Creating and Re-Creating Dance Performing Dances Related to Ausdruckstanz Betsy Fisher ACTA SCENICA 12 Creating and Re-Creating Dance Performing dances related to Ausdruckstanz Betsy Fisher ACTA SCENICA 12 Näyttämötaide ja tutkimus Teatterikorkeakoulu - Scenkonst och forskning - Teaterhögskolan - Scenic art and research - Theatre Academy Betsy Fisher Creating and Re-Creating Dance Performing dances related to Ausdruckstanz written thesis for the artistic doctorate in dance Theatre Academy, Department of Dance and Theatre Pedagogy Publisher: Theatre Academy © Theatre Academy and Betsy Fisher Front and back cover photos: Carl Hefner Cover and lay-out: Tanja Nisula ISBN: 952-9765-31-2 ISSN: 1238-5913 Printed in Yliopistopaino, Helsinki 2002 To Hanya Holm who said, “Can do.” And to Ernest Provencher who said, “I do.” Contents Abstract 7 Acknowledgements 9 Preface 11 Introduction 13 Preparation: Methodology 19 Rehearsal: Directors 26 Discoveries: Topics in Reconstruction 43 Performance: The Call is “Places”– an analysis from inside 75 Creating from Re-Creating: Thicket of Absent Others 116 Connections and Reflections 138 Notes 143 References 150 Index 157 Abstract Performance Thesis All aspects of my research relate to my work in dance reconstruction, performance, and documentation. Concerts entitled eMotion.s: German Lineage in Contemporary Dance and Thicket of Absent Others constitute the degree performance requirements for an artistic doctorate in dance and were presented in Studio-Theater Four at The Theater Academy of Finland. eMotion.s includes my performance of solos choreographed by Mary Wigman, Dore Hoyer, Marianne Vogelsang, Hanna Berger, Rosalia Chladek, Lotte Goslar, Hanya Holm, Alwin Nikolais, Murray Louis, and Beverly Blossom. These choreographers share a common artistic link to Ausdruckstanz (literally Expression Dance). I presented these dances in two programs, each performed twice. Thicket of Absent Others was an evening of my choreography that reflected my experience with dance reconstruction. Created for the dancers in their second year of study in the Dance Department of The Theater Academy, Thicket of Absent Others included Rosalia’s Shadow, featuring four solos for women; Temporary Container, a male solo; and a group work entitled Dialogue with Dancing Ghosts. Dialogue with Dancing Ghosts is also the conclusion of my written thesis; it encapsulates some of my artistic experiences and thought processes related to eMotion.s. Written Thesis The structure of my written thesis chronologically follows my process of creating eMotion.s and Thicket of Absent Others. I chronicle my initial inspiration for the project, the methods employed for learning, costuming, finding musical scores, rehearsal process, and performance. The written thesis reflects my approach to performance. I discuss the artistry of dance performance and the research, both physical and academic, that I embarked upon to be able to dance and create eMotion.s and Thicket of Absent Others. I have tried to put into words, in straightforward way, the transformation I experience in the creative acts of performing, choreographing, and directing. I trace the retrieval, rehearsal, performance, and documentation of the solos and original choreography. I endeavor to bring the reader into the vibrant act of performance. 7 I hope to impart my love of the dances that I am honored to perform, and to convey the deep and growing respect I harbor for the teachers, choreographers, directors, dancers, composers, musicians, and designers with whom I have worked. It takes a team to summit the largest mountains, and I am grateful to my partners on this journey. 8 Acknowledgements I gratefully acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Dr. Claudia Jeschke, my artistic advisor, mentor, research assistant, and co-artistic director. I am also indebted to Marcia Siegel, my academic advisor, and Soili Hämäläinen, the head of the Pedagogy Department at The Theater Academy of Finland. I am deeply appreciative to these three women for their advice, support, and encouragement. I thank the directors with whom I have worked: Waltraud Luley, Claudia Gitelman, Manfred Schnelle, Elisabeth Stelzer, Lance Westergard, Stephanie Godino, Charles Haack, Beverly Blossom, Ottie Mitterhuber, Murray Louis, and Alwin Nikolais. I am grateful for the additional research assistance of: Ingrid Giel, Dr. Gunhild Oberzaucher-Schüller, Alfred Oberzaucher, Gabi Vettermann, Frank-Manuel Peter of The Tanzarchiv Köln, Janine Schulze of The Tanzarchiv Leipzig, and Phil Karg, Anita Schulze, and Madeline Nichols of The Dance Collection of The New York Library of Performing Arts. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to Marlies Heinemann and The Mary Wigman Gesellschaft and The Rosalia Chladek Gesellschaft. I am indebted to several musicians including Rodwic Fukino, Eric Schank, Janis Capelle, Linda Rosenthal, Francis Fong, and especially Ernest Provencher. Recording engineers Kai Wager, Kari Tossavainen, Pierre Grill and Peter Medeiros donated their services, for which I am grateful. Lighting designers Janne Björklöf and Päivi Ronkainen were invaluable. Many thanks also to Raija Vuorio, producer of my concerts in Helsinki. Kudos to my brother, Bill Fisher, who wrote the text for Temporary Container. Costume designers Myrna Reyes, Joan Rohrback, Heideh Jamshidian, Frank Garcia, John Goodwin, Terttu Torkkola, and mask maker/designer Michael Harada assisted with their talents and skills. Ufo Tossavainen and Hanna-Kaisa Hämäläi- nen helped enormously with the technical aspects of Thicket of Absent Others, and Heli Kauppila was an invaluable rehearsal assistant. My thanks also go to Labanotators Wendy Chu, Thomas Schallman, Leslie Rotman Sackman and Valerie Williams. Eileen Fox of the Dance Notation Bureau also assisted this project. Funding for my projects was received from The University of Hawai‘i at Manoa (University Research Council and Seed Money Grants), The Hong Kong Academy 9 for Performing Arts, Sächsische Kulturstiftung, and The United States Information Agency. The following institutions and people generously donated rehearsal space: The University of Hawai‘i, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Munich University, The Palucca Schule, The Dresden Staats Oper, The Vienna VolksOper, The Pacific Ballet Academy, Katherine Posin, and Sardono. Consultants to whom I am grateful include: Hanya Holm, Gregg Lizenbery, Marilyn Cristofori, Carl Wolz, Janis Redman, Janis Brenner, Annabelle Gamson, Heide-Marie Härtel, and Wolfgang Klein. Many thanks to John Nakasone for computer related assistance. The dancers in Thicket of Absent Others were remarkable and a joy to work with. Kiitos, Danke und mahalo to my husband, Ernest Provencher, whose support and professional advice has been integral to the entire project. 10 Preface Choreography has long been an interest of mine, and the reason I was initially attracted to Wigman-Holm based dance training. My first modern dance classes (excluding those with Pola Nirenska when I was four years old – I do not remember much more that having bells around my ankles) were with Erika Thimey. Erika is a graduate of Mary Wigman’s Dresden school. Prior to study with Erika, the majority of my training was with Miss Pat, a teacher of jazz, tap, ballet, and just about anything she could get the parents to pay for. In my last performance with Miss Pat, I danced a solo to the music of The Ventures playing “Funky Broadway.” My bust, waist, and hip measurements at the time were twenty-twenty-twenty. My costume was a blue fringe bikini, black fishnet stockings, and black heels. I knew I wanted to dance, and although willing to sacrifice all for my art, I knew that there had to be something more fulfilling and less humiliating. My mother saved me. She put me into modern dance classes as a form of punishment (not for the Ventures dance, but for some adolescent indiscretion). She found an activity to keep me busy and off the streets. I came to the first class (in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.) to meet Erika, a sturdy German woman, hair in a tight bun, dressed in a black turtleneck leotard, black tights, black slippers, and a calf-length black skirt. In the middle of the studio floor was a white box. She and the students were at one end of the room where she sat with her drum. She turned to me with a sparkle in her eye, banged on the drum and shouted, “Go!” I knew in an instant, this was for me. Classes with Erika included improvisation, choreography, and technique. The accompanist, Harold Clayton, played the entire piano with mallets, fists, and fingers – not a Chopin etude to be heard. This was in the 1960’s and I felt I had found the true rebels who questioned everything, and did so with creative, not destructive, energy. Again and again, I look back on this time as the beginning. I had always danced and was determined to continue. Erika was the first of several real teachers I have been lucky to find. She has spirit and she can communicate. As I write this, I realize that part of my vision of Hexentanz is of Erika, sitting at her drum, empowering a young girl from the suburbs to get out there and deal with the space. Boom! Go! 11 Introduction The original idea was to keep dancing. I had performed internationally with the Murray Louis Dance Company (1980–88), danced in numerous projects for film and television, and free-lanced as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. While inspired to choreograph, I did not wish to form my own dance company. I decided that creating a solo concert would be a better route for me. It was clear that many choreographers were desperate to create something completely new. How utterly new, I thought, to create a program of solo dances that present and reflect upon a specific line of dance heritage. I realized that my artistic heritage could be traced to Germany and the Ausdruckstanz (literally Expression Dance) choreographers, and that no one else had created a solo program of dances that celebrate this historical lineage. I initiated the project in 1992, and the first dances that I worked on for inclusion in the program were by Mary Wigman, Hanya Holm, Alwin Nikolais, and Murray Louis.