DRIP is currently developing an exciting new rock show called Riff, “a wet, raw, sexy Rock and Roll experience.” The event is happening in the DRIP warehouse (4502 Old Winter Garden Road); which is now easy to find because out by the sidewalk there are huge Styrofoam letters spelling out DRIP. After parking, arrows lead me to the entry at the back of the warehouse. A makeshift bar was set up and people were mingling before the show started. Tony Corbitt, speed painter, had his easel set up right in front of the entrance. He slipped his shirt up over his head and started attacking the black board with bold strokes of white paint. Each painting took less than five minutes to finish, so I had to work extra fast to catch him in action. I had talked to Tony the night before and learned that he dreams of one day studying drawing and painting in Florence, Italy. Before the conversation was over I found myself with the same longing. Another artist stood beside me and sketched the painting in progress. Before my sketch was really complete, the stage door was opened and people filed into the warehouse. There was an area right by the door where people could check their shoes since all areas of the warehouse were considered a splash zone. The room was packed and I had some trouble finding a spot from which to sketch. I finally settled on a spot close to the band right next to the speakers.
The room went black and then the band started to belt out a hard edged rhythmic beat. I immediately realized I was a bit too close to the speakers. My right ear was starting to hurt. I decided to take one of the erasers off the end of a pencil and I used that as an ear plug. It worked like a charm. Soon the dancers in the center of the staging area began to move. They used two ropes hanging from the metal girders of the warehouse high above to start swinging. Paint buckets full of water were thrown at the dancers as they gracefully gyrated.
The next routine involved a large platform which was used to hold a transparent “canvas.” As I sketched I realized that my sketch was getting covered with the constant rain of day-glow red and blue paint. Anyone in the audience with a white shirt suddenly glowed a mysterious blue. If my sketch were to be placed under a black light you would see clearly the red and blue day-glow paint splatters. The sketch shows Danny Millan and Nate Skaggs filling the dark space with loud music.
After the performance was over, people lingered outside and talked. Jessica Mariko was explaining that she hopes to find a hotel or similar venue that would be willing to offer DRIP permanent home.
You can still experience Riff in Orlando June 17th to 19th from 8 to 10 PM at 4502 Old Winter Garden Road. The show is also going to be in Miami July 22nd and 23rd from 8 to 10 PM at Easy Street Gallery (3501 NW 2nd Avenue Miami).
A DRIP Day-glow Paint Surprise Party
This sketch was done a while ago as DRIP prepared to perform at the City Arts Factory. Evan Miga is busy preparing the printing press while David Traver is working on hanging mirrors from the rafters. Samantha Hudson is the dancer waiting in the wings. For this performance the dancers used the press to print edible ink on small cakes that were then offered to the audience. After this sketch was done Jessica Mariko asked to see what I had done. As I was showing her a City Arts staff member approached me and said “Excuse me this is a veeery exclusive event, you will have to leave.” Then with a flick of his wrist he said “Shoo!” My sketch was finished and I was ready to go anyway, but once again I found myself not welcome.
Months later I was invited to go to a surprise birthday party for Evan. The party took place in a small children’s art studio off of Colonial Drive called “My Art Studio” ( 4401 East Colonial Drive, Suite 106). I arrived early as instructed with a towel and a change of clothes. I entered an empty room where dancers were painting Happy Birthday in day-glow green paint on the walls. I helped by painting a blazing sun under the birthday lettering. Terry stopped in but she was still in her work clothes. I suspected things would get messy. I decided to leave my sketchpad in the safe room. When the main lights were turned off and a black light turned on the lettering glowed vibrantly. Jessica informed us that Evan was on the way and so we all hid behind a table for the surprise. We all crouched behind the table in the dark for the longest time, the anticipation growing. The plan was that Christie would walk Evan to the center of the room and then the black light would flick on and we all would shout surprise while stripping Evan and getting him into grubby work clothes. Then he was doused with a full bucket of watery paint and hit with silly string.
Paper was taped to the walls and we all painted at each and had to move on when the music changed. The music changed often until there was barely time to get one stroke on each page. Soon we were just throwing paint at the walls. Then the paint war began and I was caught in the cross fire! Everyone started throwing sponges soaked in paint at each other. Then paint was thrown straight from the bottles. Syringes were used as high power paint pistols. Before I knew it I was soaked head to toe, a living day-glow Pollock painting. When there was finally no paint left, Evan started hosing people down. For whatever reason this room had a garden hose and a drain in the center of the floor. He hit me with the cold spray and I washed the paint off my head and arms as fast as I could. Afterward we all lay down on the wet floor and had a group photo taken with Evan in the center. DRIP certainly knows how to throw a creative birthday party! It turns out anyone can plan a paint party at “My Art Studio.”
The Pollock Project
I went to the Mennello Museum of American Art to watch and sketch Beth Marshall’s, “The Pollock Project“. This performance was a unique collaboration with drama intertwined with performances by the DRIP dance troupe. The first evening I focused all my attention on the beginning of the performance which took place outside the front steps of the museum. I had seen this DRIP dance routine in rehearsals so I was curious to see the final performance. I had not realized that audience members were encouraged to sit right underneath the Plexiglas canvas as the dancers painted it. As soon as Jessica Mariko told me this I put down my seat and staked out my claim on this prime seating real estate. I started a sketch from this vantage point but ended up erasing it since I felt I would need a much larger sheet of paper to catch the wide angle view. When more people crowded under the Plexiglas “canvas” I decided to pull back and sketch from a short distance to catch the audience. I was still working on the sketch when the audience went inside the museum for the second act. Stubbornly I remained behind to finish my sketch. When the audience returned back outside I was still hard at work.
I returned for the second performance so I could experience the show firsthand as an audience member. This time I remained under the Plexiglas to watch the DRIP dancers as they went through their ritualistic dance and painting routine. A little boy seated behind me said to his mother, “It looks like syrup.”
Inside the museum the drama unfolded as Hans Namuth, a photographer, interviewed Pollock in front of the two original paintings on exhibit in the museum as part of the Auspicious Visions exhibition. The interview gets heated when Hans mentions to Pollock what some critics said about his work, for instance a 1959 headline read, “It’s a bad joke in bad taste.” Pollock goes ballistic, angrily pacing around the room defending his work. He storms out of the room and shouts back that he wants the photographer out of his house. Lee Krasner, his wife, manages to calm him down and in a more levelheaded way he tries to explain himself to Hans. He explains that his pictures do not have a beginning or an end, that style isn’t important. His method is a growth out of a need. Lee explains that Pollock’s painting are numbered rather than named since Jackson doesn’t want people to have a preconceived notion of what they are looking at. Where he to title a painting, “Horse”, then people would find a need to see a horse.
I felt that John DiDonna gave a memorable performance at the temperamental Jackson Pollock and Douglas McGeouch’s quiet demure performance as Hans Namuth stood in stark contrast, offering a calm in the storm. Jennifer Bonner with her thick Brooklyn accent was a believable Lee Krasner, who had her hands full trying to keep Jackson steady through his violent mood swings. The small gallery room was crowded with the audience all standing on the outer walls trying to leave room for the angry Pollock. The tight space added to the claustrophobic feel of the drama.
The third act takes place back outside where Jackson Pollock paints while Nemuth shoots his film footage. It is during this act that the collaboration is in full effect. The DRIP dancers, now free of the ladders are given full reign to express themselves through dance. Jackson dances around the canvas creating his “action painting” as the dancers perform. I was particularly moved when audience members each read a quote about Jackson Pollock. It left me feeling that no matter what critics might say, it is the people viewing the art who will finally decide its worth over time.
DRIP – The Pollock Project
Beth Marshall is presenting a theatrical collaboration with DRIP to bring Jackson Pollock’s turbulent and brilliant life to the Mennello Museum of American Art. The Pollock Project will be part visual art, part performance, part history, part dance and part music. This collaboration will explore the marriage of Jackson Pollock’s art and the human condition. This Mennello Museum is now displaying “Auspicious Vision” which features works from Edward Wales Root’s personal collection of American art. Jackson Pollock’s work is on exhibit along with paintings by William de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Edward Hopper among other artists through May 23rd.
I went to the DRIP warehouse to watch a rehearsal for this multimedia project. In the center of the huge space was a large yellow wooden platform which had a large Plexiglas “canvas” mounted on top. The dancers were high up on ladders and Jessica Mariko turned on the recording of music performed by Phillipp Vandre and the Turfan Ensemble. I remembered this high pitched, plunking, haunting modern music from a video I had watched about Pollock when I researched his painting methods for a Halloween costume I made which I called “Jack the Dripper“.
The dance begins with the dancers struggling against gravity as they slowly climb the ladders. Upon reaching the heights, the dancers begin painting with wooden stirring sticks in unison with fluid motions. The dance surged with the electric energy of the music. Watching Pollock work is much like watching a ballet. He would lay his large canvas on the floor and walk around and on the painting as if dancing on its surface. He would bend at the waist as he waved his arm like a farmer sewing seeds onto his field. He was essentially drawing with paint, the lines fluid without describing a specific form. His work was about expressing feelings rather than illustrating them.
After the dancers finished the painting on Plexiglas, I wandered over to look up at they had created. The paint was a bit too thin so it just pooled upon the plastic like mercury, not retaining any linear forms. Jessica decided next time they would have to use thicker paint. There was also some concern as to how they would clean up once the piece was done. It would be impossible to transport the huge sheet of Plexiglas outside to hose it down. I suggested they stretch a thin plastic film onto the frame and then they could poke a hole in the center when they were done and drain the paint into a paint can. I will be curious to see how they resolve this in the end.
I am very excited to see how this artistic collaboration turns out. There are only two performances of “The Pollock Project”: Saturday March 27th at 7 PM and Sunday March 28th at 2 PM.
Yow Dance
Shortly after getting back from Pennsylvania, I went to a performance by Yow Dance at Seminole State College of Florida. Yow dance is Orlando’s “Traditional modern dance company”, which sets it apart from the other dance companies in the area. The company tends to gravitate more towards dance elements that were seen in the early 20th century when Modern Dance was first founded as a rebellion against traditional ballet. Eric Yow pulls his inspiration from this era in his choreography, which often will echo the influence of the founding pioneers of Modern Dance, such as Martha Graham and Paul Taylor. He also looks to one of his favorite choreographers of present day, Mark Morris. The style of Yow Dance has been described as “classical” and “traditional” in comparison to other companies.
Throughout his career, Eric has performed with various companies around the country. Including; the Martha Graham Ensemble, David Hochoy’s Dance Kaleidoscope and Pascal Rioult. He takes stock in what he has learned and melds it with the stories he is compelled to tell through dance.
Seminole State College of Florida’s presentation of Spring Into Dance was a very special opportunity for Eric to showcase his work with Yow Dance. Seven pieces were showcased during this run of performances. They included the premieres of Summer Suite and Tango of Ember, along with a personal and moving solo performed by Eric, himself, entitled, The Fisherman. And though Yow Dance is only in the middle of its second season, audience favorites have emerged from previous performances. Compromising Raven and Tabula Rasa are back after receiving rave reviews during Yow Dance! and the Thang Dao Contemporary Dance Festival in New York City. Other new works will be performed as well that will depict Eric’s light-hearted and humorous side.
While sketching this performance, I noticed a dancer collapse in the wings. A stage hand went over to her to see if she was OK. As other dancers exited the stage they clustered around the fallen dancer to offer their support. No one in the audience could see this scene unfold, but I was up in a balcony seat which looked straight into the wings. I got an e-mail from David Mooney that night informing me that, although there was some concern, the dancer was alright.
The performances were at times light hearted and sometimes lyrical and mystical. I stopped sketching to watch the dance I had seen rehearsed several weeks ago. With the addition of strong orange lighting against the dark stage, the scene became mesmerizing. I feel so privileged to watch a performance like this develop over time.
FRESH-The Coffee Mound
Rather than staying with my exhibit of sketchbooks at FRESH, I returned again and again to the main show space to sketch the performers. In this performance, TinTin danced on the mound becoming more and more a part of the earth. He then dug into the earth, essentially resurrecting his dancing partner, Ashley Kroft. She gracefully rose up, spreading her arms towards the sky. Their dance then became an erotically charged dance of embraces, painful separations and joyful reunions. They both embrace the earth, and share it with each other. They rub the coffee scented earth into each other’s skin. It would be awesome if Starbucks would embrace this celebration of coffee by bringing this dance to the center of its coffee shops. I am certain they would sell more coffee.
I am writing this post from the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Gentle new age music is playing as I enjoy my morning coffee. The music perfectly brings back impressions and feelings I had while watching the FRESH performance. I feel at peace although I am here, to do one last portrait of my stepmother who is losing her battle with cancer. I visited her yesterday and she is a frail fraction of the woman she was. This portrait is the most important sketch I will do in some time. It is time to pack up my supplies and get to the hospital. I approach this new found day buzzing with hope and faith. I do not want to waste a minute.
Voci Dance – iMove_2.0: iCandy Rehearsal
iMove_2.0: iCandy was built around the theme of love. Naomi Rhema and McClaine Timmeran started writing love notes on long strips of paper and envelopes as they waited for the dance rehearsal to start. The long strips of paper were used to construct a paper chandelier which hung in the center of the performance space much like an upside down wedding cake. Full Sail students were busy hanging lights and setting up a second installation with light bulbs hanging from long wires and flexible PVC zip tied to the rafters. 
Actually, a female student was at the top of the ladder the whole time doing all the work while the male student stood at the bottom of the ladder checking instant messages on his cell phone. The Full Sail students all volunteered their time to get all the lighting and high tech projections in place. They may have worked several all-nighters to get this show up in time for ArtsFest.
Genevieve Bernard explained that this installation was all about technology and how it affects romance. I loved an act between dances when McClaine acted like a high school girl talking on a Touch-Tone phone. She danced around excitedly stepping over the cord and then wrapping herself up in the cords embrace. This was lighthearted fun in keeping with much of the show. There were also cell phones hung with care and some very old computers and video games.
The dancers went through a routine in which they all wear LED-head lamps. There was something haunting and tribal about this performance. Periodically, I would be blinded by a dancer,s high beam if she turned her head in my direction. When the warehouse is dark, this dance should looked amazing.
In the several rehearsals I sat in on, I only saw a small fraction of the final show. This keeps me hungry, always wanting to stick around for one more sketch as the drama in motion unfolds. This was one of my favorite ArtsFest events, and it required a whole lot of love and commitment to bring it to life.
iMove_2.0: iCandy
The romantic and playful evening of iMove_2.0: iCandy has come and gone, so now I must simply report on what you missed. The multiple dance routines took place in a large open warehouse. My wife, Terry, and I were the first to enter. Brian Feldman was on hand to offer any crowd control that might be needed. There was no assigned seating. As a matter of fact there was just one couch, so for the duration of the evening people milled about gathering in different areas of the warehouse to watch the various dances. I said hello to Zac Alfson who was busy seeing if he could get his tweets up on the big screen. I think he also was taking photos with his phone all night.
What I loved about the show is that art truly imitated life in this open and vibrant setting. The dancers between dances, would mill about the room checking their iPhones or chatting playfully on old telephones with cords! It was fascinating because many of the audience members were themselves tweeting or checking Facebook status updates. They bowed reverently to the glowing information presented on palm sized screens. Terry can be seen checking her iPhone to the right. A screen on the far wall scrolled tweets and movies were projected on large seamless walls. A kissing booth was set up but it offered no actual privacy so I think it went unused. The Twitter bird icon was animated, flying about the room on the walls. Love letters and long streamers with love notes and hearts were everywhere. I picked up a strawberry flavored heart lollipop and put it in my pocket for later.
I sat on my portable stool next to Genevieve Bernard, the choreographer, and I heard her say “Nice choice” when a dancer had to adjust her movement to avoid running into the crowd. Genevieve said she was nervous right before the event because she was concerned people might not understand this open playful way of presenting a performance. Once she saw everyone was mingling and sipping wine, she relaxed and enjoyed the show. She even went out of her way and got me a red wine while I sketched. I spilled a little on the sketch in the upper left hand corner but I don’t think it hurt anything.
Doug Rhodehamel, an amazing local artist, stopped over and said hello. I have been trying to arrange to sketch him hard at work on his Spore Project. He explained that there might be a mushroom making party next week sometime, which would offer the perfect sketching opportunity.
My favorite dance routine of the evening involved three dancers who began the dance seated in three chairs. Two of the dancers, Leah Marke and Amanda Oost Bradberry, were constantly drawn to each other in romantic embraces circling and becoming closer, while the third dancer, McClaine Timmerman, would try and get close to the couple while never fully becoming part of the couples dance. In the end she remained alone, her staccato movements reaching towards the heavens as if imploring, yet never answered.
Yow Dance – 3 In Motion
Tonight – Saturday, February 6th, at 7 PM, Yow Dance will collaboratewith with Valencia Dance and the Dr. Phillips High School Dance department at the Dr. Phillips High School Auditorium (6500 Turkey Lake Road) at part of Arts Fest. This is the sixth year these three dance companies have joined together on the same stage.
Yow Dance marks itself as Central Florida’s most dynamic modern dance company. I went to a rehearsal at the Center for Contemporary Dance in Winter Park. Artistic Director Eric Yow was nice enough to take the time to explain a little bit about what they were rehearsing the night I sketched them. “We were rehearsing “Compromising Raven”, a favorite piece of older repertory. The music was by Philip Glass. The theme of the piece is quite dark. Iit is about rising above those oppressive feelings that may come about from any of the many variables around you.”
Besides drawing dancers at rest and stretching in the background, I sketched a section of the dance where the dancers would be on their knees and bent over in what looked like a position of reverent prayer. They would then slowly rise up into the position sketched and then roll over and repeat the movements. These dancers put in some long hard hours. I had arrived a bit late to the rehearsal since once again, I got lost looking for the place. But I think that panicked, rushed quality to the sketch actually helped breath new life into the sketch.
One of the dancers had her son on the sidelines as she rehearsed. As expected, he became infatuated with what I was doing. He stood beside me pointing to each of the dancers as I drew then and he would identify them for me. When he stood in front of me, David Mooney had to come over and pull him aside. The boy had a non-stop stream of questions and I patiently answered them, but it was a little distracting at times. Dance rehearsals are always inspiring with the non-stop movement and high energy. My sketch developed in pieces as I caught dancers at different times during the rehearsal freezing them at the moment when they best filled their role in my composition. In this way sketching is alot like theater viewpoints exercises, I try and capture scattered illusive moments in time as the action unfolds quickly before me.
Voci Dance – iMove_2.0: iCandy
Sketching Voci Dance rehearsals for iMove_2.0: iCandy, which has its final performance tonight, has been a pure joy. I sit still for so long in the wings, and I am so quiet that I think the dancers forget that I am even there. This suspicion is confirmed when the dancers start joking with one another about their boobs getting in the way during certain dance moves. Genevieve Bernard, Voci’s artistic director and choreographer, shouted out to me from where she was sitting, that such discussions are quite common among the dancers. The choreography is athletic and challenging but the dancers fearlessly push themselves time and again until the moves are worked out. This routine being worked out was being co-choreographed by two of the dancers, Leah Marke and Amanda Oost Bradberry. When giving notes, Leigh acted like a Russian taskmaster for a moment; saying, “You must focus!” (pronounced fuckus). Everyone laughed. McClaine Timmerman said to the choreographers, “You must get twice the pay, as dancers and choreographers.” Later Genevieve explained to me that everything in this show had to be begged for, borrowed or stolen. This was being thrown together on a showstring with love and faith that it would all fall together come performance day.
The music for this piece was a light enjoyable song with the refrain of love, being sung seven times. One challenging move took the longest time to develop. It involved Kathryn Tosh lying on her back, and Naomi Rhema running towards her crouching down and allowing her pelvis to be supported by Kathryn’s feet. She would then use her legs like springs and launch Naomi backwards and up. Other dancers supported Naomi, allowing her to gracefully float back and then land. I didn’t try to catch the dancers in moments of fast motion but instead focused on their relaxed poses as they discussed notes and shared ideas. This was a constant collaboration; ideas came from everyone. Critical thinking was relaxed so they could explore and find new territory.
In the spirit of audience interactivity toward which the event is geared, a cell phone photo contest has been initiated in which you could win a date with a Voci dancer. Darn technology is always stealing the thunder from urban sketchers. Tonight is your last chance to see this amazing show and shoot some sweet cell phone photos.