MLK Service Day

CORE joined the volunteer yard crews who worked in Oakhurst neighborhood yesterday, helping to clean up the yard for an elderly (93 years old!) gentleman who had some serious kudzu in his back yard. Here are some photos of us in action.

Project BLOOM

Leadership DeKalb has a new group focusing on the arts and culture in the county (where Decatur is located for those of you outside of the area). A group of artists and interested business people met at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center on Friday evening with discussion by our artistic director, Sue Schroeder, along with Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund's Lisa Cremin and Metropolitan Atlanta Arts and Culture Coalition's Flora Maria Garcia. There were performances by Dekalb artists, including CORE Performance Company's men: Alex Abarca, Blake Dalton and Corian Ellisor. The guys did their trio from Navigating the Hallway, so for those of you who made it to that show, you may recognize it! Photos by David Fisher.

Whistle While We Twerk

While we've been working this week, these are the tunes that have put an extra pep in our step.

We've been mostly listening to lots of Beirut:
Elephant Gun
The Flying Club Cup
Forks and Knives
Call To Arms
A Sunday Smile
Mausoleum
Nantes
The Penalty

And listening to stations on Pandora.
Beirut Radio
Four Tet Radio
Miike Snow Radio

And these bands:
Fleet Foxes
Fleetwood Mac

We highly recommend these tunes for your listening pleasure.

Mirror, Mirror

A little game for you, if you will. One of these pictures is of Alex's real body. One is a mirror image. Which is which? Post your answers!




Here is a quote for you while you contemplate your answer.

Be good to your body. If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred.

--Walt Whitman

Body Mapping

This week we continue our work on the Arkansas residency. For our residency we are exploring our bodies through body mapping. Below is an example from the internet.



Then, we generated movement from what we discovered in our body maps. Look here for more discoveries and movement for our residency.

COREs newest art crush is Nicole Cromartie, Coordinator of Museum Interpretation at the High Museum of Art. Not only is she a fabulously knowledgeable art historian, but she's also a beautiful dancer!

She graced us with her style, skills and smarts as she guided us through the High Museum's Modern Masters: Picasso to Warhol.

CORE will be performing at the High April 26th in response to the exhibition.

Thanks Nicole!

new beginnings!

Here at Core Performance Company we are gearing up for some really exciting stuff! We have a major residency coming up in Arkansas in order to promote healthy body image. On other fronts, we will be creating a "dance walk," of sorts here in downtown Decatur. We are still in the preliminary stages of actually mapping out the routes of the walk, but it is something that should not be missed!

NTH

Tonight is opening night of Navigating the Hallway with KDNY!! Please come check out this very special performance tonight and tomorrow!!

http://www.coredance.org/atlanta/nov-17-18-navigating-the-hallway/

hammer time

Blake and Claire (CORE engineering team) shown here taking care of some minor studio repairs.

TTI: Round 2

Tomorrow we are joined by the generous and knowledgeable Dance Education Consultant Melissa Dittmar Joy to discuss "multiple intelligences" and arts education.

The session will commence at 9am and run till 4pm and promises to fill us with information and inspiration. Come one, come all!

CORE vs. corps

Wanna know how compelling CORE dancers are? How they just make you wanna get up and dance? Exhibit A: our friendly soldier on the Decatur square. Nice shoulder stand, sir. We salute you.

Room writing

Alex and Claire (seen here) map out the space as we gear up for the remount of Sue Schroeder's Room and the Atlanta premier of Kathleen Dyer's Navigating the Hallway with our guests KDNY. The gals from New York arrive Nov.16th and will be teaching class Wed. Thurs. and Friday 9-10:30 am at CORE studios. Come on out for Lunchtime in the Studio next Thursday and our performances the 17th and 18th at 8pm at CORE studios. You don't want to miss it!

Follow this link for the trailer of Navigating the Hallway! http://youtu.be/E4WcohssFlM

Break on Through to the Other Side

CORE will be performing this Friday for TedX at the Atlanta Zoo. The topic is Breakthrough.

What do you think of when you hear the word "breakthrough?"

Blake's response: Cellophane...

Alex's response: I think of science & technology.

From Halloween Monday

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Corian & Alisa work on choreography someone warms up their feet

What do Claire and Alisa bring to the Table today?

Perhaps they are 'tabling' their issues?

Do they like to shop at 'Sur le Table'

Maybe they are looking at the 'table of contents'?

Or are they discussing the 'Periodic Table of Elements'?

Actually I think that they are working on 'Navigating the Hallway'!

See what they serve at their Table

November 17th, and 18th, when we perform 'Navigating the Hallway' at CORE Studio

Today is Food Day!

Today is FOOD DAY and it is very appropriate that right now Sue is in Conway, Arkansas as part of The Moving Toward Health Project, CORE’s long-term collaboration with the University of Central Arkansas.  The mission of MTH is to use dance to talk about health and to raise awareness of body image, healthy lifestyle and disordered eating.  For the next few days she is meeting with faculty and staff of UCA and the Conway Public School system and members of the Conway Regional Health and Fitness Center.   With this project we are embodying the arts' ability to engender communication and to facilitate change in the context of social issues.  We are engaging the Conway community through meetings, workshops and forums and by creating and performing a new dance work that will premiere in Conway in February, 2012 during National Eating Disorders Awareness week.  Stay tuned for more details!

http://www.facebook.com/FoodDayEatReal

Nourishing the body!

Salon Tomorrow!

Our Salon tomorrow will be exploring the ideas of shared space, compromise, and the components that are inherent in cohabitation.


Below is a link to a podcast that helped to shape some of the work you will see tomorrow.

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/19/138468870/what-the-word-compromise-really-means

Salon
6:30-8pm
CORE Studios
139 Sycamore St
Decatur, GA
Marta Stop, Decatur
Refreshments generously provided by Cafe Alsace

See you tomorrow!!

Dancers get musical

A little clip of the dancers making music outside the office on Monday.

a haiku to breakthrough

forget the rhythm

don't think about any rhyme

searching for breakthrough

namaste

Spittin' lyrics

bounce
flick
shake
move
groove
...breathe.

feet not lifting
from the paper,
repeat; don't refrain.

bounce
flick
shake
move, groove.

such generic names
in a non-judgmental game.
we all nee labels to list as we:

make and shake
move and groove...
get into a groove like Madonna did.
fearless
angsty
breathe:

breathe through the angst, break through the angst
the bounce
the quake
the shake...
and just dance.

break down and dance
break through and dance...
and I didn't say but, I said and.

bounce
flick
shake
move and groove
break down and through
and
dance.

More photos from BCAF

Thank you to Ken Hudson for sending us some more fun photos from last weekend's Bayou City Art Festival performance of BRINK: BREAK::BROKE:?

Bayou City Art Festival!

Practicing the magic, rehearsal for BCAF

 Here are a few photos from yesterday's rehearsals for  "BRINK: BREAK:: BROKE:?" at the Bayou City Art Festival Downtown. The dancers are down there today from now till 4 pm and again tomorrow, so go out and enjoy the show at the festival!

Our magic

Once again those zany CORE dancers descend upon Bayou City Arts Festival.

Who knows what we have up our sleeves? Check out this picture as an indication of what we have planned for Bayou City Arts Festival.

Breaking into the Bayou

We, CORE Performance Company, return to the Bayou City Art Festival with the premier of BRINK:BREAK::BROKE:?.

In this new work, we find inspiration through the act of the ‘break-through,' as well as the featured artist of the 2011 Downtown Bayou City Arts Festival!

We will yet again encourage situations of hilarity between the audience and dancers, stimulating dialogue between audience and performers while bringing a sense of whimsy, frivolity and off-kilter movement to the Festival.

Performances will take place throughout the Festival grounds on October 8th & 9th, initiating at the HAA performance stage at 1:45 p.m. each day, and concluding at 4:00 PM. For more information, visit www.COREdance.org.

By the way, we at CORE would love to know who left the chocolate in the downstairs refrigerator.

Updates to the space

We've gotten some new decals for the doors to Decatur Square. Both the studio and office doors now have these signs to identify them (hopefully making it easier for folks to find where they need to go!)

Over this past weekend they installed new laminate flooring in the office space in the back hallway and  kitchen area.  This will work much better for clean up in the kitchen space, and it means we have our very own little dance floor right here in the office! :)  

We also have a new awning in the back over the door to the studio from our parking space. It should keep the rain off better than the old covering that was removed earlier this year, which actually ended short of the wall and therefore dumped the rain right on you as you went through the threshold! And hasn't Rose done a great job with the planters too? They look nice, don't they?

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.

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.

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

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

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.”

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

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!

Welcome Back, Dancers!

After our 30th season, CORE Performance Company took our summer break, and just like students who are returning school for another year of classroom learning, we are often asked what we did for our summer break.

• Corian Ellisor took the opportunity to travel to N. Carolina for the annual American Dance Festival held at Duke University. There, he had the privilege to work with Martha Clarke, The Forsythe Project, and himself: he presented a piece at ADF called Virility.
• Alex Abarca took the week long GloATL Summer Intensive right here in Atlanta.
• Alisa Mittin worked with Atlanta choreographer Blake Beckham in her riveting site-specific work called PLOT. The evening-length piece, presented by Dance Truck, was shown at the Goat Farm in late July.
• Blake Dalton took the summer to prepare himself and his dance company, Crossover Movement Arts, for their inaugural season. CMA' s season launch was actually in the CORE Studios on August 11th.
• In my opinion, Claire Molla had the best summer of all by taking the months off for some much needed R and R.
• "Sharon, what have I been doing this summer?" Well, I've been right here! I've been working with Sue and the staff as all get ready for our best season yet.

We are celebrating 25 years in the city of Decatur. Woohoo! We've been in the same buildings right here on the Square downtown since 1986!

We are kicking off the season with a FREE performance of The Point (and its companion piece, The Moment Between). Performances are at the Decatur High Performing Arts Center on September 17th at 8pm and September 18th at 3pm. Reserve your FREE tickets! But, we're not going to stop there. This whole season is going to filled with 25th aniversary goodness. So, keep checking the blog, the website (coredance.org), and our Facebook page.

Happy Dancing,

Sharon

"Living Wall" in CORE's alleyway!

Living Walls The City Speaks is a project that brings in artists who paint on walls all over the metro Atlanta area, and CORE's wall in the alleyway between our office and studio is being painted right this very minute! Here are some action shots of artist Sam Parker painting the first stages of his work for our alley wall. He works fast--he's expecting to be finished up tomorrow, so if you're around Decatur, you should come check it out!