Mayotard, not leotards - Brad blogs about the Power Company

The Roadies were back on the campus of Columbia College Tuesday night for their encore experience with the Power Company, South Carolina's leading contemporary dance company. Thanks to Katie, we were given a full hour’s warning that there might be a little more body movement than the week before.

After a quick dinner of turkey and mayotard sandwiches with gallon-size cups of iced tea, we made our way back in to Martha Brim’s studio. We found out last week that Martha is the founder and artistic director of the Power Company. This week we would quickly discover that she is also a master of subtle persuasion. As Misty mentioned in the blog last week, the thirty foot wall of mirrors in the room can be quite intimidating for novice dancers like the Roadies. Martha reminded us that the people we see in the mirror are not ourselves, but our evil twin that can’t touch our dance skills. That mind trick was helpful at the time, but offered little comfort when I noticed the tripod and video camera hiding in the back corner.

Nevertheless, we threw caution to the wind, formed a circle and started moving. Without the shackles of rhythm or technique we creatively and fluidly moved our arms, shoulders, hips and feet through space. As the music began to play, we all somehow lost sight of the camera, the giant mirror, and the twenty-five people watching as we searched deep inside for our inner cowboy or cowgirl. Led by Martha and the Power Company apprentices, our circle began to rotate and swirl and our lasso-throwing, gun-slinging, and spurring evolved into a group interpretation of a bonfire as Johnny Cash’s "Ring of Fire" blazed in the background. Somehow, through the sweat and emotion, credulity set in and we failed to realize that we weren’t just dancing for our own enjoyment; we were auditioning for next week’s performance: Blaze! A Shakti Rodeo! Martha’s artful arm-twisting subdued the Roadie resistance and we agreed to perform under the lights next Friday night.

We moved upstairs to catch the real dancers for their last hour of rehearsal. They performed two dramatic numbers from the upcoming show that are in sharp contrast to the whimsical boot-scoot opener featuring the Roadies. The first was a number choreographed by former Power Company member Christian von Howard titled "In Memory of...." It powerfully illustrates the interpersonal relationships that flow through an individual’s life. The second dance they rehearsed was "Same Moon," an autobiographical piece written by current Power Company member Stephanie Wilkins. "Same Moon" dramatically captures the pain and sorrow caused by a broken relationship. Hearing the stories behind these two compelling pieces allowed us to go beyond mere observation and feel the emotions that the writers were trying to convey. A brief question and answer session with Martha and the Company furthered our appreciation for their work. Each of the members work a day job (and some work two!) in addition to the time they put in at the Power Company. They rehearse together two evenings a week year-round and practice solo sections in their limited spare time.

The experience Tuesday night brought home Martha’s statement from last week that everyone has within them the power to create dance. We learned that contemporary dance is as much or more about creative expression than it is about skillful technique. This was encouraging to us Roadies who, next Friday, will attempt to be as expressive as our two left feet will allow. For a great opening laugh followed by an entertaining and inspiring performance, come check out The Power Company’s performance of Blaze! A Shakti Rodeo! Brad

Misty blogs about our first stop with the Power Company

So it is 5:50 pm and I am sitting at my desk trying to remember what I did with the directions to Columbia College, home of the Power Company, which happens to be the next stop on the Road Show tour. As I am changing into "comfortable" clothes I try to remember what Katie told us at our last meeting. She did say to wear "comfortable clothes" and NOT "shiny spandex" right? Or was it the other way around? I look at my exercise pants and try and convince myself they are nowhere near shiny spandex but deep down I am more concerned about what it is that I will actually be doing in these pants.

Let me go ahead and be honest with you, I am not a dancer. I don’t even come close to being a dancer. Most of the time I can’t even keep up with the "Rock your Body" cardio dance mix workout DVD that I OWN. In fact, all I know about dancing is what I have seen over and over again on the movie "Center Stage" and the "inspirational" dancing that occurs after a couple of beers with friends during late night karaoke. Regardless of my dancing capabilites or lack thereof I have to be at the college in a couple of minutes wearing my "comfortable" clothes and it is quite possible that we might have to "participate" in tonight’s event.

After we meet up on the campus for dinner we walk over to the dance studio to meet up with our hosts for the evening. We take off our shoes, enter the studio and sit with backs facing the "Wall of Mirrors" (thank goodness because I am tired of worrying about these pants and how I look in them). It is here that we meet the founder and director of The Power Company, Martha Brim. Martha, who is very excited that we joined her tonight, is joined by a small group of younger women. She explains to us that The Power Company comprises of a body of professional dancers but also a handful of apprentices. The apprentices are mainly of college students who are working toward their BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography; they are also joined with junior apprentices, usually high school aged students, who happened to be working with the company tonight. Not long after Martha begins to tell us the story behind The Power Company I can hear the actual sounds of the company practicing above me.

Martha tells us that The Power Company, which started about eight years ago, brings a very different type to dance to our city of Columbia. I mean have you ever heard of a director trying to explain to the dancers how to move like "amoebas" through a "smokestack"? The Power Company itself is a completely different venue. The company gives not only Brim but other contemporary choreographers’ the chance to showcase their innovative dance productions to a large audience. It is also a great resource for students, considering that it is housed on the grounds of Columbia College and Martha Brim has been a professor of dance at the college for about 25 years.

As far as the art of Dance is concerned, I learned a couple of things. First of all there are four things that you need to remember about contemporary dance: Bodies, Moving through space, Effort and Time (or as fellow roadie, Andria, pointed out "BMET".) Brim explains to us that it takes each of these elements working together to create contemporary dance. Here is a really rough breakdown: It is the action of our BODIES which MOVE through space, the EFFORT used in that space plus the measurement of TIME, or pace/rate of movements, that creates the dance. No dance can possibly be the same because everybody creating the "dance" sees and feels in a different way. Brim points out to us that we all posses the power to create dance. The tricky part is learning to harness the ideas and meld them together with physical realities. For example: I have this music, this type of costume, this idea and this deadline - what is it that I can create? She admits that having a deadline always makes creating the "dance" a little easier. It is after rounds of questions about origins of contemporary dance, how the dancers are chosen, who choreographs what, where they get their music and what exactly is "Shakti" that Brim asks us to spread out. Here it comes, the moment we’ve al been waiting for..our participation in tonight event. The next thing you know everyone is doing a little ditty to Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire and the room becomes filled with continuous laughter. I don’t know about everyone else but I was certainly enjoying myself. Who knew this could be so much fun?

Next we move upstairs to meet the dancers who will be performing in this year’s annual cabaret. With a name like: Blaze! A Shakti Rodeo how can you possibly go wrong? As we moved into our seats the dancers were working on the last piece of the cabaret’s showcase, called OA. (which stands for Orgone Accumulator, which I recommend you look up online). It was so amazing to watch them move with such fluidity. Brim had explained to us earlier that the "Shakti Rodeo" idea had come to her because she wanted to showcase the fluidity of "shakti" - force/energy - through the different senses and ways that movement that can be produced. Even though Brim told us that the dancers were still very much in the creating process of the piece I was astounded at how everything they did seemed effortless whether it was lifting, rolling or swaying in unison with one another. It was absolutely incredible! Next thing you know it is 9:15pm and I am still trying to figure out they’re counting patterns, plus how do they know where to be at what point in the song to meet up with their partners? It seems so complicated.

How do they do it?! I guess I will have to wait until next week to find out. Stay tuned. PS be sure to check out more info about The Power Company and the different dancers on their website: http://www.thepowercompany.org/