Left to right: Larry Keigwin, Matt Baker, Kristina Hanna, Nicole Wolcott, Gary Schaufeld, Jackie Walsh
As I write from this comfortable porch chair sipping a cold beer my colleagues are running around the great lawn, engaged in our rather acrobatic version of Frisbee with writers who are also in residency here at Vineyard Arts Project. The sky is slowly changing in hue as dusk sleepily arrives, enveloping everyone in purple blue periwinkle light. It’s the kind of scene that feels suspended somehow, like it can’t be bothered with the obligations of time or our ambitious every day to-do lists. We are all full of hotdogs and hamburgers, barbeque potato chips and homemade coleslaw, beverages of every kind and even a chocolate molten cake over pears that Sevan, one of the writers here, has made for us. After a day of individual pursuits around the island, shopping in town and sampling the homemade ice cream, biking to the beach and sunning on the shore, reading in private quiet nooks of our houses, the act of coming together to eat and play and share has provided us with another kind of nourishment, simple and elegant and clear on every face I see…plain contentment.
So often we write to tell you about all the things we are busy getting done. A sense of urgency is a characteristic necessity in our field. Just recently, Matthew and I sat on a panel that included many distinguished administrators and creators in dance, where one of the main creative concerns articulated was the dire need for available and affordable rehearsal space. It can sometimes feel like we are racing against time and the practical constraints of our material world. Whether it’s trying to finish a polished new work in time for a world premiere or setting an established evening length repertory piece on an entirely new cast, we usually have a small window of time to accomplish impressive goals. It’s the rare occasion where the artist has the chance to imagine, work, explore, and create unhindered. We do not, after all, live in a vacuum, but this week on Martha’s Vineyard afforded us with perhaps the closest thing to that feeling: sweeping landscapes, endless ocean shorelines, lofty sunlit rehearsal spaces, and two enormous houses that somehow managed to pull off that clean cozy feeling in a way that only the Cape Cod style can do. It wasn’t picturesque. It was perfect. We did, however, get a lot done. By the end of the week, we had finished learning all of Elements (an hour and a half long program) for our fall tours and had started creating a new piece titled Balloon Dance, set to music written by Adam Crystal who accompanied to the Vineyard. It’s deeply satisfying knowing that we have managed to do both, to draw from the well and replenish it simultaneously.
The daylight has fully faded now and the party has moved indoors. Around tables cards and dice are being taken from their boxes. The warm glow of the lamps illuminating the faces of these friends is something to see and remember. I wouldn’t change a thing about this day and how we’ve been able to say goodbye to summer in all the best ways together. I’m going to blow out this candle and join them. Tomorrow it’s back to the mainland and with it its realities. But look at all we get to take back with us. It means more if you return with it and get back to work.
I know it’s been some time since we’ve corresponded, but after a couple of months off, we are back in action and there is so much to tell you about what the company is doing. With the turn of the weather, we have officially kicked off our summer season and with it, the debut of K+C Extended. So instead of needing just one mini van, the twelve of us dancers piled into two Town and Country’s early in the morning and made the three-hour drive out to Jacob’s Pillow last week. Everyone in the other van slept the whole way here. Our van passed the time by playing 20 questions and looking up funny YouTube videos. Pick your flavor.
As soon as we arrived, we quickly settled into our 6-bedroom house on campus and then we went right into tech rehearsal for our performance of RUNAWAY at the Jacob’s Pillow Gala that same evening. We shared the program with some incredible artists, including Phillip Glass who played live. Afterward, we sat down to dinner with the gala attendees. When the live jazz band struck up a chord we thought we would have to be the ones to get the party started on the dance floor but you should have seen this crowd! I’ve never seen so many people desert their dessert so quickly. It really was a ball and we left the party with the best kind of favor, several new friendships.
It seemed only fitting to conclude this series with Ryoji whose role has been influential in the story and the making of EXIT. Ryoji who has been working with Larry since 2006 and has been working freelance for about a year now. He joined us this past summer during our residency at the Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado to generate material and then returned to Japan to work with a choreographer there. In January of this year he returned, and he’s joined us in the studio ever since. While EXIT has been in the works every day for a year, you can imagine it’s been an interesting ride for Ryoji, who has had to jump in and out of the process throughout. But this is something the remarkable mover does with ease. His generosity of both physicality and spirit allow him to be fully present in this moment and while he’s away from us for stretches of time, when he returns, it’s as if he never left. It goes to show just how much every element can play into the lasting life of a piece of work. Ryoji’s character in EXIT, though fully empathetic with the others, seems to be in this world that we’re creating, rather than of it. It’s a fantastic contradiction of sorts that while he stands alone, there is no doubt we stand with him. This week I sat down with him to hear more about his side of the experience. Here are some of the highlights:
We sometimes say of someone, “He’s a man of contradiction.” And what we mean, really, is that his personality is full of more conflict than we’d care to handle.
But when it comes to Matt Baker, contradiction refers only to one of the most delightful plays between poles that I’ve ever seen in a performer. A man of nuance, he is able to sweep back and forth between a straight faced and sleek physical prowess to the over the top, yet perfectly timed humor of a developed comedian that always gets him laughs when we take our KCO show on the road. This interplay holds true off stage too. Just ask him to do his Sean Connery for you and you’ll agree that he’s one of the funniest people you’ve ever met. But spend some quiet time with him (a five hour plane ride to California for example) and his soft spoken, thoughtful reflections will move you just as deeply as his dancing does. This week he and I sat down together at Joyce Soho before one of our final rehearsals to talk about the highs and lows (and everything between) of the creative process. What I can tell you…it was no drag! Here are some of the highlights:
There are lots of love stories. Not just those about lovers, but of those who come into our lives and change the course of it forever. This is true of the six dancers I work with every day in the studio, and the man who brought us all together. I am never more myself than when I am in the studio with them, and yet it’s in that space, in their presence, that I have the opportunity to challenge that very idea, to break it down, to look around, and reinvent who I’m becoming. It takes time, a good deal of time, to be able to let people in that way and for them to let you in, in turn. And as Liz has said a great deal of trust, of courage too. But here we are, in this space where spontaneity, discovery, possibility are available to us and between us. It makes for an incredibly rich, definitely interesting way of living that gives you back more than it takes. In two years I’ve accumulated more memorable moments than I could have imagined (running across the stage of the Joyce naked!) and a nickname I adore from people I adore more. This Valentine’s Day, I sat down to dinner and drinks with one of the most handsome, charming, and talented men in the city who just so happens to be my boss (lucky me!) Here are some of the highlights:
Never be afraid to try something new,If you have that hyper itch to,Take the jump,The only one to hold you back is now inside you.
This is how “The City Chose Me”, a witty, surprising, even charming rap song, begins. But you might not guess that the man spinning these hot lyrics is none other than our very own, Gary Schaufeld. He goes on to describe himself:
I’m the king of this island,21, 5’6″, I’m a giant, Switchin’ it from movement to voice,I’m a genius…like it’s a choice?
All true, but I daresay he’s still being modest. A man of many talents, he is the newest and youngest member of our company. Since the day he joined, he’s not only responsible for bringing his bright, fresh dance style to the picture, he also makes us laugh each and every day. Luckily, I was able to catch my dance partner between as he says, GTL (Gym. Tanning. Laundry.). As we enjoyed our favorite caffeinated beverages at Aroma Espresso Bar, we chatted about all things important: dance, life, passion, fulfillment, and hairspray. Here are the highlights:
