Saturday 6th January 2018
I went back to The Place this morning, and got there at 9:00am (earlier than I normally do!) ready for a new year of dancing, teaching and performing.
This term, I continue teaching my lovely little First Moves (children aged 5-7) and New Moves (aged 8-9). I was delighted to see them again and meet a few new faces. Amongst these was my new teaching assistant, Theia, who studies at LCDS. She was wonderfully supportive and took good initiatives in both of my classes. I noticed that she immeditaly established great contact with the children, which was a joy to observe. The accompanist who joined us for New Moves did a great job too.
By the way, there will be more on music and musicians in my next posts!
If you follow me through this blog, you probably know how much I love to work, take classes and meet people at The Place. Of course, there are many personal and historical reasons for this.
Dance history is something I would love to research further, teach and write about, actually. This morning, my New Movers were so eager to find out more about Martha Graham, and how and when dance positions had been codified in classical and modern dance techniques… Did you know that The Place was founded 50 years ago? And do you know what connects The Place to Graham herself? More to come on this blog throughout the year!
Architecturally, there is also something quite unique about The Place. No wonder that calling it ‘The Place’ seems to be enough – as if there was only one place (for dance) in the world. Even though one side of the building looks like a perfectly normal dance school (with lots of studios, bright light coming through the windows, and attractive stretching zones), a walk down the mysterious corridors of the lower ground floor and across the cafe leads directly into the theatre! And there I was. Facing a massive poster announcing ‘Resolution – The festival for new dance’. Next to it, I felt small, but determined. Small, but proud to be a small part of it. And ready, so ready for it!
The opening night of Resolution 2018 is near, and tickets are selling fast. I hope you have you booked yours. My collaborators and I will be back at the theatre on Monday, so watch this space for more posts on #swappingshadows and #Res18!
Prochain article en français, bien sûr. L’alternance continue en 2018. A bientôt !
Lundi 1er janvier 2018
forming seems to be the best way of getting ready for our official premiere in January! That is why we are going to perform part of ‘Swapping Shaodws’ again in 
Pop in one of our open rehearsals at Concertina, an installation by Richard Wentworth and APPARATA. It is hosted by arebyte Gallery until the 22nd December only, and entrance is free! Sit and watch us from the staircases. Tell us what you think, or write it down on a post-it note. We would love to hear your thoughts on the piece!
Yanaëlle Ritter 