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FROM THE OUTSIDE IN: FINDING YOUR DANCE NICHE
OCT:05 IN DANCE
ARTICLE
BY BONNER ODELL - associate editor of IN DANCE - Bonner@dancersgroup.org.
It’s rare to find an artist who will tell you to search outside of yourself
for inspiration. From Rainer Maria Rilke to Martha Graham, the familiar mantra
for tapping creativity is to look within. Delving into unfamiliar realms of
knowledge to go deeper into one’s art may sound anti-intuitive, yet
October features two notable companies who are doing just that. Flyaway Productions’
“10 Women Campaign Celebration”, October 17th at ODC Theater,
and Capacitor’s “Digging in the Dark”, Oct. 20-30th at Project
Artaud Theater, are testimonies to what can happen when a choreographer sets
her mind on a particular area of inquiry and develops deliberate ties to experts
in another field.
... The same principle of cross-disciplinary collaboration rings true for
Jodi Lomask, artistic director of the interactive media, dance, and new circus
performance group Capacitor. In keeping with the company’s focus on
the interplay between science, technology, and human experience, October’s
“Digging in the Dark” explores the layers of the Earth as a metaphor
for human consciousness and personal intimacy. The piece was developed in
partnership with a group of geophysicists from UC Berkeley and Stanford Universities
involved in the study and imaging of the Earth’s interior.
“I find these connections important,” says Lomask, “because
they feed my creative mind, keeping me from creating the same dance over and
over again… I like to engage in conceptual dialogue, to feel my mind
stretching, to get that zippy excited feeling that leads to the realization
of a piece. My mind is part of my body and in the way that I train my body
with many forms including yoga and ballet, I feed my imagination with new
understanding.”
