It is hard to believe another MALASHOCK DANCE SUMMER INTENSIVE is over. If flew by in a blink of an eye. The students were wonderful dancers and wonderful people to boot.
During the first week, I reset John Malashock’s TRIBES. Luckily, I had just taught this piece to the Malashock company dancers so it was fresh in my head. I taught the 1st section which is basically 6 solos followed by giant leaps, high kicks and backache inducing arches to the floor. Well then, what to do? I taught them the piece and it was looking terrific — do I really want to spend another week cleaning? Naw, let’s teach them some more repertory! After going home and culling over the possibilities, I decided on THE CURSE OF MILHAVEN section from LOVE & MURDER. THE CURSE OF MILHAVEN follows the homicidal exploits of a 14 year-old girl named Loretta (but you can call her Lottie) who violently murders half the town. With music by Nick Caves and The Bad Seeds and hilarious choreography by John Malashock, this piece is a hoot and a half. And the dancers — they had a blast. They reveled in the twisted, morose movements (nicknamed "Monster Sit-Ups", "Frankenstein Hands", and "Zombie Hip Hop").
Bradley Lundberg, company member with Malashock Dance, set a section of his work SWEET SUITE, to the music of Coldplay, and Keith Johnson, Artistic Director of KEITH JOHNSON/DANCERS, set two sections from DIVINITY BLUEPRINT with music by Johannes Brahms. Brad and Keith did a great job with the students and their pieces looked amazing.
John and I both set new work. I premiered UNTAKEN with music by KODO and John premiered PAPER SKIN with music by The Balanescu Quartet and Zoe Keating. It was a real privilege to create movement on these dancers. They had stupendous memories. Yowza! I was so proud of their performances.
To round out the workshop, we had Tsukuru Matasamuru from The Jeffrey Lamont Brown Photography Studio come and take dance photos of the students. You can see them prominently displayed on their respective facebook page profiles.
Jess Humphrey taught a wonderful Contact/Improv class and was a favorite with all of the students. Assisted by Malashock Dance dancer Christine Marshall, I led a Partnering Workshop (who knew these guys and gals were so bendy!). During the last week, John led a Dance Stories mini-workshop. The students delved into their personal histories to help create choreography.
The Summer Intensive Performance at The Saville Theater looked SO GOOD! They absorbed so much material in two weeks and performed it breathtakingly. It was so exciting to watch them all come alive and dance so enthusiastically.
Now Molly, John and I are preparing for THE MALASHOCK DANCE SUMMER INTENSIVE 2011. Stay tuned!
-Michael Mizerany
Associate Artistic Director
