The Arts in New York City

I really did not want to be spending my Wednesday free hour spending more time talking about Ralph Lemmon’s “How can you sit in the house all day and not go anywhere?” BAM dance piece.  But that’s exactly what I found myself doing.

When I saw the BAM piece, as I wrote in my blog, I really didn’t like it and just wanted to forget it and put it behind me.  But of course that didn’t happen- first we had a discussion with Katherine Profetta, the dramaturge, and just when I thought it was over I found out we had another one with the great Ralph Lemmon himself!

Well, I was shocked when I walked into that dance studio.  I saw Ralph, Katherine and two of the dancers sitting in chairs across from us, not up far away on a stage.  It was an intimate gathering, there weren’t many people there, and it seemed pretty informal.  Especially because since it was a dance studio they had to take their shoes off, so it was funny that Ralph and everyone was there barefoot.

Anyway, enough about that.  Now for the actual content of the talk.  At first it was boring, like same old, same old, talking about how the goal was nonform and dance in a different way instead of something we’re used to, etc. which we knew already but they had to talk about for the other people there who hadn’t seen the show or didn’t know.

After that I picked out some interesting tidbits.  First of all, I thought it was so interesting when a student asked a question and mentioned unstructured dance or something like that, and Okwui the dancer answered and was saying that it was a false impression- it was a VERY structured piece with exact timing and reasons behind everything.  Contrary to what I, and I think a lot of other people, thought, the dancers didn’t just get up on stage and start randomly flailing.   Okwui said nothing they did was random- for example, she would spin for 25 seconds, then improvise for 1 minute, then she had an “appointment” to bang into another dancer on stage, so everything was very structured.

Another thing I liked was when someone asked a question about what the animals on screen were all about and Ralph Lemmon said that it was his attempt at showing grace, because it was just a peaceful moment among all the fast-paced craziness, and that the animals were the perfect representation because they just are what they are.  I don’t really know how to put it into words, but when he explained it I really liked that idea.  In general, I just really appreciated that nothing was random and that everything had a reason or thought behind it.

I also found it interesting when they were talking about their relationship to the audience and Ralph was saying that it’s not like a typical Broadway show where they want the audience’s approval.  He said its less like they were performing FOR the audience, it was more like they were performing and ALLOWED the audience to watch.

It is also really impressive that they managed to pull off the performance because the dancers were saying that it was so hard to do because they couldn’t rehearse and learn everything straight through, they would do it for a week, then take a few months off, do it for two weeks, take more time off… and it was all very scattered.  So I’m impressed that they were able to do it so well and keep moving forward instead of relearning the same thing every time they got together, which, from what I gathered, wasn’t too often.

Overall I have to say that the more I hear about and talk about the Ralph Lemmon show, the more I can appreciate the kind of performance they put on and what they’ve done.  But that doesn’t mean I would want to sit through it again LOL.

Drum Roll Please…..He’s coming, he’s coming!

Last week, when I blogged about the Ralph Lemmon Dance, I discussed my inability to comprehend the piece, but more importantly, I focused on the ways in which Dr. Profetta helped us to understand it. Just when I thought I finally understood the piece to the best of my ability, I received an email that Ralph Lemmon himself would be coming to Queens College. I jumped at the opportunity to better grasp the meaning of the piece.

Wednesday afternoon, Ralph Lemmon, Dr. Katherine Profetta, two dancers from the Ralph Lemmon Dance, and approximately 40 students, gathered into a dance studio to listen to Ralph Lemmon speak about his piece. To be honest, I was expecting to be sitting in the audience of an auditorium, needing a pair of binoculars to see Ralph Lemmon, who I imagined would be sitting on stage. I was more than excited to find that I was sitting less than ten feet away from him, which elicited a friendlier atmosphere for the lecture.

Mr. Lemmon began the session by discussing his opinions about the piece, as well as his goals in creating it. He believes that, with regards to dance, the possibilities are endless. Ralph wanted to fill the stage with other ideas and concepts, not generally associated with the dance we know. He originally created the film shown in the beginning for an artist conference, and it created a “spring board” for the piece we witnessed at BAM.

During the lecture, one member of the audience requested permission from Ralph Lemmon to refer to the production as an experiment, and Mr. Lemmon eagerly welcomed this term. In our class discussion with Professor Profetta, the readings about the performance as well as a student in our class suggested that the piece was a conglomeration of many different ideas that did not seem to be connected, but all worked together to formulate a masterpiece. We couldn’t come up with a good reason for the display of the animals on the screen, but in response to a question asked, Ralph Lemmon explained that the animals were incorporated as a “moment of grace.” The dance is filled with exhaustive movements and intense crying, and the animals moved across the stage in a calm, soothing manner.

Much of the session was spent discussing the 20 minutes of straight dancing in the middle of the show. Many of the audience members were curious as to how the dancers were able to move continuously for 20 minutes keeping their energy levels high until the very end. One dancer explained that each time he goes onto the stage for this portion of the piece, he imagines that it will be his last opportunity to dance, and therefore puts all of his effort into the dance. The dancers also dispelled any beliefs that the dance section had no structure – many aspects of the piece were carefully planned and timed. Okwe spins for a certain length time, and at a specific point during her crying, she picks up the tambourine. Although an audience may not realize it while watching the show, the dance is not “random” – each movement made by each dancer has a purpose. Additionally, during the improvisation, there are specific markers and meetups – planned times when the dancers all come together on the stage, which allow for a resurgence of energy.

The last aspect of the performance we discussed was the relationship between the performers and the audience. Ralph Lemmon and the dancers were unsure what the audience expected from them, and the audience members often are unsure what to expect from the production. Different members of the audience have different reactions to the piece – some hate it, some love it, and some erupt in tears. Regardless of their reaction, I believe that the dance is unlike any production any member of the audience has ever seen, and I am glad that our class had the opportunity to learn more about the piece from both the dramaturge and the writer themselves.