Dance Performance- Choreography- Education/Training
Devotion (2021) commissioned and performed by Axelrod Contemporary Ballet at Bell Works, NJ. Original score by Chris Becker played live by the Axelrod Chamber Musicians.
This dance was the first group piece that I made live during the pandemic.
It was also the first public performance by these beautiful dancers in over a year and a half. Inspired by the resiliency of the performing arts community, “Devotion” is just that – dance as a devotional practice.
Blakeley White-McGuire
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Leadership: Jody and John Arnhold, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts.
Video by Nel Shelby Productions. Music by Andy Kautz. Graphic Design by Monroe&Co.
This August 2018, I began physical research into a piece on dance ecology and cultivation which was shown at Norte Maar’s Dance at Socrates festival in New York City. The dance was performed to Arvo Part’s Fratres and Wendell Berry’s beautiful articulation in poetry, History. Below is a bit about my current process:
I am improvising now. Mostly solo work in intentional landscapes but at times, with other movers as well. Improvisation sounds simple. “Just make it up!”, right? But the action of improvisation that I aspire to, comprises less of making it up and more of listening to the movement urges coming from my charged, expressive body. After forty years of intentional cultivation through repertory, my physical form, musicality, and spatial sense are all poised to conduct improvisation, to mine the moment and discover action through relational choices that my body-mind, mind-body is making.
The pictures and video attached were taken by Steven Speliotis and Reiko Yanagi.
Movement Migration is a collective of seasoned dance artists collaborating to create and perform dynamic and poignant dance works that portray the depths of the human experience; the dances are shared with audiences locally and globally in performance and educational venues. It is a joy to be in the company of these people. It is just the beginning.
This summer I was awarded a commission by MM’s Aritstic Director, Kim Jones. The new work for five dancers titled, Lullaby: the stories we tell was set to the music of American composer Mark Lewis with costumes by Wendy Yang. The dance premeired at Italy’s DAP festival to audience acclaim. The experience of working with this collaborative collective was joyful and generative. Thank you for your support and inspiration Movement Migration!!
This summer, June 13th-July 21st, 2018 I will join the distinguished and exciting faculty for the American Dance Festival(ADF) where dancers from across the U.S. and across the world come to study Modern concert dance. The courses I will offer are Modern dance technique (Graham-based of course) and Variations (A repertory study and interdisciplinary compositional exploration of modern dance themes and contemporary practices. Dancers will be required to learn phrase work from three modern dances and subsequently compose/create original responses to these based on their own interdisciplinary practices and styles. A variety of artistic practices are welcome).
Here is a video of my work as a performer and maker that will, I hope, inspire dancers to come to the festival to study with me and with the community at ADF.
ADF students 2018 !!!
In January, I was thrilled to participate in the 2018 Women in Dance Leadership Conference directed by Sandra Parks in collaboration with the Tisch School at NYU. I came away with vital ideas and a sense of expanding community support. It was a joy ! I performed my work “at the speed of time” and also the deeply moving “Speak Memory” by Jacqueline Buglisi. Dancing in the company of such thoughtful, developed and deeply committed artists was a experience and a teaching that will stay with me as I continue to create – dance, community, opportunity, work and beauty, everywhere I possibly can. I also reconnected with the extraordinary dance documentarian, Paula Lobo. She captured the images you see here.
