Performances make what we do worth it.
Posted by: MADCO on: September 1, 2009
Ever since MADCO started this season, rehearsals have been an absolute whirlwind. Already in the first month we have participated in a flash mob performance for a corporate sales event, worked with four guest choreographers and began a wellness program that involves group training sessions to help keep our bodies in shape. Everything has happened so fast and we are barely into the season.
With all this stuff going on, I think it is safe to say my emotions have been a bit high…I have been feeling very nervous about remembering all the choreography and MADCO dancing well as a group. As with any job, you always want to improve, but when things are flying at you from left and right, you really have to stay focused and in the game. Then comes in the physical part; all of our bodies are starting to get a bit mad at us. Shoulders, backs, knees…every dancer has some sort of ache or pain. However, as professionals it is our job to keep pushing through. We must deal with all the mental and physical stuff together to help create a great final product. It’s a lot to think about…
Today it really hit me that from here on out comes the fun part: performances! It makes all the hard work completely worth it. Performances are the highlights of our day to day work.
In two weeks we will be performing ‘Music and Moves’ in a flat floor configuration. This is one of my favorite ways to perform because the audience gets to walk around while we dance, sip a cocktail and then talk to other patrons about the show. It’s very interactive and takes dance out of a traditional setting. My first year at MADCO we did a performance with a similar concept, ‘Club MAD’ and it was probably one of the coolest shows I have danced in of my professional career.
We are all feeling the pressure to dance great, but things are starting to really come together and I can feel the energy getting more and more excited and positive as the shows get closer and closer! I truly hope you will attend and experience the excitement with us.
Keli
Company Member
July 29, 2009
Posted by: MADCO on: July 29, 2009
So we just finished with the first choreographer, Rob Scroggins. The experience was definitely one of the most fun pieces I have ever been involved in. Having never worked with Rob I didnt really know what to expect, but of course being part of the dance community, you always hear about works by the choreographers. From the minute we got in the studio I knew it was going to be an interesting ride to get into Rob’s mind and really deliver what he wanted when he introduced the idea by saying he was reading an Elizbethan fantasy novel and couldn’t get it out of his head. We quickly got into the piece and our characters and flew through the choreography in a matter of a week and had a basic skeleton for what the piece was going to be. I am very excited to see where the piece will continue to go through many more rehearsals and runs until the show. I can most certainly say this will be a piece that I will remember performing many years from know. So thank you Rob Scroggins for your “unique” persona and quirky personality. “Charmed” 
Jason Flodder Company Member
7/7/09
Posted by: MADCO on: July 7, 2009
It’s week four of St. Louis Artworks and our group is still choreographing. The apprentices began working on the ‘toy’ section of The Invention of Hugo Cabret on Monday, making phrases relating to toy soldiers, rag dolls, puppets, and even Barbies. They are pretty entertaining. I especially enjoy the all-male group of toy soldiers where the phrase starts percussive and precise and then moves into a freestyle step phrase with one boy even throwing in a back handspring mid-combo! It comes out of nowhere and is really exciting!
Along with the ‘toy’ section we have finished up two other sections. If we can just finish up the last section and get the apprentices silent films taped we will be in business…which is good because our first performance is next week!
Come see the apprentices:
July 15 – University City Library @ 2:30 p.m., 6701 Delmar Blvd.
July 21 – Old Post Office Plaza @ 12:30 p.m., 9th & Locust, Downtown
July 22 - Schlafly Branch Library @ 1:30 p.m., 225 N. Euclid Avenue
July 23 – Commerce Bank Education Center, 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 4651 Shaw Blvd.
All performances are free, open to the public and last about 25 minutes. Donations are accepted and put towards further funding for St. Louis Artworks.
Thanks,
Keli Hermes
Company Member
St. Louis ArtWorks Visit
Posted by: MADCO on: June 23, 2009
I visited St. Louis ArtWorks today to see the dance apprentices hard at work. Wow. What great energy from both the MADCO teachers and the St. Louis ArtWorks Apprentices. Next week is their first informal showing of the stuff they are working on. I’m sure these enthusiastic students are coming up with some great ideas for choreography of their own. As a teacher, one of the things I have enjoyed most in my career is to see the creative process from young people who don’t have very much experience in dance. Sometimes, I think they are more creative than professionals who have taken all the required college composition classes. I believe when we know the “rules” of choreography we are bound by making sure we use levels, vary our time, and use a variety of spacial patterns, etc. Often flat out creativity is lost or perhaps there is more fear about movement invention when you have taken a lot of technique classes. Because the ArtWorks Apprentices are young, new to the art form and not bound by all the rules they know, I think I’m going to see some wonderfully unique stuff from them! I can’t wait.
Stacy West
MADCO Executive and Artistic Director
6/21/09
Posted by: MADCO on: June 23, 2009
6/21/09
Whew, am I tired! Lindsay, Sandy and I have been working all week at the St. Louis ArtWorks summer program. Teenagers 14-19 years old are hired for six weeks to learn an art discipline, the business of being an artist and other life skills helpful in the workplace. It is such a unique experience for the apprentices, plus they get a paycheck! I think they would agree with me…it’s better than flipping burgers!
As employers of the dance discipline, we are using the MADCO ‘Books in Motion’ educational program as our base. By the end of the six weeks the apprentices will make a 20-25 minute performance based on the Caldicott winning book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. The book covers early silent film making, automaton, and magic and has a slew of pictures to help the teens visually connect to the story. But in order to make a performance, the teens need to learn to dance!
Lindsay has been teaching the apprentices basic modern and ballet class. They have been really responsive considering some have never danced before. One girl is a basketball player and has been taking her ‘new moves’ to her personal trainer. He told me that she has been talking non-stop about Artworks and how excited she is to dance.
I taught basic jazz class this week. I really wanted to get the teens moving so we made it light and fun. I was so excited when the apprentices mastered a combination involving pivots, chasses, and 3-step turns. It was no beginner combo. I used a couple songs recognizable from the radio and that helped some of the shy ones get a little gutsier.
Sandy has been helping with improvisation and choreography. In the afternoon, the apprentices learn tools for choreography and make phrases, partner and get their mind in the creative mood. A lot of times they have been basing these exercises off of bits and pieces of the book. The apprentices have already begun making phrases for our final performance.
Week one was a success and I can’t wait to see what we have in store for us!
- Keli Hermes
Company Member
