One of my favorite photos on the Masters of Photography website was Berenice Abbott’s “Tri-Boro Barber School, 264 Bowery”.

The image attracted my eye not only because of its urban setting but also because of the way it captured the human subject in the photo. Being much better at landscape photos of unmoving scenery myself, I always find it astounding how well others can capture the movements and expressions of people almost perfectly to suit their photographs.

Although the photographer does use the Rule of Thirds, she uses it in this photo to create a dual subject, causing the onlooker to question whether the subject of her photo is a storefront window, the box, or both.

Abbott also uses the scaffolding above the storefront as well as the column on which the boy is standing to frame her shot.

Although I’m personally really good at framing my shots, using trees and other objects to further highlight the subject of my photo, I find that framing your shots isn’t always the best option, and I’m trying to break my habit of doing that quite often. For Snapshot day, I plan on not framing my photo at all.

-John Wetmore (Blog A)

Having the opportunity to watch and learn about the process that John Jasperse goes through to choreograph his pieces was one of the most enlightening dance experiences that I have ever had. I thought that the two men featured were beautiful dancers and even though all three of them were very similar on the surface, as John mentioned towards the beginning of the rehearsal, as they danced they took on different personas that I think brought them together and differentiated them at the same time. The movement qualities that they were able to accomplish were very different and their ability to change those qualities to match with what John wanted was very impressive to me. One of the greatest characteristics that a dancer can have, in my opinion, is to be able to change the dynamic of how they move. Anyone can move their limbs around and maybe execute choreography technically correct but it’s the feeling that a dancer puts into his or her movements that makes them a dancer.

It was so interesting to see how professional choreographers face some of the same problems that people with less experience face when trying to create something. While listening to John explain how he created a whole process, somewhat like a puzzle, to attempt to ensure that he created movement that was unlike himself, I realized how much that related to more generalized things in life. Writers often struggle with trying to move away from their comfortable writing styles, composers and musical artists struggle with trying to create a new type of sound, one unlike the things they’ve done in the past, and painters or other types of visual artists often reach a point where all of their work starts to look the same. Listening to John speak made me really think about the possibility that maybe it isn’t possible, when trying to be creative, to make something not characteristic of yourself.

If art is supposed to be a representation of some type of essence that comes from within the artist, how could it be anything different from what you usually do? After John went through his whole process, if he creates something that is no type of representation of himself, I’m not sure is that could really be called his work of art as opposed to a work of chance. And if somehow through the whole process he did manage to present himself in the choreography, then would the end product look any different from what he has done in the past? In life you learn more about yourself and what you can do everyday but sometimes without some form of inspiration it’s hard to stop the fall into a comfortable and monotonous lifestyle and I believe that the same thing could happen in dance. I would be really interested to see how this new piece John is choreographing differs from his past work.

All in all I think seeing John’s rehearsal was a very valuable experience for our class. Being that many of the students in our class are artists, whether they are dancers, composers or musicians I think that observing the rehearsal rather than the performance provided us with an understanding of the creative process that we wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. In a way, it’s like we got to be shown multiple performances as we saw each run through change and develop and its amazing to imagine all of the work that leads up to a performance that takes up only a fraction of the time that is spent preparing for it.

-Yasmin

John Jasperse’s rehearsal was an enlightening experience. In it, I got to see how the dancers related to the choreographer, and the influence that both of those parties share on the dance itself; I got to see them change things slightly such as the positioning of a foot, or the tilt of a head; I got to experience the effect of the changing music accompaniment. These were all of extreme interest to me but I want instead to analyze and interpret what I saw, coming back to the others if there is room.

Jasperse went into the choreography session with an agenda, past his plans to tweak certain parts of the dancers physically, he had an overall goal of trying to mimic the concepts of emergence. His reasoning for doing so was that it was creative and synthesizing rather than combative and sparring. What is meant by this is that typically people’s art is representative of a certain way of seeing that is unique to the artist, who in turn considers his way of seeing, unique; this artist can bring the things that he sees into his own unique perspective. In establishing this new perspective the artist inherently creates his art combatively, proving why it should be considered right.

Jasperse considers an emergent dance to be more creative than a thesis-dance, where one is persuading someone to their side; and rightfully so, Jasperse is trying to evoke the spirit of something completely intangible and unknown to him. Essentially Jasperse is playing god by trying to create something out of nothing.

With this being his goal though, Jasperse fell short of attaining it. The concept of emergence can be explained as a new level in the general hierarchy with new properties that are obtained through the previous hierarchy. In using only two dancers, I don’t see how Jasperse has enough building blocks to make something new. Furthermore, Jasperse moves the two dancers around together, meaning that they are meant to be seen together, but there is no apparent purpose for their togetherness. Occasionally the two dancers perform the same moves and then continue the flow in similar moves, but neither dancer’s movements enhance or bolster the other dancer’s movements.

The two dancers seem like they should be interacting with one another in some way but the dance makes it seem like they are two individual units dancing two separate dances that happen to be the same choreography, somewhat.  I liked the idea of two individual units, lending itself already to the hierarchical structure of emergence, but Jasperse seems to be throwing the building blocks around hoping for chance to create something new.

In fact, that is what he admitted in doing so by mapping out certain movements to each letter of the alphabet and then finding random alphabetical strings of characters to come up with dance movements. In doing this, Jasperse hopes to subvert his own artistic influence, but that seems to me, to defeat the purpose. I think the purpose is not to create something literally out of nothing; it is to create something new and with new properties out of a certain set of building blocks. Jasperse claims that he wants to reach true creativity, which is by creating something new, but I think in removing himself from the equation he doesn’t allow for any forces other than entropy to play on these building blocks, and then this dance changes from a dance on emergence of properties based on previous properties, to a dance on random occurrences – and that’s been done before.

Perhaps Jasperse is randomly throwing the blocks around because he thinks that emergence should come from nothing, and that if the pieces line up right this property will emerge, if only for a split second – this is what I interpreted from him saying that the geisha pose was emergent from the dance. Jasperse is not just the vessel for this project, he needs to have an active hand in its construction, and that is the hard part about playing god: making all the pieces so that they can fit together and then finding out the right way to connect them.  Jasperse’s dancers seemed to be two disparate entities, waiting only for the right way to be connected.

Last Thursday, our class was fortunate enough to attend a dance rehearsal of choreographer John Jasperse. Writing about this rehearsal merits a different kind of analysis than other dance performances because what we observed was not a final product. What we saw was like a rudimentary template- there is still much work and thought that needs to go into it before it is sometime Mr. Jasperse finds good enough to show the world. We were blessed to be able to watch the physical manifestation of Mr. Jasperse’s imagination; we witnessed mistakes being made, jokes being told and overall being able to see that the dancers and the choreographer are people like us. I personally enjoyed the absence of that “forth wall” that is so prevalent in performances, while really let me connect to the ideas that Mr. Oliver discussed with us when he took a break.

The first thing that struck me was the attention to minute details as well as the input of ideas from the dancers to the choreographer. Being an abstract dance, I always had the preconception that pieces were made relatively easily- the choreographer would teach the dancers some moves, they would get the costumes, music and backdrop ready and it would be show-time. I was proven completely wrong. The level of attention Jasperse gave to his two dancers was astounding- he would mention placement of fingers, positioning of the feet, movement of the eyes and many other things I couldn’t catch. He would stop them ever time something significant would go wrong, talk about it and restart them again. It was interesting how the entire process was so scientific and analytical; each and every movement had a specific meaning, and to be properly conveyed it had to be done with the utmost precision.

The dance rehearsal can be split into two distinct parts; the first part was subtle and beautiful, while the second part was full of acrobatic, explosive movements and was very “in your face”.  Jasperse discussed the idea of emergence in his project description, something I was able to distinctively see in his work. He talked about the idea of splitting the body into 13 different parts, and assigning movements attributed to each to “dance” a sentence. This would not only help him in his endeavor of creating a piece that doesn’t look like something he would make (thus without his distinctive style), but was also allow him to showcase the idea of emergence, which is when new functions and arise through the interaction of difference parts. Placing movements that seemingly have no connection together and fine-tuning them is his attempt at recreating a phenomena seen often in nature; the “native” is the movements and poses he knows so well while the “foreign” is allowing his dance to become far greater than what he can control. I also saw the idea of emergence in his piece through the selection of his two dancers: Stuart and Simon. While Simon had a ballet background as seen through his rather stiff and restricted movements and tightening of his legs and arms while dancing, Stuart seems to have had a background in other styles of dance. He moved with a fluidity and grace that really brought a whole different meaning to the movements he did; he was able to showcase the beauty and flexibility of the human body.

The effect the background music had on my interpretation of the dance was immediate and startling. The first part of the rehearsal was at first done with a metronome, allowing the dancers to keep track of their movements and be in sync with one another. I thought it seemed rather bland with attached to the steady clicking of the music, and it was to my pleasant surprise when I found out it wasn’t the music Jasperse was planning on using. The more abstract music, which consisted of unintelligible whisperings of multiple people layered on above another, the whole dance took on another meaning. Following up with the idea of emergence, this music gave a whole other dimension and complexity to the dance.

As a whole, it was immensely satisfying to watch Jasperse’s rehearsal. To be able to watch something so intimate was quite a humbling experience; I was able to see that there is nothing that can be done well in this world without hard work. To see the dancers at their most vulnerable was quite an experience, because I got to really understand their thought processes when they themselves try to interpret the dance and really understand the effect what they are doing is having on the audience. I look forward to the completion of the dance, and hope I can see a performance and really see how the dance evolves in the coming months.

As a fortunate coincidence, the past Thursday we were able to shadow the peculiar dance rehearsal which noted choreographer John Jasperse held in a dance studio at the Thomas Hunter Hall. The reason why peculiar is an appropriate word to describe such experience relies on the fact that John himself was creating something unusual. During the rehearsal he described his dance and choreography to be centered around random details which in turn dictated the purpose of the performance. His randomized organization brought the dance to a level of improvisation with which he tampered and played to create the extraordinary spacial show we were able to witness.

“I divided the body in thirteen sections,” he said, introducing his concept of improvisation. As he developed his idea of pure chance, he exposed themes which I was not able to witness watching Stuart and Simon rehearse. An example would be the concept of a spiral he exposed in his first segment of the rehearsal. Although very explicit and evident, the concept seemed surreal to my mind during the performance. The ability to introduce any theme in a performance and mold intricate movements from that central theme, requires extensive knowledge and skill as well as a visionary imagination capable of creating wonder within the mind. The more surprising aspect of the first segment was the ability to portray the ‘spiral’ theme in connection to improvisation. Using Roman lettering and the physical sections of the body, John was able to dissect the movements into spirals to the left or spirals to the right in particular areas of the body. The impressive concept of improvisation was even more visible as both Stuart and Simon followed the same pattern of movements, but in different settings and positions.

As the rehearsal progressed, John introduced a new and more dynamic performance. This rehearsed bit was filled with excessive thumping sounds either given by purposely passion or the exhaustion of the dancers. Either option emphasized the importance and difficulty of the dance and once again, despite Simon’s and Stuart’s different positions, the performance melded into a unified progress of moves. While sometimes the dancers differed in orientation and position, John corrected their movements into a synchronized concept of emergence.

As he explained his wish to idealize a concept of emergence, John expressed some doubt – the kind of doubt only rehearsals can thoroughly bring forth. He saw some confusion in his intent in showing emergence as a central theme, but yet recognized that it was perhaps due to the improvisation necessary in the dance. Truthfully, the goal of emergence, as opposed to being a central theme of the dances, was instead a repetition of motifs throughout the performance. Whereas a logical goal of emergence would be a final unified set of movements, John used bits and pieces of Stuart’s and Simon’s movements to mold together at different times of the dance. In such way he portrayed his motif of emergence, which made the rehearsal even more pleasant to admire.

Keith (Blog B)

Last Thursday, our class watched John Jasperse’s dance rehearsal.  I am really grateful for this unique opportunity that we may not have had outside of this class.  Although the dancers are “vulnerable”, like Prof. Uchizono mentioned, because they make mistakes, they really allowed me to see the process behind making a dance.  There was no imaginary “fourth wall” which separates the audience and the performers like in show.

Reading the syllabus beforehand which said “John Jasperse’s dance rehearsal”, somehow I imagined in my mind that we would just be watching one person.  Instead, we watched three people working together: Simone and Stuart, the two dancers, and Jasperse, the choreographer.  I saw how important communication and collaboration was.  Jasperse paid much attention to detail, correcting Simone and Stuart on little things such as moving the head counterclockwise/clockwise or a part where they were out of sync.  He also demonstrated, for example, the specific movement and shape of the hand, and the placement of the foot.  Although I didn’t notice these small things until they were pointed out, I did notice the difference between the subsequent and previous practice.  Each time, Simone and Stuart would have better timing and would parallel each other even more smoothly.  At the same time, Jasperse asked the dancers how to make the performance better and was really open to their ideas.  For example, sometimes he let them explore and try new moves that could be incorporated into the dance.

Seeing this rehearsal, even though it could end up totally different from the real performance in May, helped put an image to the words of the project description.  By just reading the project description, I had really no idea what the dance would look like.  Although this was a proposal for a grant written many months ago,  I still saw many of the themes he discussed in the rehearsal.  The main focus was on emergence, how “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”.  This really clicked for me when he made the analogy he made in the project description about 2 hydrogen and 1 oxygen combining to form water.  He mentions that he wanted to work with people with different experiences and perspectives from each other and himself.  From hearing them talk, we could tell that Simone had more traditional training, i.e. ballet, whereas Stuart had more modern training.  Perhaps this is the “native vs foreign contrast” he refers to.  Also on that note, he boils the dance down to its simple movements, such as assigning them to different letters of the alphabet.  I thought it really interesting how he adds some randomness by using the first sentence of his contract to shape the dance.

Jasperse also discusses how the composer for his pieces, Jonathan Bepler, is able to combine many different sounds into one composition.  The dancers performed the same set of dance moves with two different soundtracks.  The first was a slow, relaxing piece probably used to help the dancers feel a beat, whereas the second consisted of talking and whispering, kind of like background noise, which was probably the real soundtrack.  From seeing this, I really noticed the effect of music on dance moves.  The former made me more focused, anticipating the next movement with the beat.  The latter, although interesting, sometimes drew my attention away from the dancers during the higher pitched and faster parts of the music.  The second set of dance moves with a different soundtrack contrasted the previous ones.  The music felt like pop and was very upbeat, which really fit the energetic, almost like a workout nature of the movements.

Ultimately, my experience watching Jasperse’s dance rehearsal with Simone and Stuart can really be summed up with the following quote.  In the words of the great poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Life (or in this case dance) is a journey, not a destination.”

~Erica Kwong (Blog B)

Attending a rehearsal of John Jasperse’s From once between merits a different kind of dance analysis than would seeing just any other dance performance on stage. In seeing Jasperse’s dancers rehearse, we were invited into a realm of dance the layperson is not normally exposed to–the realm of mistakes, of revision, and of change. What we were shown on Thursday was not a perfect, completed product; in fact, based on the nature of the practice and on Jasperse’s analysis of his own work, it would appear that the piece is not even close to being finished. In many ways, having the chance to view a work of dance pre-finalization was an even more insightful and in-depth experience than I thought it would be.

Jasperse’s choreography is simultaneously delicate and powerful. The first segment his dancers, Simon and Stuart, rehearsed was at first quiet and almost ballet-like in technique and style. The music they initially practiced to was a steady pulse of gentle piano chords, which I actually found to be much more fitting and complementary to the movement than was the whisper/chanting track that the dance was later paired with. Although the latter is what this section of the performance will eventually be danced to, it is interesting to note that in the process of rehearsal, the dance is not always done to the final piece of musical accompaniment. Either for the sake of timing or rhythm, Jasperse found it more suitable at that particular moment in the rehearsal to use a different backing track, which spoke to his flexibility and versatility as a choreographer and a teacher. There was such a contrast between the two background tracks, however, that I couldn’t help but wish that the dance could actually be done to the first metronomic piece, simply because I found the atmosphere to be more powerful.

The next segment Simon and Stuart rehearsed was much more dynamic and active then the first. Their movements exploded more rapidly across the dance floor and they made use of their space very well. The choreography was extremely engaging and the dancers were able to transfer the vibrancy of their movements from the floor to the tips of their limbs with surprising ease. I was particularly impressed by Simon’s technique and precision, which provide him with a weightlessness and effortlessness in movement that is quite beautiful to watch. He seemed to float from the ground into the air and back down again all in one constant, fluid motion. In this section, we also witnessed the influence of background music on the overall effect of the choreography. At first, the dance was practiced without any music so that Simon and Stuart could get their synchronization and timing correct. Then Jasperse turned on an upbeat, throwback track that sounded like it came from the 60s or 70s. The movement suddenly took on a different meaning and I saw it relative to the happier mood of the music, though I wasn’t sure if that was Jasperse’s intention. I found myself preferring the dance when it had been done without music, perhaps because I was able to just focus on the intricacies and nuances of the movement when there was no music to alter my perception.

John Jasperse’s rehearsal was so intriguing to witness because there was almost nothing concretely defined. He said himself that he was unsure of whether he was achieving his purpose of dissociating himself from his work to create a greater emergence. He wondered whether that was a failure on his part or a failure of the dance in its premise. Perhaps it is impossible for an artist to ever truly distance himself from his work, his style, his ideas. Even with Jasperse’s “chance dance” method of deciding choreography, it seemed that he still largely shaped the movements himself to create a desired effect, such as the “spiral” he was striving for in the first segment. When it came to music choices, it seemed as if Jasperse purposely picked tracks that would be jarringly different next to his choreography as a means to further separate his work from his stylistic identity. This mainly just lent a sense of confusion and uncertainty to the rehearsal, however, that was at times troubling, but also revealing of Jasperse’s unique identity as a choreographer and as a intelligent thinker.

At the same time, there is something very self-aware in Jasperse’s choreography and in his creative process. It seems that he knows that what he is attempting to do is a challenge and his choices in movement and music reflect this knowledge. His dancers too dance with an awareness and understanding of Jasperse’s artistic vision and I got the sense that all three of them were thinking and acting on quite the same wavelength. I really admired the amount of ongoing collaboration between Jasperse and his dancers and the respect that Stuart and Simon gave to Jasperse as their superior even while joking around and laughing with him as a friend. The rehearsal really was a rare opportunity to see dancers as more than just emotionless figures dancing across a stage. We got to witness their rise and fall and all the hard work that goes into creating just a few minutes of completed choreography. We witnessed their mistakes and failed attempts, but also their moments of glory and beauty in dance. Seeing Jasperse’s rehearsal reminded me that these dancers are human and that dance is a powerfully human endeavor. Just like people, dance is subject to change and it is shaped as much by its mistakes as it is by its successes.

–Norine Chan (Blog A)

Viewing dancers on stage during a performance sometimes muddles our consciousness of their human qualities. We may forget that the performers too are people, just like us. As they move effortlessly on stage in rhythmic perfection, we forget that they too have flaws, that they can make mistakes and that they laugh and joke around too. It was such a luxury to be able to sit in on John Jasperse’s rehearsal for his upcoming performance in May.

During the hour long rehearsal, we watched the two dancers repeat sections of the piece that needed to be corrected and adjusted. Each need for a change in the dancers’ movements was foreshadowed by Jasperse’s flailing arm gestures in the corner. As the choreographer, Jasparse was very particular and precise about each little detail of the dance. While he was kneeling to my right, I noticed that he would let his arms sway to the movement of the dance, as if he was practicing the dance himself. For certain parts of the dance, he would lean forward, as if he was holding his breath in anticipation and go “Pah!” or mutter in French after the dancers had finished the specific part (depending on if he liked it or not). It was honestly entertaining to watch Jasperse himself during the rehearsal, not only because he was so mesmerized in each round of practice, but also because he held a connection with the dancers that the audience couldn’t break in to.

For most of the rehearsal, it seemed as if the dancers shared a special mindset with Jasperse that we, as the audience, could not understand. If Jasperse seemed bothered by a certain movement, the dancers would be able to provide alternate ways of doing the movement so that it would connect and flow better before Jasperse could make any full changes himself. Although Jasperse did have some moments when he seemed dissatisfied with what the dancers just did, he was always open to their suggestions and input on how to better the piece. After the rehearsal, Jasperse had said that he often wondered, “Is it possible to make something that looks like something I didn’t make?” He wanted to subvert his own influences and impulses and to make the piece a combination of random choices, but he admitted that he has the tendency to be very “didactic” with his dancers. As someone who rarely watches dance performances, the changes they made seemed so minute to my eyes but so grand of a change when Jasperse and the dancers discussed how they would fix the certain part.

This quality about Jasperse only taught me more about how much skill and effort that is required to finesse a finished dance or any other work of art. I learned from Simone and Stewart that although collaboration is needed to coordinate a dance, individual style and technique is also an essential part into really making the performance something of their own. With Simone’s more structured and fluid dance techniques (more like ballet) and Stewart’s heavier body frame, the partnering of the two individuals added an extra flair to the dance.

By watching the rehearsal, we got to see the dancers and choreographer in their most vulnerable stage. We saw when they were off pace from one another, we saw when they couldn’t seem to get the dance right and we saw when they all laughed together as they watched an old recording of them dancing. Being exposed to the dancers in this way made the rehearsal a performance itself, one in which we got to learn about the process and time it takes into creating a piece that stands as presentable to the choreographer, especially one like Jasperse who would probably not showcase a piece until it is perfect and exactly the way he and his dancers have finalized it to be.

-Winnie Yu (Blog A)

Being able to watch John Jasperse’s rehearsal was one of the most intimate and eye-opening events I’ve ever had the honor of participating in. I’ve always had an appreciation for arts, even the ones that I have trouble fully understanding, and John Jaspere’s choreography definitely falls into the latter. His unique take on movement and music alienated me at first but after seeing him work with his dancers and absorbing the energy, I started to understand what made his choreography great dance.

The intimacy of the rehearsal was the most valuable part of the whole event for me. I am not a dancer, and I do not know many dancers very personally, so I’ve never been able to understand how much work goes into perfecting a dance for a performance. The dancers were obviously very talented, but they still made mistakes, many of which I didn’t even notice. However, after revisions were made, I could see the effect of subtle corrections on the piece as a whole. Before, the dance was graceful and intricate, but every revision brought it closer to cohesion. Additionally, I really enjoyed watching the relationship Jasperse had with his dancers, Stewart and Simon. Jasperse was really open to criticism and commentary from his dancers, making the whole performance a collaborative effort. This put a type of feeling into the dance that only hard work and a love for dance can bring. It really helped ground the performance to a point where I could really understand.

I also enjoyed the unfamiliarity of the whole rehearsal, and the dance itself. Having to critically think about every movement and how they work with each other was enjoyable in itself. Once I began to form a faint feeling of understanding, I became very excited and that helped me enjoy the dance more. Jasperse wanted to try to convey perspectives in his choreography and I feel like I really felt that when I had to look at the dance with different perspectives. I don’t know if that was intentional, but it helped me connect with the dance on a personal plane.

I’m very glad I was able to watch John Jasperse’s rehearsal. It brought modern dance into a new light for me; before I could not envision understanding it but now, I have a understanding that could only be achieved by watching a performance live. Otherwise, I would have been very distant from the dance both physically and mentally. Ideally, art should be experienced with as little space between someone and the piece as possible.

-Stanley (Blog A)

I really enjoyed attending John Jasperse’s rehearsal. Having never seen choreographers plan and create their routines, I now have a greater respect for what it means to be a choreographer and a dancer – and for every small nuance in each step a dancer takes. The amount of time and effort that goes into every second of the dance piece is astounding.

In trying to show two separate forces coming together, I think John Jasperse achieved his goal, not only in the dance routine itself but also in the dancers he chose. Both Simone and Stuart danced the routine together; however, their individual dancing styles were completely different. While Simone was more of a concrete dancer, Stuart was a fluid dancer, and, for me, I think this difference in technique between the two dancers highlighted and divulged the whole premise of Jasperse’s piece.

-John Wetmore (Blog A)