Thursday, September 29, 2011


Thursday - juggling literally and figuratively! Getting ready for both the Magic of Life event on the Decatur Square at 12:30 Saturday and our adventure in Houston where we will perform in the Bayou City Arts Festival. We are in the studio and out the square today. Keep an eye out for colorful characters doing mysterious things.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Let's Get Physical !

Looking Back



September was a big month for CORE. We started our 25th anniversary season in Decatur. We celebrated CORE Day on September 17th. We acknowledged our past CORE Alumni by inviting them back to our CORE Studios. We premiered The Point and its sister work The Moment Between in the beautiful performing arts space at Decatur High School. It is these recent events of CORE, these "points," that have sparked a discussion among us. We want to know how CORE has created points of impact in your lives. Join our conversation by answering these two questions.

1) Can you share a favorite memory of CORE?

2) How have your experiences with CORE impacted you?

Please post your comments below or on our Facebook page. We are interested in what you have to say.

Juggling a new piece



What is CORE Performance Company up to?







Could it be a new piece?





More to come.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

From yesterday--dress rehearsal

Happy Friday everyone!

So after class with jhon, we had a mini-break (where I took the time to get juice & baked goods) until we had to be in the rather lovely, & brand spanking new Decatur HS Performing Arts Center!  Which is a really wonderful and impressive facility.  Big shout out to Deb, Evan, & John...our wonderful tech crew.

Some performers believe that a "bad" dress rehearsal means the show will be "good.". I think it is comforting to know that anything can happen during a performance.  No matter how well rehearsed a dance is, when adrenaline is pumping anything goes.  

Today, during the run, I got so lost I walked off-stage at the wrong moment.  My brain scrabbled to make sense of what was happening on stage; I walked back onstage and just had faith that if I stayed with the dance, I could find it all again.  When the mistake was made, I really had to re-center myself and simply commit.  All-in-all, I think it was a decent run...I mean, nothing is perfect.  It is in the moment between the action and the reaction where it is possible to find out what you are made of.

All I can say is, there is a reason it is called "live" theatre...because that stuff is alive!  Now, I am off to nap and rest up before tomorrow's opening night, or Sunday afternoon!

Hope to see you there....Alex

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Hitting the ground running

With the season having just started, and opening that with a performance close at hand; I am anxious...in many senses of that word.  I am still trying to find my way back to my body (after our summer "break").  In addition to that, I cannot expect to psychologically/mentally be in the same performance "head-space" because as time goes on we grow as beings, and that influences our dancing.

That being said, today we will run both dances twice.  Let me tell you: these are NOT easy dances.  They require a lot of physical & mental stamina.  It is as if we are race horses waiting for the gates to open and the only thing to do is hit the ground running.  The anticipation is killer, but when it is all over; it is so worth it.  All the aches, the mental struggles...it will all be a distant memory.  Each performance is live & real!

How do you prepare to go from zero to one hundred in two seconds flat?  I think the answer is: you don't prepare...you just do.  As jhon r. stronks (former CORE company member & collaborator in The Moment Between) reminds us, "just do the work and it will be fine."

 --Alex

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Finding Comfort in Chaos

CORE explores The Moment Between



In the world of dance, motion heals. Stillness can reign, but dance channels emotions through movements that have a purpose. Centering accompanies plies. Swooshing arms symbolize acceptance. A rigid point illustrates surety. This is how dancers talk with their bodies.

Jhon Stronks gets this, and it may be the key to what makes him such a vivid choreographer. Stronks, a Houston resident, has been working with CORE Founder and Artistic Director Sue Schroeder to piece together the company’s upcoming performance, to be held in Decatur High School’s Performing Arts Theater September 17 and 18. Inspired by Buddhist notions of emptiness and author William Forsythe’s Improvisation Technologies, Stronk’s The Moment Between will be integrated into Schroeder’s larger work, The Point. The works will be performed free for the Decatur community this weekend in celebration of CORE’s 25th season in the city. Music for both pieces was created by German composer, Christian Meyer.

“Dancers have to learn how to work in congress with one another to be united with what’s happening,” Stronk says. In The Moment Between, he wants company members to move as a group, but hopes to document their motivations and growth as individual artists, too. “We’re processing what keeps each dancer centered,” he says. “When I see the dancers perform this work, I know what I’m seeing is the result of the process, how much affinity they have for it, how much they’ve actually engaged with the process and how much consistency they have in their movements.”


The process Stronks speaks of is an individual’s ability to examine and accept life’s flow and those unexpected situations which arise for all of us. How, he wonders, do people react to those moments when everything is unclear and unsure and they lack control over the events in their lives? Are they able to empty themselves of their anxieties and fear through employing various degrees of movement and stillness? “It’s that reaction which makes all the difference, and the way it plays out is a little different for each dancer,” Stronks says.


“When their movements become clearer it shows how much of the work they’ve done,” he adds. “Have they been able to ask “what is this thing that I have to let go of?” Having a relationship with the unknown is about being alive in that place…it’s a very vulnerable place to be in, especially in the West.
When confronted with The Moment Between, you have to go with the flow, and allow it to flow through you.”

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

A little R&R

Can I just say I LOOOOOOVE to sleep!  I love to dance, but I have loved sleeping probably since I was a baby.  I am quite a sound sleeper too!  Ask my housemates and they will tell you that if a train ran into my house while I slept, I wouldn't know until I woke up a few hours later.

Rest, for a dancer, is a wonderful thing.  I am thankful to have a scheduled rehearsal day-off once a week.  I try to sleep on those days, because with as much dancing as we have done the past few rehearsals has been, and our bodies need some TLC.  We have already started being kind to one another by offering neck & back massages, etc.  Anyone who will be kind (& brave enough) to rub my feet will most graciously receive my love...because my dogs are killin me!

Even if not just for the body, resting is good for the mind & soul.  It gives me time to reflect and allows my mind to process the psychological aspects of getting ready for a performance.  Synapses fire to muscles, moving the body releases endorphins, emotional reactions happen; lots of stuff goes on all at once.  Needless to say last night after rehearsal I came home and immediately took a nap.  

Since I don't work my other job until one o'clock today, you better believe I slept in today!  Let's hope it gives me the re-energizing I need to get to this weekend!

So...good morning & enjoy the day!

Alex

Monday, September 12, 2011

Show week

Well...it's show week folks!!!  Ahhh...I get excited, and nervous about it all.  

We just got back into the studio about two weeks ago!  Well, minus our usual Tuesday off and the Labor Day weekend; we've only been rehearsing for little over a week.  Now show week is upon us.

In case you haven't heard about the show, it is Saturday at 8pm & Sunday at 3 pm (ahhh...that is only a few days away!!!). Did I mention it is free?!?!  Yes, FREE...you just need to reserve tickets.  The is also a VIP reception Saturday night, post-show at CORE studios in Decatur for only $10.  More info can be found at our website:  www.coredance.org

I will be at the reception (hmmm...what will I wear??) & I hope to see you this weekend :)

Oh...btw, this is Alex...
much love...CORE out!