ASDI: Week One Summary

A wonderful group!

Side lifts...

...and slicing through space...

...and some much-needed constructive rest.

A hibiscus from Scott's front yard. There are dozens of these beautiful flowers, in both white and red, all of them as big as my head.

This is where we relax and share meals after a day of teaching.

A view of the corn field and hills behind Scott's house.

Wednesday night's bonfire.

The neighbor's cat that bit me at Wednesday night's bonfire. I guess I'm not a cat-whisperer afterall.

All in all, a great week. Carla arrived this evening and we start Week Two tomorrow morning.

Updates to follow,

Joan

Photos by Marissa Gloriosso & Joan Meggitt

Allegheny Summer Dance Intensive: Week One Coming to a Close

Today marks the official end of Week One of the annual Allegheny Summer Dance Intensive; although I do have one more class tomorrow morning. The students have been great! As movers they are enthusiastic and have committed to a rigorous schedule. As observers of one another's work, they are well-spoken, thoughtful and detail-oriented.

The Ladies of Antaeus - Heather, Sherri & Marissa - left for Cleveland this afternoon. It has been really nice to give/take class with them this week. Sherri returns for Week Two and Carla joins us from New York City.

We had a lovely evening by the fire on Wednesday, and enjoyed what is fast becoming a tradition for us - regaling one another with stories while consuming s'mores. Many thanks are owed to our friend and host, Scott, for indulging us. I look forward to more stories with Sherri and Carla next week. In the mean time, I am making final preparations for the fall semester at Kent State University. My colleagues are in meetings this week and I will join them next Saturday for entrance auditions.

During the intensive, I am re-mounting FFA: Fairy Flight Academy by Holly Labbe Cole on a double-cast of Allegheny College students. I will be doing the same with a single cast from the Kent Dance Ensemble in October. The former will perform in PA in December and the latter at KSU next April. The Allegheny students have learned half the piece in three short rehearsals (roughly 4.5 hours total). This is no mean feat considering their rehearsal comes after a full day of dancing and I am one for making frequent changes. They are patient with my mistakes - it's been a while since the last FFA - and are keeping up with the material. Working with two casts [plus two understudies] can sometimes be messy, but everyone has been gracious and attentive.

Until next week,
Joan

Photos by Heather Koniz

Day One...again

Aside from my single most recent blog - full of promises as of yet unkept and otherwise unmet - it has been one year since my last post. I feel a bit like I am confessing this: Forgive me followers, for I have sinned; it has been one year since my last post...

I am once again in Meadville, PA directing and teaching the annual Allegheny Summer Dance Intensive with Antaeus Dance. It is a delightfully cool evening and I am living in a place where there is neither light nor sound pollution. This year I have 28 students, many of them new to me. They are a lovely group and day one has left me exhausted - happily so.

I always get a bit nostalgic here at my Alma Mater; but the real joy of being here is being with the students. Time was when I really knew who these kids were. I was one of them after all. But that was 20 years ago now and walking into the studio today is like walking into a new country, or even onto a different planet.

What I truly relish is being in that moment of knowing what my intentions are but not knowing how they will take shape. At one point, I told the students that we are all professional improvisors. We do it everyday in our speech and meeting of one another and think nothing of it. It is the same with teaching - the improvising that is. At our best, students and teachers alike, we meet one another and participate in dialogue. We receive, consider, ask and respond equally. Today, I was aware of it - riding the wave and seeing myself riding the wave all at the same time - and in that millimoment there was true bliss. And then I named it, recognized it, tried to catch it and it was gone.

But I am still remembering that moment, when I veered away from the plan but stayed true to the intention.

There was laughter, in me and the students. Not in knowing or claiming to know or in holding on to what was happening, but simply in being in that moment.

Joan