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From the entire show, what stood out to you the most?
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John Malashock finds the perfect partner for exploring the human condition: Leonard Cohen
Choreographer, John Malashock, first used music by Leonard Cohen early in his company’s 21-year history in the four-song suite “Take This Waltz.” He returned to Cohen’s deeply poetic music for some of his most personal work: “Story of Isaac,” which he performed with his son 10 years ago, and “Hallelujah” (2001), a duet with his wife, Nina.
Now Malashock has created an evening-length dance to 15 of Cohen’s songs that premieres this weekend at the Garfield
Theatre in La Jolla. The title, “Shadow of Mercy” (a nod to Cohen’s “Sisters of Mercy”), reflects the conjunction of darkness and light, cynicism and compassion that he most responds to in the songwriter-poet’s work.
Here are the dates of the three shows this weekend:
Friday, April 17 - 8:00 pm
Saturday, April 18 - 8:00 pm
Sunday, April 19 - 5:00 pm
Malashock Dance’s highly-anticipated premiere of SHADOW OF MERCY is almost here! This one weekend only event, set to the lyrics of acclaimed song-writer, Leanard Cohen, is not an event not to be missed. Tickets to the emotionally charged, dynamic performance are selling out quickly - and for good reason. Don’t miss your chance to be at the ONLY local showing before this talented group heads out on tour!
Garfield Theatre, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla
April 17, 8 pm: Discounted sneak peek: $18 - $28 (students $14)
April 18, 8 pm: Saturday opening night performance: $20 - $32 (students $16)
April 19, 5 pm: Sunday twilight performance: $20 - $32 (students $16)
Tickets on sale now at tickets.lfjcc.org!
SHADOW OF MERCY (The Leonard Cohen Project) opens this weekend. This is going to be a week full of promotional appearances, preview articles, spacing, tech and dress rehearsals and finally, the opening of SHADOW OF MERCY on April 18th (after a discounted sneak peak on Friday, April 17th) at the Garfield Theater in La Jolla.
On Easter Sunday, the promotional push began with an appearance on Good Morning San Diego (KUSI Channel 9). John spoke about the premiere and Nicholas and I performed an excerpt from THE STORY OF ISAAC. On Monday, John appeared on Fox Morning News (San Diego 5) to speak about SHADOW OF MERCY , and Christine Marshall & Heidi Kershaw performed an excerpt from BY THE RIVERS DARK. Also, be on the look out for the preview article in the San Diego Union-Tribune on Thursday.
Make sure to make your reservations today. You can get all the details and order online by going to www.MalashockDance.org .
Hope to see you there.
Michael Mizerany
Associate Artistic Director, MALASHOCK DANCE
www.malashockdance.org
WOW!!
Yes, I think that is the word. I am having the time of my life!!! If you had asked me a year ago if I would be a Company member dancing with Malashock Dance , I would have thought you had lost your mind! How would it have been even remotely possible that a classically trained twenty-year old ballerina, with less than a year’s exposure to any type of modern training, get that type of an opportunity? Yet that is exactly what happened.
It’s curious how this amazing journey started for me. I was invited to see Malashock’s Let’s Duet last December during the Mainly Mozart series in Chula Vista. I was so taken with the choreography that it inspired me to step out of my comfort zone (ballet) and audition for the Company. I had no idea that, at that time, John was actually looking for a female dancer to complete his cast for his upcoming production SHADOW OF MERCY .
Walking into the first rehearsal I was both excited and nervous—hey, I had never done anything like this before. I can tell you that after that first week I discovered muscles that I didn’t even know I had… and they were in pain! What a great feeling! Then I was introduced to the music and lyrics of Leonard Cohen. Putting “emotion into motion” came to life. Malashock’s dynamic and sensitive choreography, Cohen’s stirring poetry and music, and a “dream-team” of professional dancers with which to work have made this whole experience extraordinary.
SHADOW OF MERCY is not simply the title of Malashock’s most recent exceptional work. It is, as the name itself implies, an artistic blessing to those of us who are a part of it.
Bernadette Torres
Malashock Dancer — SHADOW OF MERCY
SHADOW OF MERCY (The Leonard Cohen Project) is fast approaching and all the pieces are looking great. We are putting the final touches on all the dance works and will have a full program run on Thursday.
This concert is going to be quite the endurance test. Though we are employing ten dancers (5 men, 5 women), there is no way around a few of us doing 3 or 4 pieces in a row. Stamina, of course, is always an issue but also a challenge: getting in and out of costumes quickly and efficiently, usually with minimal lighting and lots of sweat. As any dancer can tell you, this can prove to be the most stressful part of performing.
On Saturday, The Malashock Dance School had the Scholarship Auditions for both the MALASHOCK DANCE SUMMER IN SAN DIEGO WORKSHOP and THE NEW WORKS WORKSHOP . Attendance was great and the dancers were terrific. We also had 8 DVD auditions including three students submitting via YouTube. Technology has made my life much easier. Who knows, in the future we may do our entire workshop audition via DVD and YouTube submissions. That way, I can stay in my pajamas.
Students at The Malashock Dance School Scholarship Audition
On the promotional front, Danielle Gano, our PR Associate from Elle Communications, and several of her interns were making the rounds in San Diego hanging posters and distributing postcards. Keep your eyes open for the preview article in the UNION TRIBUNE next Sunday, as well as Carla Hockley’s segment on Cox 4.
Also, if you want a preview of the SHADOW OF MERCY concert, Lara Segura, Heidi Kershaw and I will be performing TAKE THIS WALTZ as part of SPRING FLING on Saturday, April 11th at 12:45 pm on The South Promenade at Liberty Station .
In addition, Lara Segura and I will perform the duet from THE GYPSY’S WIFE at 4×4xFLOOR at The Bluefoot Bar and Lounge on April 14th at 7 pm. THE GYPSY’S WIFE (the story of a none-too-chaste woman and her long-suffering husband) is one of those pieces, as Karen Walker from WILL & GRACE would say, “It’s funny because it’s sad.”
Michael Mizerany
Associate Artistic Director, MALASHOCK DANCE
www.malashockdance.org
CPR: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation…a procedure using compressions or electric impulses to restart a persons heart and breathing…
Arabesque: Perhaps the ultimate pose in ballet, in which the body is balanced over one foot with the other leg fully extended behind.
CPRabesque: "…then I’d like the women to turn around and walk up the the men and do an arabesque standing on their chest…"
Huh?!? Really? He wants us to put all of our body weight onto one foot and stand on their sternums? Wow, the trust it takes to be a dancer in Malashock Dance. And the number of directions that trust can lead us…
When asked to take part in SHADOW OF MERCY I jumped at the opportunity. In my second season with MALASHOCK DANCE , I was excited to see what was in store for me as a dancer … and for the company as a whole. The production is being set to musical compositions by Leonard Cohen—being a huge fan of his, I couldn’t wait to see what John was cooking up for the show.
Lara Segura and Katie Griffin in FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT (Photo: Elazar Harel)
I was most excited to take part in my favorite piece, FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT . This dance is so simply composed but so intricate and beautifully executed by the dancers, and as I’ve gotten the chance to watch it a little more closely in rehearsals, extremely uncomfortable to watch at times. Each dancer takes their role and lives the intensity of it to its fullest, bringing to life a world of control and intense discomfort, all mixed with beauty and surrender.
Then we have CLOSING TIME , a new work being composed by John for eight dancers, four men and four women. Being a tall, strong woman, my dance experience has usually involved me being at the base of partnering and lifting other dancers into the air. I have often been envious of those who get thrown around and lifted all the time. That isn’t so in this case. Now it’s my turn for a taste of the air above me. I am having to go outside a level of comfort that I am used to and trust someone else to do a job that I am more at ease doing myself.
In this case, my problem has not been trusting that my partner Trystan isn’t capable and strong enough to lift me, but in getting myself past a mental block and some self confidence issues that a lot of dancers have. It was becoming frustrating for me in rehearsals that we couldn’t seem to get a particular lift to work. And being pressed for time during rehearsals, I was becoming even more flustered—I couldn’t seem to get my body to do what I knew was necessary to make the process easier for everyone. That said, I couldn’t appreciate enough the patience that everyone had with me, especially Trystan. And that helped me to find the determination to just get over my fears and go for it.
After our second rehearsal, and much input from a room full of colleagues and friends, I was ready to take a break and come back to it the next time we saw each other. But Trystan kept me from giving up, and we tried one more time … SUCCESS!!!! Not only did we nail it, he held me above his head for the duration of the standing ovation and hoots and hollers we were getting from our fellow dancing friends. I was so relieved that I had let go and just trusted him to get me where I needed to be. I felt that I could get through the rest of my day without feeling as if I wasn’t cut out for the job.
So I look forward now to the next rehearsal, where I will enter the studio with the confidence that I am able to do whatever is thrown at me. I will also remember the support and patience that my friends gave to me and the trust they had in me to do what they had already mastered. And so you see that we all have to trust one another in many different ways when working together as a company. I see it every time Christine throws herself into blind jumps, where her physical well being is at stake, and she does it knowing that whomever is supposed to be there to catch her will be. And I see it as John brings new bodies and energies into the space and takes the time to mold them into the dancers that he needs them to be to do his work. And finally, I see the silent trust that there is between friends, knowing that we will come together to bring an evening full of work to life and that it will be the best that we can make it.
Even with the CPRabesque, it won’t be the dancers who are left breathless, but the audience instead …
Katie Griffin
Malashock Dancer — Shadow of Mercy
It was a hectic week here at MALASHOCK DANCE . We finished up our performances of THE LEGEND OF THE PERSIAN CARPET and started preparations for THE STUDIO SERIES , our in-studio preview of our upcoming production of SHADOW OF MERCY (The Leonard Cohen Project) .
Heidi Kershaw and Christine Marshall in BY THE RIVER DARK
On Saturday, we showcased six works: TAKE THIS WALTZ, STORY OF ISAAC, IN MY SECRET LIFE, IF IT BE YOUR WILL, THE FUTURE and TOWER OF SONG. On Sunday, we replaced TAKE THIS WALTZ and TOWER OF SONG with BY THE RIVER DARK and TACOMA TRAILER.
As usual, this was a great opportunity for the audience members to get an up close and personal look at the choreographic process. As one person commented, “I like to see the sweat!” Well, she wasn’t disappointed!
Michael Mizerany and Trystan Loucado in IN MY SECRET LIFE
Our wonderful PR Associate, Danielle Gano of Elle Communications , also booked us on the CW 6 Saturday Morning News . (Click the link to watch our segment!) John spoke about THE STUDIO SERIES as well as the premiere of SHADOW OF MERCY and Heidi, Lara and I performed an excerpt from TAKE THIS WALTZ. Though the space was very small, we managed it well. Courtney Dwyer, one of the wonderful anchorperson at CW 6, made it a great place to be — even at 7 am.
Also, the news piece that Carla Hockley did on Malashock Dance and SHADOW OF MERCY will air on Saturday, April 4th on Cox Channel 4 .
We are also gearing up for two scholarship auditions on Saturday, April 4th . The first, for THE MALASHOCK DANCE SUMMER INTENSIVE (July 6th – 18th ), will take place from 12 noon until 2 pm. The second, for THE NEW WORKS WORKSHOP (May 23rd and 24th – Michael and May 30th and 31st – John), will take place directly afterwards from 2:30-3:30 pm. Due to a generous gift from The Fieldstone Foundation , we have many scholarships to award – so make sure you don’t miss it.
Michael Mizerany
Associate Artistic Director, MALASHOCK DANCE
www.malashockdance.org
When I started dancing for Malashock Dance I was a bit skeptical of the concept behind the Studio Series, a show that would allow the audience to come in and watch the rehearsal process. As a person who is involved in rehearsals daily, I feared an audience would find it boring. In actuality the Studio Series is similar to reality television. The audience is drawn in by seeing the process in an intimate setting and becomes hooked. Much like a football game, they root for us (the dancers) in much of the same way that a fan would cheer on their favorite athlete. Ok, so there is less hooting and hollering, but the enthusiasm for us to overcome challenges and push our bodies to the limit is there. The audience becomes invested in the work and looks forward to seeing how each piece will be costumed, how the characters are developed and how the choreography changes from start to finish.
Lara dancing in The Studio Series for Stay The Hand, 2007
The Studio Series is also beneficial for the dancers. It gives us the opportunity to practice with the performance adrenaline that you only get with the presence of an audience. Personally, the part I value the most is seeing the show through the eyes of the audience because of their involvement during the show. I love listening to the questions, comments and feedback from audience members. I’m fascinated by the different interpretations from the patrons and how they relate the work to their individual lives and experiences. This is a unique opportunity to chat about the work that doesn’t happen at a typical dance performance. For example, a budding choreographer once asked John whether he was ever truly happy with a piece once it was finished. John paused, and with a little prodding from his wife Nina, admitted that after all these years he still sometimes struggles with finding contentment in a completed work. Hearing such a heartfelt and honest answer from a successful choreographer is encouraging for all of us growing artists. These interactions with the audience remind me just how amazing and "unboring" my job is. I get to do this everyday!
This weekend we’re performing excerpts from our upcoming show, Shadow of Mercy, set to the music of Leonard Cohen. I look forward to seeing some new and familiar faces at the Studio Series this weekend at the Malashock Dance Space in the NTC Promenade. The shows are Saturday, March 28 at 7pm and Sunday, March 29 at 5pm. Each show is a little different so you could come to both and have a new experience each evening. Nevertheless, whether you come to one or both I hope you’ll enjoy the Studio Series as much as I do. See yah there!
Lara Segura
Malashock Dancer — Shadow of Mercy
THE LEGEND OF THE PERSIAN CARPET —a co-presentation among CLASSICS 4 KIDS, MALASHOCK DANCE and THE PERSIAN CULTURAL CENTER OF SAN DIEGO—has proved to be quite the hit. We performed our family show Sunday at the Balboa Theater, and the Malashock Dancers were very popular. After the show, children surrounded them asking for autographs. Katie Griffin (she played the queen) was mobbed by many little girls. Gracious as always, Katie signed programs, posed for photos and greeted parents. We end our ten day run in Escondido on Tuesday and then we take our fulltime focus back to SHADOW OF MERCY (The Leonard Cohen Project) .
Nicholas steals the diamond in The Legend of the Persian Carpet
On the SHADOW OF MERCY front, things are going extremely well. John will complete the entire work in a few more rehearsals, just in time for THE STUDIO SERIES this weekend. Though we won’t be showcasing all the pieces, you will get a wonderful preview of the full production premiering on Saturday, April 18th at the Garfield Theater in La Jolla.
THE STUDIO SERIES
(A preview of our upcoming concert SHADOW OF MERCY )
Saturday, March 28th at 7 pm
Sunday, March 29th at 5 pm
Malashock Dance Studio #200
Dance Place San Diego
2650 Truxtun Road, San Diego, CA
Tickets: $10
Reservations: 619-260-1622 or
Buy your tickets online at MalashockDance.org
Also, keep your eye on the newspaper! Janice Steinberg from the UNION TRIBUNE will be doing a preview article on SHADOW OF MERCY . She visits our studio on Monday, March 23rd to see some of the dance works in rehearsal and then will sit down for a one-on-one interview with John Malashock.
If you can’t make THE STUDIO SERIES and would still like a preview of SHADOW OF MERCY , we will be doing two other “appetizer” events:
SPRING FLING AT LIBERTY STATION
April 11th at the South Promenade at 1:00 pm
We will perform TAKE THIS WALTZ
4 x 4 x FLOOR
April 14th at the Bluefoot Bar and Lounge at 7 pm
3404 30th Street, San Diego, CA
We will perform the duet from THE GYPSY’S WIFE
In class with James Healey from Shen Wei Dance Arts
On a personal note, James Healey, a former dancer with MALASHOCK DANCE and current rehearsal director for SHEN WEI DANCE ARTS , returned to San Diego. MALASHOCK DANCE , in association with THE LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY, hosted a master class with James and San Diego dancers took full advantage of this rare opportunity. I also had the pleasure of seeing James perform in Shen Wei’s work. He was, in a word, amazing. It is so wonderful to see a good friend and colleague doing so well.
Michael Mizerany
Associate Artistic Director, MALASHOCK DANCE
MalashockDance.org
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