UCONN!!
…I mean COLBY! Sorry, I’m stuck in March Madness Mode right now (despite it being April). Gotta represent UConn as I’m from CT. Anyway, Ellie and I had another great rehearsal today filled with Skyping, dancing, and admiring Julian’s extensive wine bottle collection. We started off by recapping Thursday’s rehearsal with Julian, discussing the advice he gave us and any questions or comments we had about it. He introduced us to his wife, Jocelyn, who is the other dancer in the Float video! Julian, Jocelyn, and Julian’s sister Chrissy (a Colby alum!) then watched me and Ellie perform Float. By now, I’m beginning to feel comfortable performing in front of other people, even if it is only through Skype. I have no doubt that an entire audience will be a little more nerve-racking, though. Besides small errors here and there, our performance was successful–even to the point of Julian saying we’re pretty much ready for the real thing! It’s a huge confidence booster to hear that from the original choreographer more than a week before the actual performance.
The first piece of advice Julian had for us was to continue to perform the piece in front of other people, as it will slowly prepare us for the big day. He then told us to begin the transition into the “human perspective,” which will make the dance seem more natural rather than simply be a continuous set of placements and transitions. This especially applies to the moments where we do not have to exactly follow the music with our movements–we can make them our own and ground them in emotion more than technique. Jocelyn brought up the idea of challenging time in a way, such as the hug in the beginning of the piece becoming slow and personal rather than at a set tempo. Finally, Julian again emphasized the importance of finding the movements and impulses between phrases–moments of subtlety–and smoothly fitting them into the bigger picture. Each moment has its own significance in the piece.
I am starting to feel very confident and comfortable in Ellie and my performance of Float. These next few rehearsals before the New Works Festival will be key in perfecting the piece and utilizing Julian’s comments to do so. I have high hopes and I think our hard work will definitely show through in the end. Start spreading the word!
PEACE (and go UConn)
~Logan
colbycontemporarycontact 
Yes, it was definitely a memorable skype meeting. It was really great to meet Jocelyn and get her comments. I think Julians comment that we need to bring a human perspective into the piece is really important. This should come by making the piece more “real” by challenging our bodies more and taking more risks in our movements. This is also really important in transition moments. It is really cool to bring acting and intention into the transition moments. I also really appreciated Jocelyn’s comment that we should try to challenge time- this will also bring reality into the piece by making each run through different- each movement unique.
The piece is really starting to come together and I can’t wait for dress rehearsal and tech so that the lighting and costumes can be added. This should bring a sense of freshness to the piece and add some adrenaline to work off as well. Every new addition will make the dance newer and more real.
Ellie