Creativity doesn’t stop just because there’s a pandemic. Joffrey dancers Xavier Nunez and Evan Boersma got together to make this awesome dance film short, Interval. Performance by Evan (Go Evan!), choreographed and filmed by Xavi, with an assist in sound editing (and maybe a few intro/outro beats) by Dylan Gutierrez.
Interval by Xavier Nunex. Performance by Evan Boersma.
Here’s a quick Q&A with the mastermind behind the film.
Rogue Ballerina: How/why did you do this project?
Xavi Nunez: It happened spontaneously. I started playing with lighting early in the day for an idea I had. When I showed my roommate Evan the results, he said, “Let’s film it tonight.” So, out of boredom and creativity, we conceptualized, filmed, and choreographed it in one day.
RB: What was your inspiration?
XN: I think the past few months of monotony and feeling stuck in a loop inspired the idea. However, the music provided the blueprint for movement and video/editing.
RB: How did you get into video/editing?
XN: I used to be obsessed with watching people’s short films on YouTube. Then I decided to try and make something myself as a hobby. I think quarantine really brought the love back to me. There’s so much to learn but its a way to get my creative mind flowing when we can’t be in our usual dance spaces.
Xavi making magic happen.
RB: Thanks for the behind-the-scenes pic. It really shows the “magic” of filmmaking.
XN: Our space was funny considering how the video turned out. In the film, it feels like a studio, but if you were on the other side you’d see a room that looked like it had just been ransacked. My bed was flipped on its side. Windows covered in garbage bags to not allow light to enter. We had a prop tied to the ceiling fan to make it float. We just ran with it and fixed problems with duct tape.
Definition of unpack: transitive verb 1a: to remove the contents of unpack a suitcase. b: UNBURDEN, REVEAL … unpack my heart with words— William Shakespeare. Yes, and…both.
The suitcase in the pic below holds the contents of seven years of my life. It has been sitting in my hallway for almost two months, ever since I cleaned out my cubicle at Joffrey. It haunts me. I am afraid of it. I know when I open and unload its contents that means my time at Joffrey is really over.
Dramatic and cliche, but it has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Extreme highs and lows: one of my best friends and mentor dressed up like a glittery princess and read my book for an LGBTQ family charity – I watched it on my way downtown to clean out my desk; I announced I’m launching a podcast – as I received my final paycheck; I had a really great, creative idea – then realized my insurance runs out on Tuesday. No way around the fact that losing your job fucking sucks. I count myself lucky to have worked with some truly amazing and compassionate people. I miss them daily.
As I dive into projects (freelance writing, blogging, launching the podcast, selling my children’s book, printing a coloring book – more to come on these things later!), I’m also navigating a mountain of paperwork (I hate adulting!) and the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. My job was quite literally my life for seven years and the grief of losing it is very real. At almost eight weeks out, I find myself bobbing between depression and acceptance. Perhaps unpacking that suitcase will be the closure I need.
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, the Columbian-Belgian choreographer of international acclaim, brings her talents back to Chicago – virtually, of course. It Was All A Dream is the fifth in a series of video collaborations meant to give artists around the world a way to express themselves during the pandemic when most are confined close to or within their homes. “I wanted to make a diary…what are the artists doing?” said Lopez Ochoa. “These short videos give a stage to the dancers who have been ripped off their stages.”
For the most recent video (released today), Lopez Ochoa teamed up with some of our hometown favorites from The Joffrey Ballet. Jeraldine Mendoza and Dylan Gutierrez, along with their pup Kahlua, are featured in the video. Gutierrez also composed the music, and Xavier Núñez (another Joffrey dancer) edited the video. “The movie is about two dancers dreaming that they go outside,” Lopez Ochoa said. “Hopefully when we all look back at 2020, it will be like a distant, bad dream.”
“Even though it’s about the pandemic, it’s not sad,” said Mendoza. “It’s still light and hopeful.” Gutierrez agrees, “It’s meant to uplift and be fun. It’s a three-minute break.” While all are proud of the final product, the process of creating a short work via Zoom was a bit of a challenge, but one everybody was ready to overcome. Lopez Ochoa had some practice having worked with other artists on videos previously. Her first foray into filmmaking was a learning experience. She obtained a mentor – a Dutch cameraman – who was not impressed by her first effort. He told her to broaden her vision and think 360 degrees around the dancers.
Lopez Ochoa met Mendoza and Gutierrez in 2015 while in Chicago creating the world premiere Mammatus for the Joffrey. They suggested bringing Núñez on board and the process began in May. “At the point when she asked us, we hadn’t been doing anything,” Mendoza said. “We were obviously excited to work with Annabelle, but also excited to have a schedule and something to work towards.” Described by the choreographer as “contemporary classical with a pedestrian touch,” it really creates the feel of a day in the life of the couple. And aside from the cameos of Kahlua, the real star of the video is the city of Chicago.
The connecting of choreography, music, and video editing make it a true collaboration. One facet does not overtake the others. Gutierrez had worked with Lopez Ochoa previously on music for her piece Delicious Pesticides and their process was refined for this project. With Núñez coming on to edit, it was more of a journey. “I knew from editing the other films that you always have to translate,” Lopez Ochoa said. “He was very respectful of the choreography, but I told him that once you put it on video, it becomes something else. You have to remake the choreography. This is just material for you to play with.” Núñez accepted the challenge and the team worked together on the final product (which was changing up to the last minute). “It was evolving the whole time,” Gutierrez said. “We weren’t sure if the order should stay the same as how it was choreographed. It really speaks to Xavi’s creativity to take something he’d already finished and completely mix it up. It’s so cool and so hard to deconstruct something and make it better.”
Technical artistry aside, the real upside to the project was dancing…actually dancing. Like most companies, the Joffrey has been “off” since mid-March. There are daily classes offered, but that can get redundant and how many battements can you do holding on to your kitchen counter before you go crazy? (Can someone do this experiment? I’d really like to know.) “It was really nice,” said Mendoza. “The motivating factor was Annabelle watching us. To have someone watch us, direct us, tell us what to do, what intention we should have behind the steps…it keeps you going. You get lost in the moment. It was really reminiscent of going back to work.” Lopez Ochoa adds,”The most interesting part as a choreographer in the studio or on Zoom, is not making steps, but talking about intentions and seeing dancers transform and commit to the character or the situation they are playing. That’s when they can lose themselves. It’s beautiful to watch.” Well, watch for yourself.
We got to keep this world together, got to keep it moving straight
Love like we mean forever, so that people can relate
If you’re rolling to your left, don’t forget I’m on the right
Trust and forgive each other
A little love and we just might
Seal: Get It Together (lyrics)
My Darling by Hanna Brictson. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
Dance for Life (DFL), the annual fundraiser and performance that serves as the unofficial opening of Chicago’s fall dance season – much like everything else – is going online this year. Chicago Dancers United (CDU) presents Dance For Life 2020: United as One this week, culminating in a “virtual event” this Saturday evening at 6:30 PM CST. With social distancing guidelines still firmly in place and large indoor gatherings fodder for dreams, the 29th annual DFL will follow the path of most everyone and take to Zoom.
The 2020 line-up is bigger than usual too. Since everything is online, they can feature more companies works – 15 to be exact. You can access all the videos on the Chicago Dancers United (CDU) website and each day, they will feature three in a dedicated eblast and on social media. The week culminates with the final event (“not finale”) including a world premiere by Hanna Brictson to Get It Together by the artist Seal. “Hanna is a wonderfully talented and gifted dancer and choreographer,” said Randy Duncan, a CDU board member and frequent choreographer of DFL finales over the past 29 years. “Her work with large groups is astounding.” Michael Anderson, DFL’s artistic director agrees. “Hanna’s piece is lovely. She’s done such a great job. She’s the right generation and understands choreographing for the screen.”
Brictson admits the process wasn’t easy. “It was the hardest project I’ve done in my life,” she said. “I didn’t sleep for like two months, but I would do it again a million times.” Scheduling, casting, teaching choreography by video, lack of rehearsal time, structuring, oh – and social distancing created multiple roadblocks, but she persevered. With the aid of two dancers, she created 37 videos to teach 23 dancers the piece. They had one in-person rehearsal without everyone attending and an hour to rehearse and for HMS Media to film at the C5 studios. “The amount of situations to overcome was stressful, especially when you don’t have any bodies to create on. I did my best with imagining what might be cool, but when I choreographed it, I was still working with the limitation that the dancers couldn’t move outside of a box.”
The end result is a snapshot of our current reality. A group of dancers performing side-by-side, not touching, wearing masks in a large space, and still giving it their all. It is inspiring, heartwarming, and just a little sad at the same time. No costumes, no lighting, no Auditorium Theatre, no raucous crowd. It shows us what we have temporarily lost, while also proving that we still have each other. “I wanted it to be homey, inviting, and warm,” Brictson said. “It was very important to me to have dancers from different facets of the community. I really wanted to do something energetic and welcoming. I want people to have some joy.”
Remember CDU is a non-profit and DFL is a fundraiser, so while all of the videos showcasing companies from past years are available on the website, you do need to make a donation (I just did!) to access the final event, including Brictson’s world premiere. Your donation can be as small as $20 and the resources go to help The Dancers’ Fund and other CDU partners. “We are excited to continue our new partnership with the American Cancer Society and longtime partner the AIDS Foundation Chicago,” Anderson said.
Holding a fundraising event online has its own set of challenges, however there is a silver lining: an expanded audience. “It was definitely a benefit. that we can increase the number of companies we can showcase,” Anderson said. “It’s been wonderful for me to back into the archives and see all of these performances from the last 29 years.” And Duncan said, “The virtual gala and presentation gives us the opportunity to go nationwide, if not global! I have friends who will be watching from the Middle East and Europe.”
Dance For Life 2020: United as One, August 10-15. Donations of $20 or more provide exclusive access to the finale event hosted by NBC Chicago’s Cortney Hall and Matthew Rodrigues at 6:30 PM CST on Saturday, August 15. All programming is subject to change. All events are available at chicagodancersunited.org.
*Editor’s note: Like most other non-profit arts organizations, CDU had to make budget cuts (I have some first-hand experience in that arena). Earlier this year, they eliminated the Executive Director position. I know this decision created controversy in the Chicago dance community. I’m not discounting anyone’s views or concerns, but I am choosing not to address this here and instead focus on the positivity and community spirit that DFL brings each year. We need that now more than ever. I have a long history with DFL. I attended my first performance in 1998 when I first moved (back) to Chicago and months before that, I danced on the DFL/Roscoe’s float in the Pride Parade. It holds a special place in my little dancer heart ❤️ My unsolicited advice to DFL/CDU? Remember who you are…(said in a James Earl Jones as Mufasa voice).
Hiiiiieeeeee! It’s me. Rogue. It’s been a while…almost four years since my last post and since 2013 they have been few and far between. I suddenly find myself with a LOT of time on my hands, so look out. The Bitch Is Back. (Sorry Mom, but it’s kind of my brand.)
Rogue at Dance For Life. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
For the last seven years, I worked in the Marketing department at The Joffrey Ballet. It was the most challenging, difficult, amazing, and rewarding experience of my professional work life. Some of those memories I hope to reflect on in this space. To have that suddenly gone is personally devastating, but hopefully soon, the grieving process will end and I will be left with only happy memories (read: unlimited viewings of The Nutcracker!).
I’ve spent most of my life in some way dedicated to dance as a dancer, teacher, administrator, writer, critic, marketer, and patron. It’s what I love. So, heads up! If you’re involved in the dance community in Chicago, the U.S. or abroad, I will be reaching out for interviews. I’m almost 52, and I have a lot of shit left to do. Let’s get to it. Go rogue.
Have you dreamed of seeing The Royal Ballet perform Swan Lake? Now you can in a comfy chair with popcorn. Thursday, February 20th, Fathom Events will be showing the other RB’s Swan Lake at local movie theaters.
Click here and enter your zip code to find the nearest theater. Let me know how it is!
This Sunday, May 5 at 3 pm there will be a memorial tribute at the Francis W. Parker School (330 W. Webster Ave.) in honor of the late ballerina Maria Tallchief Paschen. The public is invited to celebrate her life and legacy with distinguished speakers, a music tribute by pianist George Lapauw and a film tribute by Donna LaPietra.
Contributions can be made to the Maria Tallchief Scholarship Fund. Please send a check (with “Maria Tallchief Scholarship Fund” in the memo) to:
The School of American Ballet, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023.
Looking for a young actor or actress who fits the criteria below, for a young adult book trailer project. Shooting date May 18.
androgynous looking
BLUE, GREEN OR LIGHT HAZEL EYES
18-28 years old
skinny
tall
previous experience in acting or dance
non-union
Please send full body shot, facial close-up, and your acting background.
Location: Chicago
it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: $50/hour, minimum of 3 hours guaranteed
Original URL: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/tlg/3769936482.html
Joffrey dancers Jeraldine Mendoza & Dylan Gutierrez. Photo by Dave Frieddman.
Tomorrow night begins Joffrey Ballet‘s two-week run of American Legends at the Auditorium Theatre. Rehearsals were in full swing last Friday when I stopped by the studios for a peek. Artistic Director Ashley Wheater and Ballet Master Nicolas Blanc were fine-tuning sections of Jerome Robbins’ Interplay in one studio, while Crista Villella (daughter of Edward Villella, founding director of Miami City Ballet) coached two couples in Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs down the hall. Wheater discusses an awkward prep for a double tour to the knee with dancer John Mark Giragosian before running a killer fouette section multiple times. Villella focuses on tricky handholds in difficult lifts (it’s Twyla, ain’t nothing going to be easy) to the sounds of Sinatra’s theme song My Way.
Robbins’ 1945 work Interplay is a fun, youthful prelude to his masterpiece West Side Story that has major classical ballet moves mixed with cartwheels. Tharp’s ode to ‘Ole Blue Eyes is a series of duets in various stages of romance with costumes by Oscar de la Renta. All American legends. The Chicago premiere of Son of Chamber Symphony by Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch (Australian-born, but perhaps an American legend in the making?) takes classic ballet to a new place with deconstructed costumes made to look like inside-out tutus. (I’ve heard they are a bitch to partner in.) Set all of this to live music by the Chicago Philharmonic, add in a romantic, mystical pas, and you have the makings for a lovely Valentine-timed show.
On opening night dancers Jeraldine Mendoza (21) and Dylan Gutierrez (23), partners on and off stage, have the privilege of dancing Joffrey co-founder Gerald Arpino’s 1962 romantic pas de deux Sea Shadow in honor of what would be his 90th birthday. The duet feels like a rite of passage for the young couple who are quickly rising stars. Mendoza made heads turn in Wayne McGregor’s Infra last season and gained notoriety by winning a scholarship from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund. Gutierrez made a name for himself stepping in for an injured dancer in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux for last season’s gala and as “Basilio” in Don Q. He solidified his stature (pun intended, he’s tall!) as a strong Cavalier for opening night of The Nutcracker this season. The two don’t normally dance together and are excited about this opportunity.
The 12-minute pas tells an Ondine-esque story of a man on a beach that falls in love with the idea of a perfect woman. Is she a shadow of the sea? Is she real? Mendoza thinks she’s something more. “I interpret it as I’m a mermaid,” she said. “She’s this mysterious creature that he’s so interested in.” Gutierrez’s take is a little different. “She’s like a fantasy,” he said. “She’s seducing him, but she doesn’t know how. She has as much interest in him as he has in her.” They admit some of the lifts and choreography are difficult, but they are ready for the challenge. In fact, they welcome it. “I think Ashley sees in both of us that we’re hungry and willing to dance,” said Mendoza. “I just love dancing and I want him to totally trust in me.” Gutierrez adds, “We’re people that when the opportunity presents itself, we don’t back away. Every role we’ve gotten, we’ve earned, even though they’ve come quickly. That’s just circumstance. It’s what you do with the shot when you get it. We’ve always delivered.”
The two have dated for over a year and admit that knowing each other so well makes a difference when dancing together and they make an effort to keep a certain distance emotionally on stage. Will falling in love in front of a large audience be a problem? “It’s easy,” said Gutierrez. “I already love her at the beginning of the ballet.”
Gutierrez, with the help of Mendoza (and friend Ruben Harris), started a movement called Young + Cultured. You can follow them on Twitter – @DylanthaVillain, @jeraldineeeee #YoungandCultured.
Joffrey Ballet presents American Legends at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy., Wednesday, Feb. 13 – Sunday, Feb. 24. Performance times vary. Tickets are $31-$152. Call 800.982.2787 or visit ticketmaster.com.
