I am officially stepping aside from this blog. For the last three years, on and off, it has been a great outlet for my writing and dancing. However, things have changed, priorities have shifted, and I no longer have room in my life to be an active participant in the blogosphere. I will continue to dance and write, and perhaps some day I will blog again, but it lifts a weight off my shoulder to be able to say that A Time to Dance is officially inactive. I will leave the old posts up, but I will not post new ones, and I will not respond to comments.

Thanks to all those who have read and commented on my posts over the years. I appreciate all the opportunities I have had to learn and see things, and to meet people I would not have met without taking this project on.

Best wishes,

Maria

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Last year, I performed at Inside/Out as part of Doug Yeuell’s Jazz Performance Class. This class was a fantastic opportunity to watch the choreographic process come together in a short period of time. Normally, JOM student performances are in a small studio theater. But the anniversary concert was on the beautiful stage in the brand new Atlas Performing Arts Center. Student group performances were interspersed with well-known professional DC groups.EDGEWORKS Dance Theater performed right before us and it was such a thrill to see them from the wings, not to mention share a stage with them.

This year’s concert presents "the spectrum of dance that JOMDC features, with performances by Furia Flamenca, Nomad Dancers, DCypher Dance, Jazz Factor, Youth Dance Ensemble, Step Ahead, student performances in works by Douglas Yeuell, Aysha Upchurch and Helen Hayes, and more. Pre-show performances by Groove Elements, AVAdance and ImproVolution DC. A post-show reception will close out the evening." What a great opportunity to support DC dancers, both budding and established, perform in a beautiful facility in front of an enthusiastic audience.

Here is a preview video:

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Inside/Out Joy of Motion Dance Center On Stage
Saturday, October 17, 2009, 8:00 p.m.

Atlas Performing Arts Center
1333 H Street N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002
Tickets: $25 in advance/$30 at the door
www.joyofmotion.org

Based on the information available on the UNESCO website, it seems that the result of being placed on this list is that cultural groups can receive grant monies to engage in activities and programming that will document, protect, and promote the identified practice. The grant application asks applicants to identify how they will do that effectively and in doing so, educate a broad audience. Some examples of these plans can be foud at this link.

Documentary about Nestinarstvo fire dancing ritual
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UNESCO has a fantastic YouTube channel with many many more video examples of intangible cultural heritage practices.

If you’ve always wanted to try a dance performance, but not sure what to see and on a budget, your time has come with VelocityDC.

On Friday and Saturday, October 2 and 3, for only $15, come sample six of the best dance companies from DC (and beyond) at the beautiful Sidney Harman Hall at 610 F Street NW, beginning at 7:30pm.

Ron K. Brown and Evidence

Featured are short pieces from Ron K. Brown and Evidence, The Washington Ballet, CityDance Ensemble, EDGEWORKS Dance Theater, Gesel Mason, Nejla Yatkin, Edwin Aparicio, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and Austrian choreographer Willi Dorner presenting the outdoor piece “Bodies in Urban Spaces”. You’ll see modern, African, ballet, hip hop and many forms in between.

VelocityDC is designed for folks who may be new to dance, beginning with Gesel Mason’s performance of “How to Watch a Modern Dance”. Stay afterward at the bar to swap impressions, meet some dancers, and finally be able to ask them, up close and in person, how they do it all!

VelocityDC Late Night!

Night owls, stick around for VelocityDCLate Night! At 10pm on Saturday, October 3, a cabaret-style showcase of movement, music and mayhem featuring dancers, poets and musicians.

This late-night, 18+ cabaret promises an evening of music, movement and mayhem including appearances by Andile Ndlovu, Capital Movement Project, Contradiction Dance, Furia Flamenca, Gesel Mason, Gilded Lily Burlesque, Kentavius Jones, Komplex, Lucy Bowen McCauley Dance, Regie Cabico/Sol y Soul, and Urban Artistry.

In addition, relax and enjoy the Harman Center bars and lounges with DJ Ian Knight (Philadelphia) into the early morning hours.

The Washington Ballet performs Wunderland

Bodies in Urban Spaces

Street performances of Willi Dorner’s “Bodies in Urban Spaces” will take place both evenings free to the public. “Bodies” begins at5:30pm each night, beginning at the Archives/Navy Memorial Metro and winding its way throughout the Penn Quarter neighborhood.

Presented in partnership by Washington Performing Arts Society, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Dance/MetroDC with major artistic partners The Washington Ballet and CityDance Ensemble.

Visit www.velocityDC.org for more information.

Tickets are on sale now for $15 at the website or the Sidney Harman Hall box office, (202) 547- 1122 or toll-free (877) 487-8849.

CityDance Ensemble

Press Photos and Releases:
www.velocitydc.org/index.php/press

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/velocityDC

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/velocity_DC

The header is a detail of the full photo seen here in this post. It depicts pupils of the Denishawn School posing for publicity photos. I think it is a delightfully fanciful set-up. The pupils look as if they’ve just danced their way out of the pages of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

I am back from an extended summer leave from the blog. Hope everyone’s had a good summer.

I had a great one… some nice trips with my husband and to see family and friends. Lots of work, too, but in my free time I’ve been living life to the fullest and feeling less drawn to written expression.

Now that summer is drawing to a close and the first hints of cool autumn air are making themselves known, my thoughts are starting to turn more inward again, so blogging may be in the cards again.

If anyone’s still reading, please say hi. And let me know what you’ve been up to— dancewise or otherwise– this summer, and if there’s any good blogging I’ve missed.

Maria

According to CNN, a woman was able to save her husband’s life doing CPR to the music of a well-known disco song (‘Disco Tune Saves Man’s Life’). Thanks to a Public Service Announcement she had seen that recommended performing chest compressions to the rhythm of ‘Stayin’ Alive’ by the Bee Gees, Debra Bader successfully resuscitated her husband without the benefit of any prior CPR training.

This incident is such a powerful illustration of the ability that music and movement have to communicate things much better than words. Best practice in CPR is to perform chest compressions at approximately 100 beats per minute, but this means little to the average person. Because ‘Stayin’ Alive’ is such a well-known song (which, conveniently enough, moves at the exact optimal BPM for CPR) that most of us have danced to at some point in our lives, we are easily able to refer back to that muscle memory as a reference point for that speed.

Here is a video I made of Viento de Agua performing a plena. I did not catch the name of the song, so if anyone knows what it is, please comment. Plena is a traditional Puerto Rican style of music that we were told has its roots in the sound of a train. You can certainly here this underlying “chugging” sound in the music. Plena is one of the many caribbean styles that lends its rhythms and styles to salsa and merengue. It is characterized by the use of percussion instruments and vocal harmonies to form the rhythm and tune.

The second half of the 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival runs July 1-9 on the National Mall. The three featured themes this year are:

• Giving Voice: The Power of Words in African American Culture
• Wales/Cymru

and my personal favorite…

• Las Americas: Un Mundo Musical / Music in Latino Culture