Performance Day!

Wazzzup!

So today was our last day here at the Garth Fagan SMI! What a ride! Here is what happened...

This morning we woke up to the sound of a beautiful waterfall. The only problem, the waterfall was coming in through the 8th floor ceiling! A water pipe burst on the 9th floor and completely flooded and 5 bedrooms (Josh's included) were completely ruined on the 8th floor. Lucky for Ben and me, our rooms were saved by the workers who were able to turn off the water and vacuum up what was spreading down the hall.

So after that incredibly stressful morning we went downstairs and took class as our warm up, ran through our class presentation, Norwood Pennewell's piece, and then "Two Pieces of One: Green" and had a 45min break until we performed. With the entire studio floor packed, as well as the balcony, the show went on with no distractions.

After the performance, there was a wonderful reception where there was fruit, drinks, cookies, veggies, and of course tons of very nice people, the entire Garth Fagan Company, Garth himself, and all of our teachers. The press was there with cameras, and I was asked my information (name, age, hometown). I was also interviewed by the intern who has been filming classes and field trips through this entire process.

All in all, the entire process was life changing. I met incredible people through this experience. The other dancers, the teachers, and the company were all very welcoming, inspirational, talented, and intelligent. I said it in my last blog and I'll say it again, DO THIS INTENSIVE IF YOU CAN! You'll come back a completely different person!

See you soon Milwaukee! Miss you!

Andrew

A Story from the Garth Fagan Summer Dance Intensive

Hey UWM! It's been a while! Ben and I are sitting at the one place we get an Internet connection, (The Spot Coffee House) and I thought I'd share an amazing experience we had last week. We just finished our first week of the intensive and within the first five days, we took our first field trip. The trip took us to Nazareth College for a tech rehearsal for the Elizabeth Streb dance company. They performed this last weekend and we were privileged to attend her first tech rehearsal. We didn't get to see much of the show, but what we witnessed afterwards is what really blew our minds.

After a delicious pizza party, we were taken into a smaller theatre for a very intimate conversation between Garth Fagan, Elizabeth Streb, and a moderator. It's difficult to put into words what we experienced but what I can say is that the conversation lasted an hour but could have gone all night. Both Garth and Elizabeth are incredibly intelligent, articulate, creative, inspirational, intellectual, insightful, innovative, and welcoming individuals.

The entire audience got a sneak peek into their choreographic minds, their history, their viewpoints, and their intense humanistic natures. When the conversation came to a close, everyone immediately stood up to show their appreciation with a standing ovation. Like I said earlier, I could have listened to the two of them talk forever but what I did hear blew me away. I felt like I was in the presence of two dance genius' who would influence the way I dance, the way I watch dance, and the way I create dance for the rest of my life.

So far, this experience takes the cake for the most influential moment of this intensive. The technique classes, the reps, the company members, the other dancers, and the other classes are all allowing me to grow as well (I'll talk about them at another time) but so far, our "private" conversation with Garth and Elizabeth will stay with me (and hopefully the other dancers here) for a long time.

Being a Men Dancer

So I often think to myself, why did I choose Ted Shawn as a dance icon I wanted to learn more about? The proof, for me, was in his history.

I wanted to learn more about Ted Shawn because he is the reason I have more opportunities in the dance world. He began a "revolution" of sorts for men in the dance community. It is because of his work as a dancer and choreographer that I have the opportunity to do whatever I want with my future. I can dance in a company, I can form my own company, I can choreograph on myself or anyone who chose to work with me. The possibilities are endless, and I credit Ted for that.

Starting a blog about one person makes it very clear that I think it is important for the rest of the world to know about Ted Shawn. People may wonder, "Why Ted Shawn?" "It seems like all he did was make it more acceptable for men to dance, why is he so important?" I think the public needs to know about Ted Shawn and his accomplishments because dance may not be what it is today. As a male dancer, people always say, "Don't worry, you'll be cast. You're a guy". So what, maybe that was true when guys were slim pickings, but a lot has changed. There are plenty of men dancing in today's dance community and I think they are beginning to be taken for granted. If it weren't for Ted, men could quite possibly still be few and far between.

Besides his huge contribution to the male community, Ted created Jacob's Pillow. Jacob's Pillow is an amazing outlet for young, old, new, male, female dancers to grow as artists and people. It constantly brings in new dance companies as well as famous dance companies to perform each year, giving the students who attend an opportunity to see dance they may otherwise not have seen. Just to put it in perspective of the work Jacob's Pillow brings to the dance community, here is a list of all the companies that will be performing at Jacob's Pillow this year.

Kyle Abraham/Abraham.in.Motion

CND2

Jacoby & Pronk and Dancers

Pichet Klunchun Dance Company

Dance Theater of Harlem Ensemble

Camille A. Brown and Dancers

Armitage Gone! Dance

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company

Monica Bill Barnes and Company

Trey McIntyre Project

Yin Mei Dance

Les Ballets Trockadero de Montey Carlo

The Goteborg Ballet

Lucy Guerin Inc.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

The Vanaver Caravan

Nina Ananiashuili and the State Ballet of Georgia

Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal

Barak Marshall's MONGER

Shantala Shivalingappa

To view how diverse this group of companies is and more information on all the wonderful contributions Ted Shawn as done for dance, here is the link to Jacob's Pillow. I highly recommend checking it out. There is an endless supply of information and inspiration.

http://www.jacobspillow.org/

I could go on forever about the contributions Ted Shawn has made to dance and why the general public should know about him, but I'll stop here. Ted "Papa" Shawn is the grandfather of Modern dance and as a dancer, I respect my elders. Here's to you Grandpa!

What Ted was all about

Ted Shawn's core contribution to the dance world lies in all of the information I have already posted on this page. Every single biography I find about Ted Shawn attributes almost all of his success to his all male dance company. What Ted did for male dancers changed the future for every aspiring male dancer out in the world. He paved the way and created a world where it was more accepted for men to dance. However, he did more then that with his work.

Other men danced before Ted came along. There were men in ballet companies and other male modern dancers in his time, but Ted did something to stand out. He looked at what men did in their daily lives and created dances inspired from that. He really got to the heart of the physicality men were capable of. It wasn't always the grandiose physicality of modern dance that he portrayed either. In a dance titled "Labor Symphony", it is evidently clear of Ted's "work day" inspiration. There is a link below to a video of a cast dancing this four section piece, but the message is still quite clear. All four sections show the hard working man through the movement Ted created.

In the first section entitled "Labor of the Field", the MC states that the inspirations come from harvesting, cutting wheat, gathering, thrashing, and a celebration at the end. In the second section, "Labor of the Forrest", cutting a tree, sawing a tree, killing a small animal, and then carrying the log off stage are what inspired Ted (the picture on the left shows men today carrying a large log, and then a picture of Ted's company "carrying" a log).

In the third section, "Labor of the Sea" it is once again, "manly" behavior that takes hold of Ted. Carrying the boat, rowing the boat, casting a net, pulling in the catch, and then carrying off the boat are once again, very predominate. Finally, in the fourth section, Ted took to a more "modern" approach to the movement."Mechanized Labor" looks at the comparison of how the body moves fluidly and machines move rigidly. Each section comes off as extremely masculine in its movement, and even in this video, which is a cast of females, the masculine nature of the movement is evident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fmhb-zHrRY

Without Ted Shawn, men may have never been allowed into the dance field and been taken seriously. It seems like such a small contribution to such a large filed, but even today, the ratio of men to women is so large that what Ted did should never be forgotten. Perhaps it is because I am a male dancer that I find this to be his biggest contribution, but I doubt that. When all writers credit Ted for this "simple feat", it is hard to ignore.

The World of 1929

As I've mentioned, in 1929 Ted Shawn began his career as company Artistic Director when he created Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers. Everyone knows the big influence that Ruth St. Dennis had on him (and he had on her), but there were other things happening in the world during this time. Other things that most likely affected the art Ted Shawn was creating.

I looked for a long time for direct world events that Ted Shawn used as inspirations for dances, but I could not find any specific examples. So instead, I looked up 1929 and found some of these extremely important events.

Here is just a short list of events that could have influenced the works of Ted Shawn

• The Stock Market Crash
• The 1st Academy Awards were held in Los Angeles
• The Museum of Modern Art opened in New York City
• The St. Valentines Day Massacre took place in Chicago, IL
• Pope Pius XI emerges from the Vatican ending a nearly 60 years of "self-imprisonment"
• Pablo Picasso painted two abstract cubist works
• Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte were painting works as well

It's hard to saw what world events were influencing Ted Shawn, but I can speak from experience, It is hard to ignore what is happening in the world around you. The world around Ted Shawn was extremely exciting and constantly changing and I am sure his work was as well.

Ted is where it's at!!

With most American Modern dancers, their dance lineage goes way back to the beginning. Well, Ted Shawn is the beginning. Some of the most popular dancers in America were discovered by, or were given performance opportunities from Mr. Ted Shawn. Martha Graham, Charles Weidman, Doris Humphrey, Jack Cole, Agnes de Mille, Anton Dolin, Pearl Lang, Merce Cunningham, Anna Sokolow, Alvin Ailey, and Robert Joffery have all either studied under Ted Shawn or performed at Jacob's Pillow because of Ted Shawn.

Because of Ted's minimal dance technique training, I believe that Ted started the line of American Modern Dancers. Ted only got into dance because of a serious illness. The doctor's suggested that he take up dance as a form of therapy to recuperate his paralyzed lower body. I couldn't find much on who he trained with and where, mostly because I think what he did with his life after his recovery is much more astonishing then how he began. However, I did find that he wasn't only being rehabilitated in ballet or modern dance, but he also trained in ballroom and had one of his first dance experiences with a Metropolitan Opera ballerina!

Once Ted began working, he realized that men were not getting the same opportunities to perform as women. Most of the time, men were placed on stage to support the leading ladies. They were never really given the staring roles. So, with the creation of his all male dance company, one of Ted's biggest influences took center stage: masculinity. Masculinity was what Ted thrived on. He loved to see men dance, and he loved to see them dance like men. He loved men so much, most of the time their costumes barely covered the "goods". He also drew inspiration from Native Americans, American folk dance, and American popular culture.

He didn't begin with his all male dance company however. During his first tour of America, when the company stopped in New York, Ted met his biggest collaborator to date. Someone who he collaborated with on the stage, and in life. He met his wife, and long time collaborator Ruth St. Dennis on that tour. I could write about what they did together forever, so I'll keep it short. Ruth and Ted created one of the most influential dance techniques in the Modern world. The Denishawn technique ruled modern dance until their divorce, and with this separation Ted created Jacob's Pillow and Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers. Another important collaborator that put Ted on the map was Norma Gould. Working with Norma put Ted in the first dance recorded on film, Dance of the Ages.

Most of Ted's life was spent with Ruth St. Dennis limiting his collaborations. However, after their split and Jacob's Pillow was founded, the list of people who can say they collaborated with him continues to grow. During his time at Jacob's Pillow, Ted asked that his students call him Papa. I think it is safe to say that he is indeed, the Papa of American Modern Dance.

Ted "Papa" Shawn

Ted Shawn, born Edwin Myers Shawn" on October 21st, 1891 in Kansas City, Missouri, is the original male modern dancer. Throughout his childhood, Ted began studying to become a minister. At the age of 19, he suffered from a case of diphtheria which left him paralyzed. As a form therapy, his doctor suggested dance. Dance therapy worked and after his full recovery, Ted decided to leave the ministry and pursue dance as a career.

When Ted finally arrived in New York City, he was hoping to enter a new stage for his career. That change would come in the form of a woman. Ruth St. Dennis and Ted Shawn met in New York City and instantly fell in love. They were married on August 13th, 1914 and without knowing it, formed an extremely powerful dance alliance. They started a company and school under the name Denishawn, which became the largest dance academy of its time. Ted was the business head of the school as well as the main technique teacher. Ruth was more of the creative, free-spirited side of the Denishawn school. If modern dancers of today traced their dance lineage, it would most likely find its way to the Denishawn techniques. A few famous modern dancers who trained at the Denishawn school are Martha Grahm, Doris Humphery, and Charles Weidman.

After their, Ted continued to work in the dance world. He found an old run down farm in Becket, Massachusetts and transformed it into what is now the largest summer dance festival. He created Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. It was here that he formed his first modern dance company of all male dancers. He named it "Ted Shawn and his Men Dancers". With this company he made it acceptable for men to dance. Before, it was considered feminine if a man was good at dancing. He also broke the stereotype that men were to dance light and airy like ballet dancers. He made sure that the nearly 200 dances he choreographed throughout his career showcased the strength and virtuosity of his male dancers.

Ted Shawn died in 1972. He lived a very long and successful life and will forever go down in history as the original male modern dancer. Before his death he was knighted by the King of Denmark, and received two awards: the Capezio Award in 1957 and the Dance Magazine Award in 1970. If Ted Shawn were around today, I would shake his hand and thank him for breaking the mold and opening up the possibilities for every male dancer that followed him.