#amber funk barton

[mybigfatgreekyogurt]

Saw the art of stealing tonight so incredible so amazed fantastic work

[thearsenalproject]

Countdown: Week 1!

Let's do this!

Alright people, it's finally happening.  It's time to finally finish this thing...

So this was the company's first official week back in the studio.  Now we are embarking on the final rehearsals that will directly lead to the premiere performances of The Art of Stealing.  The past couple of months have been a lot of work getting ducks in a row in the hopes of now being able to focus the majority of my energy and concentration in the studio with the dancers and the production collaborators.

When you're staring down the barrel of a premiere it's easy and completely normal as a human being to second guess yourself.  I always have this fear going back in that I'm never going to be able to figure out...whatever it is that I need to figure out.  That I haven't scheduled enough time.  That the moves aren't sweet enough.  That I don't know what I'm doing.  Etc.  I still battle with those feelings but what I also realized is one thing I didn't have in the past is I now have a wee bit of experience.  What I'm trying to say is that The Art of Stealing is going to be the third full length work I've created for my company.  This doesn't mean I am no longer subject to the pressures and stress that comes with this territory (in fact, I'm wondering if it increases due to your personal expectations...) but it does mean that I am more prepared for what I am going to feel and experience over the next five weeks.

I've gotta say...just what the heck did we do before the invention of video?  Seriously.  I find it fascinating that this technology has become imperative in most rehearsals and creative projects to remount movement.  But honestly, I remember being a dance student and having, like, eight completely different solos as well as being in a handful of groups and I never used video cameras or computers to remember or keep them all in order.  What has happened?  Has my brain gotten lazy?  Well, if you saw the amount of footage I have on my laptop from The Arsenal Project until now then I'm sure you would have to agree with me that it would be virtually impossible to remember everything!

With all that being said, I haven't spent tons of time reviewing past footage.  I haven't "hunted" or "searched" very much through all my files.  What seems to be happening though is that I'll be working on something and then like a lighting bolt-ZAP!-I remember some random phrase or image that we haven't even touched for two years and somehow all of a sudden it makes sense to us it.  Go figure.

This first week back has been a total treat.  It's like we all just picked up the next day since the last time we were all together in October.  I am tired but I am happy.  Vibrating.  I've reached the stage where my brain is on a constant hum, frantically working to connect the dots of this weird little world that I am admirably obsessed with... 

[thearsenalproject]

After a bunch of research...we embark on testing out the movement in the form of work-in-progress performances.  Here's a trailer for our first public work-in-progress at the Dancing on the Edge Festival this summer in Vancouver. 

Enjoy!

[ambernicolebarton]

I made this

[thearsenalproject]

What I learned from Breakdancing

Yesterday I finished my last session with Graham.  I was a little sad that our 4 sessions were up since I finally feel like I'm kinda getting some flow even through I'm hanging onto it by the skin of my teeth.  When I get frustrated during our sessions I keep reminding myself that Graham has been breaking since he was a kid and...well, I'm 31.

I would really like to keep going with it--I think it's a great way to train, to get out of my head and do something so utterly physical to the point of exhaustion.  I'd like to keep it up.  Now that this chapter is over I'm back to working as a dancer and I'll be back and forth to Montreal to work with Animals of Distinction so The Arsenal Project will be on a bit of a break.  But of course the sourcing and "stealing" will still keep going.

That's the thing about making work-even when you're not working on it...you're still working on it.  It sits there in the back of your mind, twiddling its thumbs, waiting for you to pay attention to it and if you don't every once in awhile it will call out to you to make sure you haven't forgotten about it.  As you go about your other business in life, you see and hear things and you collect them to refer and/or use them later.  You sorta become a hoarder (or I do anyway) of ideas.  A lot of stuff you don't end up using but it doesn't mean that the process of collecting is in vain.  It's all in the name of artistic research.  It's like...hmmm...what is it like?

It's like a scavenger hunt.

Okay, so what else did I learn this month?

1.  Be yourself: Yes, I know.  So obvious and corny but I'm still gonna say it.  Graham always talked about personal style and how it's important to stand out, to put your personal stamp on how you interpret the movement.  He encourages it.  Once you learn the foundations you mess with it and make it your own.  That's a really simple idea you can forget over time whether it has to do with dance or anything else in your life.

2.  Practice, practice, PRACTICE: Don't think brilliance comes with learning a step once.  If you wanna be good at something or learn a new skill you have to drill it until you can't see straight.  Graham would tell me stories of coming home to find his roommates practicing their stalls and freezes in the living room and kitchen.  I think one dude even made a hole in the wall at some point.  The point I'm trying to make is don't expect anything to come easy.  It takes time and energy.  Don't even think of half assing it.  Yes, you can be talented (and coordinated) but you still have to work for it.

3.  Have fun: Life is short.  Youth is even shorter.  Enough said.

4.  Stretch: Another golden nugget of wisdom we tend to forget.  So stretch.  Before AND after you kill it on the dance floor.

5.  Drink water: Again.  So obvious.  But so important to remember.

So that was my April.  Next up is Man and Lexi in June.  I'll be around...

AFB

[thearsenalproject]

Round Three with Graham

This week I wrapped up my last 5 hours with Rob (sniff) and started breaking sessions with Graham (high five!).  That's right--break dancing.  Instead of me being the bossy pants and steering the ship I'm letting Graham take the reins and school me and it is oh so humbling.  I have always had a deep reverential respect for break dancing and have always wanted to study more of it.  There's something about the pure functionality and athleticism I have always crushed on.  That and the mentality behind it of just being open minded to try stuff and go for it.  

And did I mention it's friggen hard?

This week Graham and I did two sessions back to back, Thursday and Friday for two hours each day.  We covered six and seven step, coffee grinders, top rock, some threading, harlem shuffle and ways to start and finish (apparently very important).  Graham has a move called The Snake that is...well, I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but tres humbling.  We also worked on freezes and stalls--Do I dare say I believe my chair is stronger in two days?  There are also two moves I have named myself--The Bicycling Ninja and Waterfalls (whatever makes sense, right?)...

What I find interesting about breaking already is how it seems connected to the idea of fighting, of a practice or a defense strategy.  It's fitting right into my research and this underworld of hoodlums that seems to be nagging at me.  Graham is also a very good teacher--he breaks it down and teaches you the tools so essentially, eventually (hopefully) it is up to you to come up with your own combinations.  Anything has the potential to start and or finish whatever you decided to do.  I like that.  You're given some parameters to have some freedom.

I also hope that these sessions will help me with how I create floor work.  When I'm left to my own devices in this arena I feel like I hit a wall and just keep recycling my own movement.  Maybe breaking will unlock something or just reassure me that what I'm doing is interesting enough already.  We'll see...

AFB

[thearsenalproject]

You can take the girl out of the ballet but...

You know that saying, "The one that got away?"

If my relationship was with dance, then The One for me would be ballet.  Oh ballet...your seductive tendues and the siren call of your above 90 degree developes...no matter what happens to dance and I, no matter how many years we've spent apart or lost contact I still find myself reminiscing about the good old days when the most stressful part of my day was landing a triple pirouette.

This past week I've been in Victoria setting a piece with the Elev8 Youth Dance Project.  Due to the talented facility of the students I found myself dipping into a movement vocabulary I have almost forgotten about.  Of course as I have the studio to myself this week to work at Dance Victoria I can't help but now feel the pull of many different directions.  My worry is that I can create imitations of a technical aesthetic and not be truthfully making movement that is essentially an extraction of me--making dance that I believe or what I think will be successful or expected as opposed to allowing myself to feel vulnerable, take a plunge and make something that might potentially not be liked and/or "fail."

I think what it all comes down to is knowing what you want to make.  Even if you loose sight of it for awhile and come back to it, as long as your creative goal is clear then I think sometimes that's all you can ask for. 

Of course at this stage in the game, it appears that everything has been done.  Everybody has influences and I think it would be silly for me to say that all my movement is original.  I'm in no way reinventing the wheel here, folks. But I do think it is how you assemble all your many influences that make work original and/or innovative.  That's how you share your vision, your lens, your interpretation, of how you see the world.

AFB

[thearsenalproject]

Punctuation

Hey hey,

Last Friday Jen said I had good punctuation.  No, not the grammar kind.  The putting-together-movement kind.  It was a dear diary moment for me.  I have a high regard for Jen's opinion so needless to say I was tickled fuchsia pink by the complement.  Thank you Jen!

That being said, I am already nearing the end of my 20 hours with her.  Boo!  I'll just have to come up with inventive ways to keep bringing her back during the year.  My process with Jen has been comparable to sketching.  Nothing too complex has been painted but a couple of interesting sketches has been made, particularly a solo phrase I have been building progressively during our time together. 

Interestingly enough, I haven't really been that concerned with sound and/or music during this process.  I used to be so tied to music I was going to use but not so much any more.  Granted listening to music still sparks movement ideas but once I get going I tend to leave the music on the shelf.  Especially when working with a great mover like Jen-I don't want to box her into a specific score yet.  No point.  Forcing her and the movement to be mapped out by counts or the mood of one particular sound can limit interpretation and isn't what I'm trying to figure out at this stage in the game.

That being said, it's interesting when you can test the same phrase with different music-like trying on different sets of clothes to see how they will fit.  Shopping.  I was told once that the movement should be able to stand on its own without the music.  Sound should support or further emphasize what you are trying to create.  This, of course, can be easier said than done.

Five more hours left.  Will share more goodies of our discoveries next week.

Will also be doing a little side arsenal of my own in Victoria next week.  More to come: the unsupervised adventures of behaving in the studio as a solo artist...

AFB