured preview on PBS Channel 13's NYC-ARTS program), CoolNY Dance Festival, EXCHANGE Dance Festival, with Movement Research, Triskelion Arts, and Dance New Amsterdam. We were also commissioned to choreograph and dance in Andy Byers' film-based performance "Goodbye Brooklyn". Whew!
Now we have one more performance of Love/Lost (excerpt) at Dixon Place in NYC on June 26. I've intentionally kept the schedule clear after that, except for a long weekend residency in Pennsylvania in October. It's actually really tough not trying to fill up the calendar with shows, not sending in applications. But the plan is to create some dance for camera work instead of focusing on live performance for the next several months. Okay, there, I've put it out there, so that means we better find a videographer to work with and actually do it.
I'm in brainstorming mode with the composer about the new project and new music. Right now, all I'll say is that it has to do with beginnings. Also, I might do a better job of blogging about the process. But we'll see. I'm a fan of the big reveal when things are done.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Love/Lost Video Teaser
Here is a little sample of some of the material we're working on for our new work, Love/Lost. Let me know what you think!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Living Arts LAB Residency
Over the holidays, I went to Tulsa to relax, spend time with family and friends, and... work! I was selected as an artist in residence for the Living Arts LAB, an interdisciplinary research and development program for the arts. I grew up in the area and live there part time when not in New York, so I was looking forward to meeting and reconnecting with other artists in the community.
It was a great opportunity to start working on my newest dance in development, Love/Lost, which will premiere in NY this spring, as well as to dream up and start playing with some of the other ideas I have bouncing around my head.
First step was creating a workable dance space within the large mixed use gallery made available to me in downtown Tulsa. By the way, you know you're in the right neighborhood for an art space when you see converted warehouses and pride flags.
The director of the program got me settled in the space, and we turned on the heater, taped down some marley, hung a few lights, and started playing. I did improvisation to generate some of the movement vocabulary I'm now using in rehearsals with my NY dancers and did some filming.
Also while at the LAB we brought in a green screen to begin experimenting with a live video creation and projection project my husband is collaborating with me on -- that one is still very much in the beginning stages.
A few friends and family dropped by to see what we were up to, but one nice thing about this residency is that there were no expectations of creating a final "work" to show. You just get three weeks of time and space to work on your project. Of course I had my own goals for what I was wanting to do with this time.
I really used the time to seed new ideas (i.e., front-loading the creative process), and now that I'm back in New York for the spring, I can flesh out some of these ideas in rehearsal with my dancers, and save some for later!
Photos courtesy of Rick Mellor.
First step was creating a workable dance space within the large mixed use gallery made available to me in downtown Tulsa. By the way, you know you're in the right neighborhood for an art space when you see converted warehouses and pride flags.
The director of the program got me settled in the space, and we turned on the heater, taped down some marley, hung a few lights, and started playing. I did improvisation to generate some of the movement vocabulary I'm now using in rehearsals with my NY dancers and did some filming.
Also while at the LAB we brought in a green screen to begin experimenting with a live video creation and projection project my husband is collaborating with me on -- that one is still very much in the beginning stages.
A few friends and family dropped by to see what we were up to, but one nice thing about this residency is that there were no expectations of creating a final "work" to show. You just get three weeks of time and space to work on your project. Of course I had my own goals for what I was wanting to do with this time.
I really used the time to seed new ideas (i.e., front-loading the creative process), and now that I'm back in New York for the spring, I can flesh out some of these ideas in rehearsal with my dancers, and save some for later!
Photos courtesy of Rick Mellor.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Welcome to Jennifer Mellor Dance Project
2011 has been a whirlwind year, and it's not quite over yet. As we near the holidays and start thinking about the New Year, it's naturally a time to reflect, give thanks, and look forward to what's to come.
When I look back at this time last year, Jennifer Mellor Dance Project had just completed its first artist residency at The Garage | 975 Howard, an intimate performance space in San Francisco. We premiered "Libretto", with an amazing cast of dancers and collaborators, including the talented cellist Jessica Ivry. 2011 brought us featured performances in the Women on the Way Festival, a San Francisco Bay Guardian pick of the week, and an opportunity to perform live with good friend and musician Jason Brown; a second artist residency at The Garage, where we premiered "Les Muses"; two nice reviews of our works; relocation to New York, NY; invitations to perform in New York and Tulsa in 2012; new music from a San Francisco composer to use as we wish; and finally, an artist residency with Living Arts LAB in Tulsa, as well as a guest performance at the New Year's Eve Dream World Disco Ball to ring in 2012.
On a personal note, this has been a mostly fabulous year for me, but it's had its ups and downs. One of the major "ups" is that I toured for 6 weeks throughout Europe with the ever amazing DOUBLE VISION. As much as we shared ourselves through our performances, we gained from interactions with locals and other artists from around the world. I truly believe in the work DOUBLE VISION does and am honored to be a part of it, whether on the beach in Greece, a formerly communist theater in Budapest, Cafe Central in Vienna, an olive grove in Italy, the Czech Republic, the international DUMBO Dance Festival in New York, or a barn in Vermont. My husband has had several of his dance photographs published in newspapers this year, and he collaborated with DOUBLE VISION on our residency in Italy. We also fell in love with the beaches in Nice, France. I rounded out my San Francisco performances with Courage Group and Copious Dance Theater, and since moving to New York, I have been involved in exciting projects with new choreographers and film directors. I have already performed at Brooklyn Fire Proof, Dance New Amsterdam, Danspace at St Marks, Children's Museum of Arts, and John Ryan Theater, and have more shows lined up for next year.
The low point of 2011 was the loss of one of our cats, Humphrey. He was a gorgeous, playful, 12-year old silver Persian angel -- he was truly as selfless as it gets. In San Francisco, I frequently used a large open space in our loft apartment for rehearsals, so all of my dancers and collaborators have known and danced with him, as he could never resist slinking and swishing through the space and our legs while we were in it. I have several rehearsal videos with cameo shots of Humphrey. He was sick for a few months, most seriously after I returned to the States from my tour. He spent as much time in the hospital as out, and he got very thin and lost the use of one of his front paws. Throughout this, he was as loving and sweet as ever, but it was killing us to see him unable to do his favorite things. Just when recovery seemed promising, he had a fatal stroke in our kitchen, and although they say time heals all wounds, I still cannot think of this without tears. It is to him that I dedicate my next project, Love and Lost. I know that I will not be able to do his memory justice, but I still feel compelled to explore the strong emotions of love and loss that are such a crucial and unavoidable part of the human experience. Thus, as I embark on my creative journey for 2012, I am not certain where it will lead, but I know that it will come from an honest place in my heart.
When I look back at this time last year, Jennifer Mellor Dance Project had just completed its first artist residency at The Garage | 975 Howard, an intimate performance space in San Francisco. We premiered "Libretto", with an amazing cast of dancers and collaborators, including the talented cellist Jessica Ivry. 2011 brought us featured performances in the Women on the Way Festival, a San Francisco Bay Guardian pick of the week, and an opportunity to perform live with good friend and musician Jason Brown; a second artist residency at The Garage, where we premiered "Les Muses"; two nice reviews of our works; relocation to New York, NY; invitations to perform in New York and Tulsa in 2012; new music from a San Francisco composer to use as we wish; and finally, an artist residency with Living Arts LAB in Tulsa, as well as a guest performance at the New Year's Eve Dream World Disco Ball to ring in 2012.
On a personal note, this has been a mostly fabulous year for me, but it's had its ups and downs. One of the major "ups" is that I toured for 6 weeks throughout Europe with the ever amazing DOUBLE VISION. As much as we shared ourselves through our performances, we gained from interactions with locals and other artists from around the world. I truly believe in the work DOUBLE VISION does and am honored to be a part of it, whether on the beach in Greece, a formerly communist theater in Budapest, Cafe Central in Vienna, an olive grove in Italy, the Czech Republic, the international DUMBO Dance Festival in New York, or a barn in Vermont. My husband has had several of his dance photographs published in newspapers this year, and he collaborated with DOUBLE VISION on our residency in Italy. We also fell in love with the beaches in Nice, France. I rounded out my San Francisco performances with Courage Group and Copious Dance Theater, and since moving to New York, I have been involved in exciting projects with new choreographers and film directors. I have already performed at Brooklyn Fire Proof, Dance New Amsterdam, Danspace at St Marks, Children's Museum of Arts, and John Ryan Theater, and have more shows lined up for next year.
The low point of 2011 was the loss of one of our cats, Humphrey. He was a gorgeous, playful, 12-year old silver Persian angel -- he was truly as selfless as it gets. In San Francisco, I frequently used a large open space in our loft apartment for rehearsals, so all of my dancers and collaborators have known and danced with him, as he could never resist slinking and swishing through the space and our legs while we were in it. I have several rehearsal videos with cameo shots of Humphrey. He was sick for a few months, most seriously after I returned to the States from my tour. He spent as much time in the hospital as out, and he got very thin and lost the use of one of his front paws. Throughout this, he was as loving and sweet as ever, but it was killing us to see him unable to do his favorite things. Just when recovery seemed promising, he had a fatal stroke in our kitchen, and although they say time heals all wounds, I still cannot think of this without tears. It is to him that I dedicate my next project, Love and Lost. I know that I will not be able to do his memory justice, but I still feel compelled to explore the strong emotions of love and loss that are such a crucial and unavoidable part of the human experience. Thus, as I embark on my creative journey for 2012, I am not certain where it will lead, but I know that it will come from an honest place in my heart.
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