Second Avenue Dance Company

NEWSLETTER November 26, 2018 

By Marlaina Riegelsberger

What Have We Been Up To? After their October Concert, the dancers of SADC dived back into

rehearsal for the upcoming December Concert. The SADC December Concert will feature works by guest choreographers, Arnie Zane and Christina Robson, as well as works created by the following student choreographers: Celine Abdallah, Meredith Baughman, Kirsten Coco, Dean Husted, Erin Maher, Jade Manns, and Julio L. Laforteza.

This past month, SADC had

the opportunity to participate in a workshop with Akram Khan, internationally acclaimed dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of Akram Khan Company centered in London. They gained an inside look into his process and artistic pursuits, learning repertoire from his solo XENOS which he recently performed at the White Light Festival, Lincoln Center.

Other SADC opportunities include master classes with Nico Monaco ( Akram Khan Company rehearsal director), I-Ling Liu (current Bill T. Jones Company member), Davide Di Pretoro (Studio Wayne McGregor Artist), Hollis Bartlett, Evan Copeland, Kate Jewett, Antonio Brown, Donnell Oakley, and Bobbi Jene Smith.

Upcoming Events

SADC II Concert

When: NOV. 29 – DEC. 1 2018, 7:30 PM Where: JACK CRYSTAL THEATER, 5TH FLOOR RSVP: http://tisch.nyu.edu/dance/events

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Getting to Know Second Avenue Dance Company!

Guest Choreographers

ARNIE ZANE

About the process with Janet Lily: “Starting this process of restaging, I spent a lot of time watching archival footage and relearning the steps, whilst an interesting conversation was happening with my muscle memory and what I was seeing on video. At that time, Bill and Arnie were very interested in juxtaposition. The basic phrase material used was originally improvised by Arnie to David Burns’ “Burning Down the House”, which me and the other company members learned off video. Arnie and Bill then pieced it together into a structure created with different choreographic methods.

One in particular is what we call the clock, where there is one long phrase and dancers rotate onstage, replacing each other while keeping the ever persistent clock of movement material going. It’s really quite athletic, accented with lots of sharp gestures. We gave those gestures certain names back in the day, which I am bringing back to help the students not only remember the steps, but also giving them a certain context or quality to inform how they will be dancing.” -Janet Lily | former Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane Company member and restager of Freedom of Information III

CHRISTINA ROBSON

On her collaboration with SADC: “First of all, I was so touched that SADC was interested in having me come, that there’s something I do or some way of being that appealed to them. I am somebody who's fascinated by making movement material, which has always been an exciting part of being a teacher. I’m passionate about alignment, foundation, and understanding new ways of moving, and that enthusiasm is kind of a springboard for the movement invention of this piece.

Something I love about SADC is that year after year, anytime I come and work with them, the energy is always up. I know the dancers have long days but even late in the semester when things are hectic, there is a

beautiful generosity and openness from the students, which gets me excited. I come in and am constantly thinking about how I can challenge them, maybe doing something that they have done a million times before but giving it a new filter, lense, layer or whatever. Or bringing something completely new, which is a challenge for me because everyone here is already so talented.

Regardless the enthusiasm is contagious, and I always feel very welcomed. There is

never any sort of competitive sourness in the room, I feel like all the dancers embrace each other. And there is always laughter in my classes here. I always say my favorite class texture is one where we’re super focused, working super hard, but the spirit is light. If the dancers can be really on their details and working hard but able to laugh at themselves, then I feel like I've held the space in the right way.” -Christina Robson, movement maker and current member of the Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane Company

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Getting to Know Second Avenue Dance Company!

Student Choreographers

Celine Abdallah, BFA

In the film Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, there is a scene

with a man and woman standing in a bedroom. The camera is positioned further back, capturing the two directly center of the bedroom door. The entire room frames their bodies as they each move in slow, teeny tiny increments. I couldn’t help but imagine what a beautiful dance this scene would make. Yet, it wasn’t the character’s movement alone that made this moment so effective, but the color, camera angle, framing, and so on. Nonetheless, this image engraved itself into my mind and joined the several other cinematic images, ultimately leading to an over-filled mind, 6 dancers, an 8 minute limit, and 0 idea where to start.

Thanks to Ali, I was inspired by the power of formal choices in film, approaching my piece with the curiosity of what role elements such as editing/cuts, aesthetic, narrative, dialogue, camera angles, blocking, and sound play in the creation of dance. Of course, things change,

ideas mold, and themes arise (I mean, I’m not even sure if the Ali image made the cut), but it has been more than exciting to see where this approach has taken us.

Kirsten Coco, BFA

For a long time I have been inspired to create work

about the feeling of being in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but logical, mental and physical space. Specifically, I have been focusing on the idea of a person purposely putting themself in an

uncomfortable situation because they know it will benefit their overall well being. I am also curious about the length of time it may take a person to make such a difficult and brave decision. The juxtaposition between logical and uncomfortable and what it means to free oneself is the main concept my dancers and I are currently exploring in “Unfamiliar. Windy. Logical.” I am excited to present this work and to share whatever thoughts and feelings it may awaken to those who view it. I am also eager to watch the final product, specifically knowing the deep personal connection my dancers and I have to it.

Julio L. Laforteza, BFA

I came into this

process bare, improvising to sounds I thought were interesting and speeches spoken by people of questionable character, seeing how I would physically and emotionally react . One thing that I became interested in as the process went on was the resilience of the human body under stress, and eventually, the resilience of the human spirit. I played around with the idea of exhausting myself and seeing how exhaustion and fatigue influenced how a movement felt and looked, and seeing how far I coul tire myself but still maintain clarity and precision in my mind and body. I am excited to share this work, talk about it, and see where this process is yet to take me.

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Getting to Know Second Avenue Dance Company!

Meet our Accompanists

Mal Stein, Percussion

Before I started playing for classes, I played Middle Eastern music and

worked with belly dancers. Somewhere along the lines someone asked me to play for a Martha Graham class, and then I started playing for Joffrey Ballet.

Here a lot of classes start off meditatively. I am always pretty restless, not comfortable with just a sound, but always thinking about how can I evolve it further. And that’s how the electronic set up developed. I started bringing in other sounds like ocean waves, rain, and such in the background, when the dancers are all laying on the floor doing drifty stuff, and I can sense it helps the students get more relaxed. It’s all circular. I am always watching the dancers and teachers so intently to make sure they get when they need in that moment. It’s a natural thing, and because I’ve created the electronic set up that I have, I’ve got a whole world of sounds, everything that I could ever want. All those colors, it keeps me interested, it keeps everyone interested.  

And that’s just it. It’s about watching and listening, and one last thing that’s very important: the class is not about me. If I sit there and try to do everything I can to impress everyone, it will be just that ego mess. You have to be aware, of volumes and such, when the teacher is talking to play a little softer. And that’s the way it should be, when everything is a microcosm of everything. I’m there to support the 

teacher, the dancers, and their interaction, and that’s it. In turn, I’m left alone and can do whatever I want to do, which is just a blast. I love it, I really do. Even on days that I’m tired or whatever, how can I complain? I get to go and play for teachers that I like, dancers that I like, at schools that I like. How bad is that? It’s really great.

SADC Alumni: Where are they now?

Stephanie Troyak (Class of 2015) is the youngest

member in history to join Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.

Since her time in the Second Avenue Dance Company, Stephanie Troyak has successfully immersed herself in the European dance scene. Originally from Ontario, Canada, Stephanie moved to the United States and where she trained at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She accepted NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ invitation to pursue a BFA in dance, and worked with Gallim Dance while in New York.

Right out of college, Stephanie joined the Batsheva

Ensemble in 2015, performing work by Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eval, and Danielle Agami. In 2017, Stephanie was later offered a contract with the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch company, under the direction of Adolphe Binder. She recently premiered in Alan Lucien Øyen’s creation New Piece II, and continues to pursue other freelance interests and her own choreographic endeavors. 

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