The Anthropologists' Jam Sessions

Musings on sound from Robert Colpitts

2010-04-27T11:06:00.000-04:00

Our Monday 4/26 jam explored object work and sound. Here are some observations that jammer Robert shared with us:

An object. Does it make sound? Does it move me? Does it shake? Does it rub? Does it combine its movement with my own? Tonight during the Movement Jam organized by the Anthropologists, we explored how objects make sound, and how those sounds inspire creation. I left with many things, but with one that I want to share: give performers and object, and let them play with it, to learn its music, its feel, its life. In the final improvisation I was resting my chin on a bottle as I laid belly down on the ground. As I watched the other group, the bottle sat right in front of me. It became my bottle, my friend, my tool, my instrument. It watched with me. Tonight I gained respect for the possibility of one simple thing outside of myself presenting me with a constant stream of gifts to give and take. One paragraph here, a gift to the artists who organized this evening. I defy you to make me carriage return. Take this object, and see what sounds it makes. Tonight we went one two three four, sound was our focus, and creativity crawled out of our sleeves. Great fun. Rest now. We are magicians, and a grand time we had!

- Robert

The first jam session of 2010!

2010-03-02T22:26:00.000-05:00

Our constellation of dance plays - For the Love Of... - just closed and now we are back and ready to being Jam Sessions again!

In 2010 we'll be trying something new.

First, we're meeting on Monday nights in Spring of 2010. We found that weekend days weren't always the best solution for scheduling jam sessions. So we're going to try a weeknight format. With that in mind, we're going to shorten the schedule.

7-7:30PM OPEN STUDIO SPACE
We hope that our fellow artists and colleagues will take advantage of this time to do additional self-directed warm-ups or to work on a specific project and exploration. The idea is to create a bunch of "mini-studios" inside the rehearsal space during this half-hour where artists and practitioners can work on their own or have extra time to transition into the jam session.

7:30-9:30PM JAM SESSION
These sessions are based in movement and physical exploration and we also venture into voice and song. They are generally led by Artistic Director Melissa F. Moschitto. Other company members and/or artists may be invited to lead exercises or full sessions.

Are you new to jam sessions? Read our primer here.

The first jam of 2010 will be on Monday, March 15 from 7-9:30PM. Please RSVP so we know to expect you. We respectfully ask for a donation of $5 to help cover space costs, but no one will be turned away.

For those who will be returning to jam sessions, we're curious to know what you'd like to work on. Character development? Gestural choreography? Group song? Improvisational techniques? Let us know in the comments section!

Jam Session in Albuquerque

2010-01-28T11:53:00.004-05:00

I recently got back from Albuquerque where I was participating in the Buran Summit that Adam Burnett, artistic director of Buran Theatre Company (www.burantheatrecompany.com), had put together. It was a truly wonderful and re-invigorating experience overall and I came away with many experiences and thoughts to mull over. One huge experience was that of leading a Jam Session! Not only had I never led one before, but I was leading one with people entirely new to what we do (sans Adam of course). It was awesome to share how we work and train with new people - especially to see how they processed the information - and to see the similarities and differences to how the Anthro's processed the information. It's inevitable (I think) for a group to create its own patterns and I realized how important a new perspective is to shake a group out of its patterns (which is one reason why a jam is so great-- we're always adding new artists to the mix!).

It was also really exciting to just get to lead a jam!! Melissa is always encouraging us to lead a session, but it's been very daunting so I never have. But leading a session made me realize how important it is for everyone to do so. First, you have to think about what exercises you want to do, what exercises work well with each other and in what order to put them all in! Then, the real challenge comes when you have to set the pace! You have to get a sense of what the group is feeling, what they need to keep them on the 'right track', what information they need, and (the hardest part) when to end what it is they're doing!!!

Listening to the feeling of the room and of whats going on onstage (where the actors are mentally especially) is very different when sitting on the outside looking in. After leading the jam I realized that exercising this skill as a sort of super-audience member is a vital element for the performer! It leads to having an heightened awareness and deeper understanding of the audience perspective. I would love to work on this more! Esepecially because I hope this will make my choices as a performer more effective and allow me to communicate whatever I'm trying to say (or whatever ideas I have) in a more focused way.

Ergo, lesson of the day: actively sitting on the outside is just as important as playing on the inside!!! :)

What's Your Movement Style?

2010-01-25T12:24:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we finally had our workshop with Paloma! After two years of thinking about it and several months of preparation it was well worth the wait. This post is mostly a series of observations from my experience in the workshop. I hope other workshop participants will continue the conversation in the comments section.

The workshop was invigorating and renewing. From the start, I felt like I was being re-introduced to my body and how it could move. Perhaps that feeling was amplified by the fact that we've been in rehearsal and working with our own distinct process and preferences since November. The change in perspective was welcome!

My most striking self-observation:
As a mover/dancemaker, I realized that I most often deal with the vertical or being in a standing position vs. on the floor or in the horizontal. (Maybe this is residue from years of figure skating?) It is my new goal to explore the floor & different centers of gravity.

At the end of the workshop, Paloma asked everyone to take a moment to write down a description of their personal movement style. I found this very difficult despite the four hours of movement work! I didn't want to share mine, but when I told Paloma after the workshop, she begged me to. So now I'm going to be very honest. The first word that popped into my head:

constipated

Ok, I admitted it! Now it's your turn!

Master Text & Movement Workshop in January 2010

2009-12-19T02:48:00.003-05:00

We are pleased to announce that we are hosting our next Master Workshop! This January, The Anthropologists will host Moving Memory, a text & movement workshop led by choreographer Paloma McGregor. The workshop is an exploration into the weaving together of text and movement and we're so psyched that Paloma is able to teach this between touring with Urban Bush Women.

I met Paloma two summers ago at a weekend intensive workshop offered by the Laban Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies. During a break one day, we got lunch and I got to know more about Paloma and her impressive and eclectic background. Originally trained as a journalist, Paloma later became a dancer and choreographer. She also works with youth groups creating original movement-based performance that has roots in social justice. At that very lunch we discussed the Moving Memory workshop. So this only took two years in the making to come to fruition!

The Anthropologists believe in a strong foundation of training in order to propel our craft to the highest possible level so we are absolutely thrilled to be able to learn from Paloma in 2010.

What a great way to start the new year!

If you'd like to find out more information or to register, please email info@theanthropologists.org. Space is limited so don't delay!

***************

MOVING MEMORY
Master Text & Movement Workshop
led by Paloma McGregor
Hosted by The Anthropologists

Sunday January 24, 3-7PM * Cost: $55
Register early! Space is Limited!
To register email info@theanthropologists.org

Workshop Location: A.R.T./NY
520 8th Avenue, 3rd FL, New York, NY 10018

Registration closes Jan 21, 2010

Moving Memory, led by choreographer Paloma McGregor, investigates the crossroads of movement and text. Participants will learn tools for creating and developing a personal movement vocabulary along with exercises for crafting evocative writing. Techniques include Bartenieff Fundamentals, Liz Lerman’s Toolbox and Paloma's Rooted/Reaching movement approach and more. This workshop is designed for performers, directors, writers, multi-disciplinary and self-generating artists. No formal dance/writing training is necessary, just a willingness to explore, create and have fun.

Paloma teaches around the country, specializing in workshops that explore and deepen the connections between writing and dance, using those forms to unearth personal voice, build community and animate vision.

Paloma McGregor’s choreography has been presented throughout New York, including at The Kitchen and Tribeca Performing Arts Center as well as across the country. As a dancer, Paloma has performed at City Center, the Joyce Theater, the Kennedy Center, BAM and the United Nations. Since 2005, she has toured internationally with the critically acclaimed Urban Bush Women dance company. Paloma co-founded Angela's Pulse, a performing arts company, with her sister Patricia McGregor.

Voice In Action

2009-12-10T11:36:00.000-05:00

This past jam all participants were invited to bring in a classical monologue to use.

After doing floorwork to focus on breathing and playing on a virtual vocal playground (everything from a piano to the curtains were used to experiment with vocalizations) we spent some time exploring the concept of Sats.

Sats, developed by Eugenio Barba, is eloquently described like so in his book The Paper Canoe: the energy can be suspended.

It is the moment just before you are compelled to move, to speak or to act. A useful example is found in the Viewpoints book where they talk about an archer pulling back her bow; the milisecond before the arrow is let go - that is Sats.

Another useful piece of information from Barba:

The Greek word enirgbeia means just that: to be ready for action, on the verge of producing work.

I like that phrase: on the verge of producing work.

In the jam, we split up into groups to do some open improvisations but always with the idea of Sats in mind to help propel us from one state to the next.

The most striking result of this was that as we progressed, we noticed a shift in the improvisations. The jammers became more constrained in when they moved. That is to say, they showed restraint, moving only when necessary. They held on to their energy for longer periods of time, stayed with one gesture or movement or shape for increased durations. Thus, when they did change states, the impact was felt all the more strongly.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this. Please continue the conversation in the comments section.

Voice Part 2: Space Change

2009-11-30T21:33:00.000-05:00

An update from the land of jam!

We'll be meeting at a new location this weekend:

Sunday, 12-3PM
Dance Theatre Workshop
219 West 19th Street (btwn 7th & 8th)

To attend, please RSVP to melissa@theanthropologists.org.

Will we see you there?

Luxuriating in the Voice

2009-11-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

Today's jam, while cut short by an unfortunate scheduling mishap on the part of the space (arg!), was nonetheless fruitful.

The first part of the session was spent doing floorwork, focusing on the ribcage and breathing and freeing the voice. We used several of Cicely Berry's exercises for this work.

Second, we explored Tina Landau and Anne Bogart's vocal viewpoints, helpful for expanding our vocal ranges, be it pitch, dynamic, tempo, etc.

Unfortunately, our work was cut short at 3PM. But, when all was said and done, it did feel luxurious to have so much time working on these varying elements of the voice, even before invoking any text. I'll let the jammers who attended comment on their personal experiences with the exercises but it became evident to me as a theatre practitioner & director that I need to challenge myself to keep finding ways to engage and train the voice as well as the body.

To sign off, here's another quote from Ms. Berry that I thought was particularly salient:

"It is curiously difficult to work on our own voice both boldly and creatively, because it means we have to let go of our own patterns. Let me explain: given that our voice is our sound presence, and is the means by which we commit our private world to the world outside, it is tied up with how we think of ourselves -- our self-image -- and with the image of ourselves we wish to present. It is therefore bound absolutely to our own self-confidence, and so is particularly sensitive to both criticism and to feelings of unease."

There's the rub

2009-11-22T10:37:00.000-05:00

In preparation for today, our first jam session devoted exclusively to the voice, here's a great quote from Cicely Berry's seminal text: The Actor and The Text.

"For it seems to me there is so often a gap between the life that is going on imaginatively within the actor to create the reality of the character he is playing, and the life that he gives the text which he finally has to speak. It is as if the energy and excitement that an actor feels when working on a part is not released fully when he commits to words, when he is bound by the language set down."

Yes! There is the rub! As an audience member or a director or merely a listener, there have been countless perfomances I have witnessed which have suffered from this problem. It might sound contradictory even - an actor could have lovely diction and resonance but the speeches remain technically proficient and not connected to character or emotion. (Broadway's current production of Hamlet anyone?)

Today we'll be starting at zero and really investigating our voices and their capabilities so that in the future, our experience with text can be better informed and infused with that essential energy.

Tips for the First Time

2009-11-20T12:51:00.000-05:00

If you haven't been to jam sessions before, here are a few things that you should know.

LOGISTICS

1. You don't need to RSVP, but we do appreciate it!

2. Bring or wear clothes you can move and work in comfortably

3. We ask for a $5 donation to help cover the space rental cost.*

*Why? Space is expensive in NYC and nice, clean, safe space is sometimes tough to secure! This is a suggested donation but it helps to ensure that we can keep offering and organizing the jam sessions. We hope, in the future, to be able to find a more permanent home and to be able to offer the sessions for free.

SO WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY DO?
Jam Sessions are all about experimentation. They are designed as a laboratory for actors, directors, really anyone who attends. We often start the day with a plan and end in a completely different place thanks to discoveries made along the way. Usually, jam sessions are led by me (Melissa, the artistic director). Sometimes jam attendees will lead a warm-up exercise or a section of the jam session. The jam sessions are here for everyone's benefit.

WHAT ARE THE TOOLS YOU USE?
- open movement-based improvisation
- guided movement-based improvisation
- principles of Viewpoints, some Laban and Biomechanics
- choreographing tools (Liz Lerman, Doug Varone and others)
- composition work
- experimenting with dialogue and monologue
and lots more!

Have other questions?
Have something to add?

Please continue the discussion in the comments section!

The Voice

2009-11-14T00:56:00.001-05:00

For the last jam sessions of 2009 we've decided to tackle the voice!

Over the summer we decided to try and get more in-depth with the jam sessions and do "rounds" focused on a theme or skill, etc. We devoted the last round to Storytelling (you can read various entries on the site about those endeavors).

The Anthropologists is a movement-based company and most jam sessions are centered on our bodies, how we move, etc.

For the end of the year, we'd like to shift focus a little and turn our attention to the voice. We'll still, of course, be very connected to our bodies, but we'd like to expand vocally and we hope you'll join us on this journey!

Voice Part 1 (Nov. 22): Vocal qualities, voice sourcing and primal sounds
Voice Part 2 (Dec. 6): Continuation of Part 1, adding text (monologues or poem, users' choice!)
Voice Part 3 (Dec. 13): Multiple voices, Group Song

Will we see you there?

Last dates for 2009!

2009-11-10T19:06:00.002-05:00

Here you go, folks:

Sunday, November 22, 1-4PM at Panetta Movement Center
Sunday, December 6, 12-3PM at Panetta Movement Center
Sunday, December 13, 3-6PM at Battery Dance

To get the full details, are you on our email list? If not, contact melissa@theanthropologists.org.

Storytelling Part II

2009-10-11T18:39:00.001-04:00

Storytelling continued today with a dynamic and invigorating jam session! We had three new jammers join us, which is always wonderful - we thrive on that new energy and perspective.

For today’s work, we took one story - the Brothers Grimm’s version of Rapunzel - and split up the jammers into three groups - two groups of three and one of four. Each group had to devise a retelling of the story or part of the story and each had a different lens with which to tell it:

Narrative voice
Genre
Time Signature/Tempo

It was a great exercise in perspective and again, there was a wonderful payoff in seeing a story that you knew taken apart, reassembled or re-imagined.

Highlights (there were so many, really):

GENRE: The delicious and detailed French-speaking version with a Rapunzel that provided her (his?) own sound effects. It managed to humanize the “evil” witch all the while make smoking a cigarette a la film noir seem new again. It also gave new meaning to the song: “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.”
NARRATOR: The giddy and quirky version interrupted by an inquisitive narrator that used feet to act out the critical points of the story. It was a great reminder that sometimes the simplest act can have a magnetizing effect - no need for costumes, light, set, etc. At that moment, all we wanted to watch were the feet!
TIME/TEMPO: This was a beautiful and haunting deconstruction - I wished we had more time to let this one keep unfolding (maybe next session, guys?). It’s outside narration and morphing characters really tied into the primal and emotional elements of the story. The group used great imagery - Rapunzel and her hair dragging her Prince across the floor. Economy of text and use of still moments made this really mesmerizing to watch.

I’m really looking forward to our next session at the end of this month. Perhaps we’ll continue with Storytelling through the end of 2009. There seem to be so many places to go!

Storytelling Part I

2009-10-03T18:37:00.002-04:00

On Saturday 10/3 we had the pleasure of working at one of the studio spaces at Dance Theatre Workshop. It was gorgeous - huge, lots of windows, full of light, nice sound system (so I didn’t need to bring my portable speakers after all!). We had an early start - 10AM! - but you know what? It was so awesome to really be starting the day with a training session. How lucky were we?

The session was really refreshing, perhaps because we all knew that we would be continuing our work and exploration beyond just this one day.

Each jammer was asked to think of a story they were told as a child. It could have been a fairytale or a family legend - whatever first came to mind. Then, I asked each person to create a series of five pictures or tableaux in which they could tell the story without text. Placement in the room of each tableaux was important; ultimately we decided that the audience would sit in the middle so that the stories were told around us. We told the stories in four rounds:

First showing, followed by observations.
Second showing: each artist was asked to make a change to their style. For example, Jennifer (company member) has a very definitive style to her movement - it is very contained, purposeful and controlled. So her challenge was to be lose and free and uncontained.
Third showing: a genre was assigned. For example, new jammer Joy (welcome, Joy!) was asked to do her story a la hip hop. Jam regular (and Rogue Artist), G, was assigned horror (which turned out to be a prescient suggestion!)
Fourth showing: the artist could now use any version of his or her story (based on the previous rounds) but could now tell their story with text as they moved from picture to picture.

It was a really satisfying payoff at the end to finally hear the stories, especially since we had each started to form our own narrative or ideas based solely on the movement-only version.

Two moments stand out to me:

When Katy, who has a great sense of shape and using or enveloping space with large gestures and an expressive face, was challenged to tell her story as Kabuki theater (OK, none of us are experts in this, but the idea was that her movement was limited and gestures were enhanced and more detailed). The result was both beautiful and awkward. We all agreed we could have watched Katy’s expressive hands for the rest of the jam!
Sonja was challenged to flip her storytelling from graceful and innocent to a sultry cabaret act. Once we heard the story at the end - which would never have “logically” been set in that genre, it was a real eye-opener, similar to the moment in Gypsy when “Let me entertain you” goes from vexing nursery rhyme territory to seductive strip-tease. It was a great reminder that context can reveal so much about a story or a situation.

Restructuring Jam Sessions

2009-09-18T18:36:00.003-04:00

The Anthropologists have been hosting jam sessions for 2 1/2 years, during which we’ve had the great pleasure of meeting and working with a variety of artists. Recently, a number of us sat down to discuss how we might grow and develop the jam sessions to ensure that they are feeding our artistic appetites and challenging us as artists. We are eager to make the sessions more rigorous and focused, so with that in mind, we are reformatting the jams so that we can delve deeper into the work. Starting this fall, we will schedule the jams in three-session blocks so that we can work progressively and cumulatively. Each block will have a specific focus (e.g. exploration of a text, character development through gestural choreography, choral voice exploration & group song), but will still have room for spontaneity. Jammers are not required to attend all three sessions - you can attend any of them - but artists will benefit more from attending all.

The suggested donation for each jam session remains at $5, but we will not turn anyone away.

If you have questions or thoughts, please don’t hesitate to be in touch!

Group Song

2009-07-11T18:35:00.002-04:00

The July 11 jam session was extremely energetic - impressive for a hot July afternoon!

We had several jammers offer games and exercises and it was refreshing to try some utterly new things. (The photo above is from a leader/follower game led by company member Katy Rubin).

I think the surprise of the day, though, was group song.

Jammer Anna gave us what many considered a horrifying assignment: fake sing opera. It might sound bizarre but it was a wonderful release and left everyone with smiling in a sort of surprised and dazed way. It was an effective way to use a more full voice, to invoke resonance and to get out of our heads about singing.

Being given permission to sound a little silly or to not sing “well” - the emphasis was on the power of your voice, not your ability to sing the right words or hit all the notes correctly - was something, I think, that many of us don’t do. We are so trained to think that only people with an incredible capacity for singing - tone, resonance, interpretation, vibrato, voice control, etc. - should sing. However, this is very limiting in the sense that using song can be beneficial in many ways as a training mechanism, among other things.

This exercise evolved into singing rounds - three groups singing “Row Your Boat.” We started with a simple song but in our feedback session afterward we discussed ways to build on group song in the jam sessions. It will definitely be something we’ll be experimenting with in the near future.

Voice Sourcing

2009-04-09T18:29:00.001-04:00

This past jam session on Sunday, March 29, we focused on the voice. In the first half of the session we spent time exploring with sound, unconcerned about quality in the traditional sense. The object was not to produce “pretty” or “aesthetically pleasing” sound but to explore resonance, pitch and tone in ways that we are usually not permitted. Some artists explored the interplay between body and sound and how one affected the other. This exercise did not have very many limitations; it was a free (and hopefully freeing) exploration of the voice. We hope to continue with this type of work in future jam sessions. [Editor’s note: we recently had a workshop with Tom O’Connor, a movement teacher, who taught us several partnering exercises for body mobilization that also help open up resonance in the voice, something that we may introduce in future jam sessions.]

For the second half of the jam, artists paired up and each pair had a rod. The initial goal was to move around the space holding the rod between partners by the hand. We then introduced a sound to initial the passing of control between “leader” and “follower.” Then, artists were given the words “here” and “now” to use during those exchanges and it was interesting to see language developing - was it always laden with meaning or was it possible to explore these words just as sound? The last layer of this exercise was adding music to play with.

In a post-jam discussion we considered whether or not language was introduced too soon into the work and if we spend more time on voice work without introducing that type of “meaning.” In the coming weeks, we’ll continue on our voice sourcing journey.

Here are some photos from the day’s work:

An Exploration of Hamlet

2009-03-16T18:00:00.016-04:00

At our March 16 jam session, we were in the beautiful, light-filled Panetta Movement Studios. An open improvisation evoked a scene from Hamlet so we chose to focus our composition work for the day on the scene where Hamlet kills Polonius. This was a relatively new way of working for us - to approach a composition with concrete characters and story-line but we found there was so much to explore there. We were able to go through the scene once and then repeat with adjustments. Hopefully, with our upcoming three-hour jam sessions, the extra hour will allow for in-depth lab work. Here is a series of photos, taken by Roberta Berman, from this composition.