TGIF!

Greetings again from CORE Studios in Decatur! Here we are, wrapping up the penultimate week of the Fall Season. It has been an eventful and productive time, and we are pushing right through until the last minute. Today we had the opportunity to dive deeper into Artistic Director Sue Schroeder's process for her latest work. Using different exercises for inspiration and movement invention, the dancers have been generating material for the upcoming show at Callanwolde. The day concluded with the company reviewing their play, "Heart of the Matter" which will be performed next Thursday for the students of Wesley Academy. With all of the work going on, we cannot believe that next Thursday's salon will serve as the culmination of our Fall Season. Have you RSVP'd? We hope to see you there! Below is a snapshot of process work from Sue's new piece. See you next time!

Happy Holidays and an Invitation to CORE's Salon

Happy Holidays! We are back in the studio full steam ahead after a full week-long Thanksgiving holiday break. We are thankful for that! CPC is busy rehearsing for several upcoming performances. We will be performing our school show, Heart of the Matter, on Thursday December 6th for Atlanta kids at a local elementary school. That evening, we will have a Salon in our studios from 6:30-8:00pm. This Salon is FREE and open to the public! We would love for you to come experience and talk about artistic director Sue Schroeder's newest work with the company, SECRET. CORE Performance Company will premiere SECRET on February 1-3 at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, performed with live music by Bent Frequency. We hope that you will take part in this unique opportunity to be a part of the creative process! 6:30 PM mingling amid a festive holiday atmosphere, with live music by Octavia Strings 7 PM showing by CORE Performance Company followed by discussion with the artists 8 PM Salon concludes This free gathering that also celebrates the holiday season will include wine, and light refreshments provided by Café Alsace. Celebrate with some dance! Please RSVP to info@coredance.org

Completed Works and Goodbyes

Today we said goodbye to Becky Valls as she headed back to Houston. It has been a long week full of accomplishments. Yesterday, at Lunchtime in the Studio, we revealed one of the pieces in progress on which we've been working with Becky this week. After hearing some great feedback from the audience, we returned to the studio that afternoon and continued to fine tune the work.

It's hard to believe how fast this work was created. Everyone in the company is so focused and ready to work, and Becky was so prepared and helpful. No wonder we were able to accomplish so much in so little time. This process was just another reminder of how lucky we have it here at CORE. I had a discussion with Becky earlier this week about how organized CORE is. This wasn't the first time I've had this discussion. I've heard the same comments from dancers, audience members, and other artists from Houston and Atlanta. It is truly a privilege to work with such a wonderful group of creative, organized, and cooperative individuals. As we break for Thanksgiving, I would like to say how thankful I am for this company, all of the individuals with whom I have the pleasure to collaborate, and the community of artists and art lovers who support us. And here is a photo of us, the company, on our last day with Becky Valls. The photo was taken by Becky.

Derrick

Autumn outside the office

You can barely see the front of the CORE offices through the tree that was practically glowing in the rainy afternoon yesterday.

New Work

This week we started working with Becky Valls, a choreographer from Houston. Beginning a new work is such an exciting time for the performers, a time to explore new movement possibilities and meet new challenges. Exhausted and sweaty, the company left the studio today with smiles on their faces. The work we've been doing with Becky is both challenging and fun, and I can't wait to see how the work progresses. Becky is a pleasure to work with, and a talented individual. This piece will be performed at Callanwolde in February. If that seems like a long time to wait, don't worry. You can check out some of our process this coming Thursday at Lunchtime in the Studio. You can find the details of the event on our website. Be sure to come out, meet the dancers, and enjoy some good food and entertainment. We'll see you there.

Back in the Studio

A great first Sunday rehearsal with Becky Valls after a week off from practice! We had a wonderful run of our Shift show in Houston, TX with lovely reviews to boot! (see the previous post for links to the reviews.) All us performers have been keeping busy in our many other jobs, but we return to rehearsal with an enlivened energy and are excited to welcome Becky Valls to our Atlanta studio. Creative juices are flowing, and we continue on to our next art adventure. Here are some "backstage" photos from our Shift performance in Houston...

Some coverage of SHIFT from Houston

The performances of SHIFT in Houston last week went so well! Thanks to the dancers for all their hard work and to those of you who came out to fill the theater at Barnevelder both nights!
Here's a little recap of some of the coverage we had from before and after the show. Thanks to all the journalists who created these pieces!

• Dance Source Houston preview by Nancy Wozny, "Double Shift"
• Houston Press preview by Olivia Flores Alvarez
• The Front Row interview with Sue Schroeder and Leslie Scates, talking with Catherine Lu on KUHA 91.7 FM about their process creating these new works with the CORE artists
• Dance Informa preview by Chelsea Thomas
• Houston Chronicle preview by Theodore Bale
• and a review from Adam Castaneda on the Houston Press "Art Attack" blog