
Isolation to Creation

Showtime
After 2 weeks inside Works & Process bubble residencies, projects culminate in live performances at Kaatsbaan Festival and filmed video at Lincoln Center, previewing future premiere performances at the Guggenheim, once it is safe for all to gather.
TRANSCRIPT
♪
That exchange of energy between
artists and audience member is,
is something that can't be
replaced. And so we were really,
really lucky that we have this
beautiful space here at Kaatsbaan
to share with artists and
and art lovers alike.
♪
We are getting it
quite done.
Quite done, it is getting.
We are summoning all
the beatboxers.
♪
This residency means a lot
for me, and I know
the crew as well,
because there isn't a long form
version of any of this anywhere.
Zero.
And if it, if there is, it's
very much like, look at this
beatboxing.
Whic to me is kind of lame
because it's like,
you're, this is just the tool.
This is just a tool that
you're going to be using to
communicate. Right? But it's not
about that. It's just, those are
just the skills that we're going
to use in order to like talk,
♪
We need this right now.
Like, we need this,
like just to get us
even that, that sense of hope
because that's what artists do.
We have a responsibility to
start that conversation.
Look, the world's burning
in a lot of ways, but we're
still going to do everything
that we can to like, give
something to you. We're going to
give ourselves and share this
energy with you. Hopefully that
it'll like lift your spirit in
some sort of way. And that will
be a win.
You know?
Cause that's what it is. Art is
transformative. And like you can
really shift people's lives in a
different direction by sharing
your own experience. And that's
what we want to be doing through
this time.
♪
Game over.
It was the first live
performance I'd seen since
February 2020. It was also the
first live performance that most
of the audience had seen since
February 2020. Not only was
the whole audience ecstatic, to be
able to see people perform and
to once more engage and cheer
and clap and respond.
But the performers themselves
finally heard a live audience and they
could, they could react to it.
It was, it was wonderful.
I just, what I get from them is
this sense of just wistful,
ecstatic, euphoria, the few of us
staff members just sat in the
audience, watching these dancers
dance after so many months of
not knowing when that was ever
going to happen again. And it's
really hard to articulate why it
was so moving. That's why people
love art so much.
Because it's,
something you can't articulate.
It's something you can only feel
in your heart, in your gut.
Hey everyone!
Welcome!
Oh my god it's so many people!
Hey hey!
How are you?
Long time no see, how's everything?
I see we're wearing the same colors.
Welcome everyone to the
Kaatsbaan Mock Ball.
My name is the Legendary
Omari Oricci
The Founding Father of the
House of Nina Oricci
and I'm so happy that you're here
at our first annual
Kaatsbaan Mock Ball. So!
My work has to represent growth.
My work has to represent a
questioning of identity and
self, but then at the same time,
a realization, an awakening of
community and what that
really means
DJ. Let's get another beat
because they're about to battle.
Are you ready judges? You got to pick
who you want. The Old Way. It's a battle.
Battle battle battle
of The Old Way.
Talk about lines, talk about precision,
talk about grace, talk about attitude,
talk about Old Way.
to The Old Way to The Old Way to
The Old Way
Which one of em is not like the other one
which one of em just doesn't belong?
Which one of em is not like the other one
Old Way elements in strong.
Which one, which one?
Let's go, let's go. Let's go.
Don't make me get loud.
...but I don't have to tell you
because you know you're ugly.
Everyone laughs, and kikis.
And everyone laughs, and kikis.
♪
The artists need, we need these
opportunities to, especially,
I mean right now with COVID, you
know yeah. An opportunity to
bubble ourselves, you know,
I mean we're already bubbling ourselves up.
But just the opportunity to get out,
and, and, and, really do
something in that time, we need that,
you know, and it makes us
feel worth something like we're
still worth something. You know
what I'm saying? Like, Oh, this
world still needs us. Oh the
world's shut down. Oh, artists,
artists are just out every man for themself.
No there are
artists coming together. You know,
there are artists coming
together to help fund other
artists, you know? And maybe
that's another thing. Like we
need more institutions,
institutions to allow us to
create these connections with
other artists and bring us
together with other artists.
From other forms of art
Ladies and gentlemen,
Les Ballet Afrik
We need to give Stella a LSS.
Yeah!
Ms. Stella, Ms. Stella,
Ms. Stella, Ms. Stella,
I love you guys.
We don't need a mic. Say what?
We want you to get some sleep!
Ms. V! Ms. V! We want you to get some sleep!
This project never to me was
going to be a project that just
involved a performance. It
involved collecting oral
histories that are going to live
at the performing arts library.
It also involves connecting with
communities. You know, in my
mind, we would go to a city to
perform and we would have an
evening of doing the
performance, but then another
evening where we would connect
with the community of dancers in
whatever city and they would
share their story. And it's
about what this community has
done for so many people
changed our lives.
♪
Baby,
it's good to be young.
You better believe it.
Work, mama.
♪
To be honest, it's a friendship.
It's so strong, and then you can see,
you can tell, on stage,
we're such good friends, like best friends,
we talk about everything.
You can see when you watch us,
how fun, and how like
we are connected.
♪
Okay. So yesterday got me
thinking. It was when Greg and I
were having this meeting and we
were talking about all the
qualities that all the performers,
uh, in our company have.
And Greg went on and on and talking
about everyone. Me, Noé, José, Gisele,
And obviously he didn't talk
about him, and I didn't hop on him.
On saying,
expressing his qualities
that I admire on him, not as a musician
as a performer on the stage.
♪
I, I know his voice. I know his
language music wise. If I hear
composition from him, I can
tell this to music somehow, you know
and I can't point exactly on
what is this special thing that
he brings, but there is, uh,
it's his signature, but as a
performer, he is always trying
to connect with everyone on his stage
and like is always make
eye contact and really to
connect and like to understand
what's going on on your mind
when you are performing and like
having a communication, you can
always go through his eyes and
like find support.
Um, and he's always
like gauging eyes to
support himself too as well. And
I think that's, that's that,
that, that shows a lot when
you're performing, because
it shines.
♪
♪
I, I feel supreme trust that
our, our relationship will
always work out because at the
end of the day, I'm just usually
excited for Leo's ideas.
And it's not just choreography, you
know, like we have, we have
songs where he wrote the melody,
you know, or he is really coming
up with ideas that aren't just
tap, he's coming up with
melodic and making them work. So
it's really exciting for me to
encourage him as a composer and
be like, yo, no, that's dope.
Like it's like a relationship,
you know, things are going
great, but it's still good
every Sunday night to sit down
and be like, Hey, how was your
week? You know, you can't just
assume that people always know
what, what you're feeling or
what you're thinking.
♪
Ooh,
I like that. Keep working that back
don't know how to act
Slow motion for me slow motion for me.
♪
Limes
♪
Tequilla
♪
Jose Cuervo
It's time to celebrate.
The most exciting thing about
this type of residency coming
from quarantine for me personally,
is, well, one of the
most important things is just
human contact. Just like the
worry-free guilt-free ability to
share a meal with someone, to
give someone a hug really meant
a lot to me.
Hello.
Goodbye.
♪
Ah, that's how we used to do.
This is the Chef V. We are so
honored to have her love of food
amongst us.
I am making four chicken breasts
stretch for nine people.
Michelle's here now. Skill.
You just cut it thin and put a bunch of
vegetables on top of it.
Boo-yah.
What ya got, Patterack?
So how was rehearsal today Jamar?
Rehearsal was, um,
very good, actually
good rehearsals actually don't
they don't for me, they don't
always mean when things go
smoothly. It was good because, um,
I presented an idea and I've
fought to the max to stay
committed to the idea.
Can we go back to that?
♪
You just, gotta feel yourself.
I thought I knew what I needed,
but I think this residency has
sort of allowed me, um, it's
sort of peeled back the covers
on a whole nother level of
necessity and it's more and it's
deeper and that is daunting
because I'm like, really, I
really felt like in the past,
like I was digging as deep as I
possibly can, but I think
there's something about this
moment that makes me feel like
there is more, which means going
deeper into myself.
And I can't even imagine what the work would
look like in ten years from now.
I mean,
I hope dance would be able to
handle it.
♪
When, Duke offered this residency,
um, I grabbed at it
because it was an opportunity
for us to move from Zoom
meetings to actually be in a
studio with part of our cast.
And it, it's still going to be
early to have Vivian involved
because we're literally going to
go there and just, you know,
with Josh and Jeffrey and
a couple of dancers start the
bare bones of what this is.
How was it to work
on something and n ot
know when it's going to be premiered?
Great. I think it's great
because it, it keeps me honest.
I think it keeps me honest and
it keeps me, um, yeah. Yeah.
That's kinda like the main thing.
♪
Ah!
All right. We're going to dance
with some trees at Lincoln Center
so we're practicing,
although these trees are
different, um, we're doing the
best we can so that we can be on
point when we go and film.
How close are the trees?
They're as close as
they are on the photo. Yeah.
Cause if it's like this? It's kind of
like this, look, check this out.
Like that. So yeah, you have
room. Totally.
There's a magic window on
these Bubbles, where on the very
last day of the Bubble, before
these artists exit the Bubble
and go home, there is a window
that these performers can all
perform together. And our hope
was to shuttle these dancers
into the rotunda of the
Guggenheim. One of the most
social distance conducive spaces
in New York City. We were a
little bit naive. It was June.
We thought the museum would be
open by August. That's not the
case. Um, but when we realized
the museum, wasn't going to be
open to receive these dancers
and that governor, the governor
was still not permitting indoor
performances to happen. We
thought, how do we sequence
these Bubbles and create more
opportunity for these dancers?
And so we reached out to
multiple presenters to see if
they would work with us. And
Lincoln Center, uh, jumped right
in. They realized this window of
opportunity to have double,
rapid tested 14 day isolated
dance projects. In essence,
their passport is stamped.
And so Lincoln Center welcomed four
different Works & Process
Bubbles onto the Lincoln Center
campus, which was closed off to
the public. Performances,
outdoors happened that were
filmed, really serves as a model
for how these Bubble residencies
can be generative, uh, rather
than existing in isolation.
♪
Hello, hello, we are at Lincoln Center
and, we're doing our filming.
at Lincoln Center, with Works & Process.
Um, it's been a wonderful
experience in the two week Bubble, from
Isolation to Creation.
COVID-19 free woop woop!
Negative!
This feels weird, a mask feels strange,
I know we were, like,
I was just at Lincoln Center
just like, you know, 13 days ago
doing a site visit
before we left. And yet I feel
like I haven't been here in years.
I think back. Perfect. Crazy thing.
I'm motivated. I'm a
little scared, because it's like going back
into isolation, it's like, blah.
I wish it was longer.
But hopefully we'll be back.
♪
We spent the whole day there with them.
It was utterly exciting.
But the absolute joy
that happened because they
could all work together was, was, astounding.
♪
So an eight change,
One two three four five six seven eight change,
So give that, but we don't see them.
Um, and then again
whenever we're done with the taping,
it's too hot,
come right back over here.
Work Shay, work Shay.
♪
Yes. It's nothing! It's nothin!
♪
♪
Ok, great, let's do it
Full energy
Mark
Ready?
Yep
OK, going going going
Rolling
♪
♪
♪
It's okay it's okay.
slowly you pull it out.
You wiggle it out. Pull pull
Good
Yay! That was suction.
[Cheering] You got stories!
Michelle and Archie! Yay!
Woo! Aw.
♪
What is truly exciting about
these Bubble residencies and the
model that we've created is that
we know with scientific data
that this works. How do we know
that it works? We double rapid
test the artists on the way in.
And just two weeks ago, we
tested all 19 artists on the
very last day of their Bubble
residency and all 19 tested
negative. So they're negative on
the way in they're negative on
the way out. And this is a
working model for artists to
safely gather and create again.
♪
To feel a part of a community
that is the power of the arts
to build community. It provides a
place for people to belong
In the wake of this
time, where we have all had to
remain so isolated,
we will foster
this building of community again.
♪
More Episodes (4)
Video Clips (1)
Further Reading
- DanceWatch: Works & Process gets artists back in the studio with bubble residenciesJanuary 27, 2021