To:
LUTSF
From:
Lucy Howell
Dear
LUTSF
I
am writing with my report following my successful study trip to the Limon
Summer Intensive,
I
am going to
I
would like to thank the LUTSF for allowing me to travel to the
Yours
sincerely
Lucy
Howell
LUTSF Report
I
arrived in
I
arrived at the studio on Broadway an hour before the start of class, I was
feeling quite nervous as I had no idea what to expect. I found many people in
the same situation and quickly made friends. This made the whole experience
even more enjoyable as I was able to explore the city with like-minded company.
The
workshop was split into three sessions; I was booked onto two of the three,
Technique and Repertory. Technique class was first in the day from 10-12. We
learned a series of technical phases that built through the week and focused
closely on specific aspects of Limon technique. This was excellent as although
I studied some Limon during my training it was a great opportunity to really
digest the basics and finer points of the technique. The workshop leader was Risa Steinberg, who danced for many different dance
companies in her early performance career including Martha Graham Company and
Jose Limon Dance Company, and she now teaches internationally and tours a
series of solo performances. She was absolutely amazing, her energy was
phenomenal and she was so enthusiastic and passionate about the technique. It was
impossible not to be inspired by her and she continued to amaze us as the days
went on. Her teaching methods were varied and inventive; she often had the
whole group in stitches as she tried a variety of ways to get the information
across.
Repertory
was between 12-2pm; I was really excited about doing this part of the workshop,
as it has been some time since I learned anything in this way. Although I
really enjoy choreographing and being creative, I was very much looking forward
to learning something already in existence, especially something from such an
extensive repertoire as the Limon Company. I was certainly not disappointed.
The piece we learnt was a section of a section of ‘A Choreographic Offering’
set to Bach’s ‘A Musical Offering’. Limon choreographed it in the 1960’s for a
cast of around sixty. There were around thirty at the workshop, which was
hugely complicated for Risa to work with. I can only
imagine what the piece would have looked like with sixty! We started by
learning the very basics of the material which was really helpful as the final
version of the movements was fairly complicated and contained many layers. The
first few sessions were spent building up the layers and setting a loose
structure. We learnt snippets of movements that were slotted together and
performed by different groups. As the days went on the piece took greater
shape, towards the end of the second week we started to learn a short section
of ‘A Time to Hate’ also by Limon, which was a completely different piece and utilised
a whole new set of performance techniques.
The
last 30 minutes of Repertory session was set aside for a discussion and
teachings from Risa on performance techniques; we
spent time studying the following aspects:
·
Focus
·
Space
·
Music
·
Narrative
·
Gesture
·
Transitions
·
Dynamics
·
Phrasing
This
time was invaluable because as the days went on it became a discussion forum
for all of our experiences in applying these factors in the practical work. We
also tried out different exercises to find new ways of working and played with
a variety of methods to challenge and renew the way we viewed technique and
performance. Risa was a fountain of knowledge in
these sessions with an example from her life and career for every possible
scenario.
Every
day technique class became more complicated as new layers were added to
existing movements. There was often a crossover between technique and
repertory, which gave a sense of flow and continuity between the sessions. The
time seemed to fly by and we could hardly believe it when the final day rolled
around. The group had bonded really well and I felt quite sad to be saying
goodbye to people I had shared such an amazing experience with. On the last day
we gave a performance of what we had learned. My parents had arrived the previous
day and came along to watch. They took some photographs that I have enclosed (I
am in turquoise trousers)
During
my free time I tried to make the most of being in the wonderful and vibrant
The
first class I took outside the workshop was at ‘Steps on Broadway’ a centre
offering many different dance styles. I went along to Ballet and had a really
great time, there was such a mix of people there and I was made to feel very
welcome. I also took two Cunningham-based classes there. I wanted to go to the
Cunningham Studio but there were no classes running when I was there. I would
have liked to take more classes but realistically, with the demands of the
workshop, it was very difficult. I found making the transition between Limon
technique and Cunningham technique quite hard, it was very helpful though to
apply the performance techniques we had been exploring and I found this helped
a great deal.
Since returning home I have found that I feel re-inspired
and that my love of dance had been refreshed. I have been teaching and
choreographing for quite some time and, although I engage regularly in
professional development, the opportunity to go to
Lucy Howell
