Presenting Day 4 video blog sharing the process of April Sellers Dance Collective in residence at Tofte Lake Center. Thank you to the MN State Arts Board & Fidelity Charitable / James K Spriggs Foundation for their generous support of this work.
Videography by Blake Nellis / www.blakenellis.org
An eye into the residency –
Things that feel true/I love:
– April’s candid statements about how long it takes to make a work and the practice of doing it in seclusion until the decisions are made.
– Aggression feels more safe than vulnerability.
– The construct of gender in our culture is incredibly charged right now.
– I love the integration and manipulation of sounds, singing, text, sounding. LOVE IT!
– The ensemble is so strong, each individual comes through and they are a cohesive unit and they are yummy.
This work feels dense and ambitious, I can’t wait to see more of it!
That was very moving, brought me back to my days of youthful indiscretions. Kinda chuckled to myself now that i am calm and serene as a senior citizen. And as a philanthropist I can watch how my money is being put to good use even miles apart feel like i am in the audience. Thank you very much April Sellers for this great beauty, nature and humanness in all the hard work you do. You are a credit and asset to your organization which I will continue to support.
April! Thanks so much for sharing from this place in the process. Really exciting to watch, especially to see how compelled/involved your audience is in the work (!!!!!), and how open you are with the ideas you’re working with. What a great cast. I love all of the vocal work/text/singing as a through line. And using a bare chested female feels like such a strong choice, and really worked for me.
Looking forward to seeing where this goes!
April-
-The staccato floor hiccup after the fluid wavy material was a great, unexpected surprise.
-I loved hearing the grunting (I think it was Hallie?) during the “adjust” section as she first slumped Tim over her shoulder, as it spoke to the challenge of vulnerability you mention later. It made me appreciate the effort and connected me to part of what it was like to be that body at that moment taking on that weight.
-Loved the juxtaposition of Tim and Kimberly manipulating/instructing/commentating on Hallie’s body, invading her personal space physically and vocally, versus her scuttling across the floor yelling powerfully away from them. Her bare back (2:37) while upside down spoke to strength as well as vulnerability (it made me think of how protests are made up of BODIES). Hearing her strong voice rage, low and powerful on the floor and seeing the musculature of a woman’s upper body as it moves like this and makes these sounds piqued my curiosity and gave me insight into (some of) what you are investigating in this work.
This video blog is such an awesome display of dance and process. April, when you remark, “All of those decisions” I responded, yes there are so many decisions! You articulated this so well to your audience. Thank you for sharing the new work at this stage.
Few comments:
– When Tim and Kim are lifting Hailey and pulling her back while she is moving forward and trying to crawl away. I’m drawn in by the intracacy of the partnering and the feeling of frustration that build in me of her trying to “escape.” Love it.
– Their vocal cords! Such awesome performers.
– I love the question from the facilitator, “as to what part are you responding from?” I would be interested in hearing all of the comments from this question, and I think this question and comments echo the visceral experience the work is emanating.
I’m looking forward to following the development of this work. Bravo! And thank you for bringing this topic to conversation.