live music and live dancers

topic posted Wed, March 26, 2008 - 6:31 PM by  RALPH
An infrequent and enthusiasticly dorky contact guy at best, I Iean more toward other expressions -
music for example..
I've been working as a solo musician with two C.I. dancers (who've danced together a lot),
our aim being to possibly gel some sort of structure, or dance piece form, to improvise off of.
Maybe a performance eventually,
maybe just for the joy in it.
We've done a few sessions using electric guitar, ambient moody sounds and such - went good.
This afternoon I switched to electric violin, run thru a sort of wah tubular fx filter (with some subtle reverb).
Very fine results!
All the airy, textured sounds of a fiddle (bowed or plucked) worked splendidly with Kyla and Quint's dancing
and we all got lost in the shifting interplay of sound and bodies.
The violin played the dancers and the dancers played violin, don't'cha know.
Also I'd asked about hands.. using hands in dance, like those lovely asian traditions of stylized gestures..
so the dancers at times emphasized this aspect, and I used their hands as a focus to build musical moods from..
We worked just one hour without stopping - but it felt sublime.
Wanted to share this..


posted by:
RALPH
  • Re: live music and live dancers

    Tue, April 1, 2008 - 4:51 AM
    Contact improv is tough to work with musically. We've experimented with it as a part of our jam, and when it's good it's sublime, but when it's bad it annoys the heck out of the dancers. My wife has a knack for improv music, and she remembers to WATCH the dancers, playing off them playing off her. The last time I functioned as a musician for CI, rather than as a dancer, it was my wife and I on percussive toys (drums, shakers, rattles, ago-go, random objects, clave, etc) and a talented guitarist. The guitarist didn't watch the dancers - he did his thing. It was improv for him, but FOR HIM. He didn't quite get the interactive part. I should add that he has virtually no experience with CI, and his exposure is largely through an aerial dance filter. I think it helps a lot if the musicians are familiar with CI and what makes it "work". My wife has some experience, and just doesn't enjoy CI, but understands the concepts going on. That helps her be more completely in the moment with the dancers.
    • Re: live music and live dancers

      Tue, April 1, 2008 - 11:58 PM
      You're right - and in fact it's been a learning curve to develop interplay -
      but I appreciate having my ass to the fire so to speak.
      I mean to say, it won't be as interesting if we ever actually solve how to do it perfectly.

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