During the past 7 weeks, from June 16th to July 28th I spent my Thursday evenings at Brockus Project Dance Studios taking a series of Master Classes taught by some of L.A.’s seminal dance artists and teachers. The Summer Nights Classical Modern Dance series, organized and curated by Vox Dance Theatre’s artistic director, Sarah Swenson, was a rare gift to our Southern California dance community. It was an opportunity to explore the techniques of many of our historic modern dance pioneers and to become acquainted with our own living treasures, those dancers right here in our own back yard who trained with and performed in the companies of Graham, Cunningham, Dunham, Farber, Lewitzky and Taylor, and who are the direct repositories of our modern dance heritage. The master teachers were as follows: Trina Parks, Katherine Dunham Technique; Susan McLain, Martha Graham-based Technique; Diana MacNeil, Bella Lewitzky Technique; Jeff Slayton, Viola Farber Technique; John Pennington, Bella Lewitzky Technique; Tamsin Carlson, Merce Cunningham Technique; and Sharon Kinney, Paul Taylor-based Technique. Several of the classes were supported by live musical accompaniment with Eric Ruskin and Norman Beede on piano, and Aaron Perez on percussion. Although the classes were small in attendance, the energy and joyful expression was BIG! I’ll share a few highlights from my own experience of each class.

The first class with Trina Parks was one of the largest attended. It was also unique since we women dancers worked with full skirts during our movement sequences across the floor. The use of the flowing skirts added drama and a feel for the undulating articulation of the spine and hips so typical of Dunham’s movement vocabulary. My favorite moments were watching Trina spontaneously move into an ecstatic eruption of her spine rolling or hips vibrating, slipping into what I called a “hallelujah shout”! She would veer and weave across the space in a moment of abandon, and the image of the Haitian ritual ceremonies that some of Dunham’s dances were informed by would flash into my memory. It was as if Trina was sharing with us a piece of Dunham’s process, blending the demands of an articulate and precise technique with the element of surrender and abandonment. The movements she gave us stressed bent knees folding into gravity, isolations of body parts, poly-rhythms, and combinations of undulating turns and jumps, all done while sashaying a billowing skirt. It was a fun and challenging time.

One of my favorite classes was that of the late Susan McLain, who suddenly and so sadly passed away about five weeks later. Listening to Susan share her personal memories of Graham with such reverence and appreciation was magical. With every exercise or movement phrase that she gave, out would come a story, an anecdote or image that Martha herself would describe, giving insight into what fascinated and inspired her. Susan recalled for us that Martha described dancers as “divine normals”. As we experienced some of the floor work in Graham’s technique, Susan emphasized Graham’s idea of the pull of opposing forces that the spiraling use of the back and the pelvis, the contraction, (giving into gravity) and release, (expanding into all dimensions of the space) was all about. She taught us a few brief excerpts from one of Graham’s signature works, Clytemnestra, a section that included a turning spiral with hops and archaic hands placed precisely over the face and mouth. Eric Ruskin’s exuberant and stately piano was a perfect musical match and lifted my spirits throughout the class. We also explored a phrase across the floor with a complex odd-metered rhythm. Susan explained that Martha loved folk dances for their intricate rhythmic variations. There were so many pearls of wisdom that were shared during this class, but what I valued most was the experience that Susan gave us during and throughout her class, demonstrating directly how knowledge is passed on from generation to generation, through the words, thoughts and stories of our dance ancestors.

There were two purveyors of Bella Lewitzky’s technique, shared by dancers Diana MacNeil and John Pennington. Diana’s class concentrated on the articulation of the spine, moving from flat back into high curves of the upper spine, shifting through under curves across the floor or diving into lateral turns and suspensions. Many of the interesting but challenging combinations had an added element of surprise through the use of odd and syncopated meters. We also experienced an extensive stretching combination on the floor, like a moving chain of postures that elongated, arched and spiraled throughout the body, flexing and extending in every joint.

John’s class, accompanied by Aaron Perez’s live percussion, gave a sense of the architecture of the body. John has such a clear understanding of space- its volume and lines, and how the body dissects that space. His class is like a cocktail, mixing it all up, from standing plies and spinal articulation, to leg swings across the floor juxtaposed with gliding sweeps of the pelvis through space, followed by off-balance shifts from feet to knees to rolling on the back, and ending in aplomb with a serene slide into first position. I left feeling that I had used all of my parts, every part of my body, brain and moving center. And I felt a little delirious at the end of class from the challenge.

Jeff Slayton’s class, an homage to Viola Farber and a nod to Cunningham too, was an absolute delight to experience. Jeff’s always radiant face, enthusiastic encouragement and his own long and lanky body that moved through many of the exercises with us, in spite of an injured hip, seemed to invoke the spirit of Merce into the studio. It was evident that Jeff was aware of each nuance and detail of the movement progressions that would articulate through multiple dimensions of the spine. Then there were moments of suspension and stillness, from parallel to turned-out and turned-in positions. We shifted from flat back into parallel hinges sometimes landing in a poised arabesque or a turning pitch. We discovered the many opportunities to witness the world when the spine and torso shifts away from center and uprightness, tilting and falling towards and away from the center. We ended with a quick, off-balance leaping phrase across the floor testing our stamina and our ability to organize the body in space. It was grand to feel the collective concentration of the class and to hear Jeff’s encouraging voice, reminding us that dance is about joy and urging us to express that enjoyment through our bodies!

Tamsin Carlson, a member of both Vox Dance Theatre and the Rudy Perez Dance Ensemble, immersed us in the detailed and intricate technique of Merce Cunningham. She explained that the technique is very precisely constructed, beginning in parallel with long reaches to each side and eventually progressing through the supple use of the spine, rolling down, curving, arching, swinging, contracting, spiraling, hinging and dissecting the body and the space through the diagonal, lateral, vertical and sagittal planes. It gave a clue into the detailed and fluid mind of Cunningham whose movement sequences might demand the isolation of every joint and hinge of the body. The technique exercises were often challenging requiring a nimble mind as well as body. A few pieces needed to be broken down into smaller parts in order to understand the logic and process. Tamsin taught us a lovely archaic phrase from one of Merce’s earliest solos, with quirky backwards scoots and turning side tilts. Then we had to negotiate performing it on the opposite side, which sent smoke steaming from my brain in the effort. Our final traveling phrase encircled the space, hopping and leaping with the upper body tilting from front to side/reverse side and to the back. I had to smile at one point in class when Norman Beede’s imaginative piano phrases quoted a tune from jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, which seemed ironically appropriate, as both Monk and Merce were masters of rhythmic quirkiness.

Our final Paul Taylor-based technique class, taught by Sharon Kinney was a fitting way to end the series, since Paul Taylor continues to be a thriving and prolific choreographer whose company in 2011 is celebrating its’ 57th year. Sharon began the class telling us that she had just returned from the American College Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina, where Paul Taylor was honored for his lifetime of artistic achievement. He and his company were in residence at the festival for three weeks. Sharon, one of Taylor’s original company members, was still bubbling with enthusiasm from the occasion and shared with us a photocopy of Taylor’s current bio from the festival’s Gala Performance program. It gave an impressive account of the unique history of Taylor and the range and scope of his 134 choreographic works created from the 1950’s until the present. With a bit of history and respectful acknowledgement, we plunged right in with leg swings and under curves, moving through the warm-up with level changes, twists, spirals and lots of open, curving Paul Taylor-esque arms and generous lunges. Sharon taught us a wonderful combination that exemplified Taylor’s fluid and versatile approach, pushing through an under curve downstage, then shifting upstage, falling into a side lunge, reversing on the diagonal through another forward swing, ending in a wrap around the body, shooting out into a side lunge, and rotating back to parallel home base, to begin again on the other side. The most enjoyable part of the class for me was learning sections of phrases from Taylor’s Aureole and Esplanade. Learning to quickly travel across the space, shifting directions, changing from runs to hops to gallops, requiring both lightness and grounded-ness, and a sensitivity to the musicality of the phrase, was a total body/mind endeavor. But I was up for the challenge and felt refreshingly exhilarated, carried by the movement and the music. Again, Eric Ruskin’s rhythmic and expansive piano expressions were an added treat. I finished sweaty and exhausted, empty because I had given my all, but full and satisfied.

Surprisingly, the classes were not well attended and that was a disappointment. But fortunately, there may be other opportunities for classes and workshops such as the Classical Modern Dance series to happen again if they are supported by the community. And if my reflections have made you curious and interested, then check out the website of Vox Dance Theatre to read other dancers’ comments from the classes. Leave a comment yourself of encouragement and a commitment to support future classes so that they can be arranged. Many of these treasured teachers are in our community and offer ongoing classes. Find out where and when and support them. Modern dance, like jazz, is a vital part of our American cultural heritage. If we are to cultivate in the 21st century our living legacy of dance here in Southern California, it’s up to us to value and support it so that it will survive and thrive.

Cheryl Banks-Smith
July, 2011

VOICES FROM THE BOARD

Over the past thirty-four years I have watched modern dance companies come and go in southern California. Vox Dance Theatre is one of the few that I feel has a chance to succeed. Not only is the choreography by Sarah Swenson full of beautiful movement, but it possesses sincere drama, images that activate one's imagination, and it is full of surprising twists and turns. I never tire of watching Sarah’s work, as I find something new each time that I see it. For me, this is rare. As a choreographer, Sarah inspires me to take creative risks. As a performer, I wish that I were young enough to join her company in order to perform Fimmine! Vox Dance Theatre should be celebrated wherever dance is presented.