The Creative Process of ‘Dances of Love Laughter & Loss’
On a cold December morning, Jean Isaacs drove to the White Box Theatre for an early rehearsal. She had to finalize two dances, one old and one new, for her January show, Dances of Love, Laughter & Loss.
“We’re restaging Atlantic Man from 2003 and based on [Margurite] Duras’ radio play, and the costumes are birdlike,” said Isaacs. “Feathers are going to fly this morning.”
San Diego Dance Theater dancers perform “The Atlantic Man.” Courtesy photo.
Several dancers were already inside, stretching and jumping to stay warm near the wall heaters. Minaqua McPherson skipped rope like a pro boxer. Dressed in a red puffy vest and Ugg boots made of thick wool, Isaacs started a CD and took a seat.
Dancers broke into twos and threes and converged as a flock. They fell to the cold floor and struggled to stand, pulling their arms up slowly into arcs. In one section, Isaacs tossed out wooden balls the size of marbles and dancers scrambled to gather them up.
Jeremy Zapanta used crutches to balance and pivot, and soar like a bird. In performance, the crutches are covered to appear as feathered wings. “I try to stay as true to the original as I can,” said Zapanta. “I watched video, but I also want to give it my voice.”
There are many dramatic leaps onto shoulders and mini duets to challenge the dancers. “There is room in this piece to layer your own emotion over the original choreography,” said Blythe Barton. “There’s room for it.” John Diaz dances the same part as he did in 2003. “I love the wisdom of the movement,” he said. “It’s in my body, and Jean has enriched it. It’s fuller now.” Almost in unison the dancers agreed it is very tough to grab all of the scattered balls.
“There’s text about absence and it’s a very stark piece,” said Isaacs, “so I wanted to balance the January program with something light and upbeat. I got the idea for series of dances when I was cleaning out my linen closet!”
Her troupe, San Diego Dance Theater, will also premiere Pillow: Case, at the Mandell Weiss Theatre Jan. 16-18. “I wanted to get rid of the old pillow cases in my closet,” she said, “and the new dances are about the people who slept on them. They are autobiographical stories and mixed up by passing of time. I asked Meagan Marshall to write narratives based on those memories. They’re embellished and names are changed. So who knows what really happened?”
Shannon Snyder and Erica Ruse rehearse the new dance “Pillow: Cases.” Photo: Manuel Rotenberg
Marshall, a UC San Diego alumnus and former student of Isaacs’, will perform the spoken parts live. In rehearsal, Marshall set the dancers in motion with her juicy stories framed like crime shows and “Inside the Actors Studio.”
“He had a jungle habitat, leopard and safari print sheets…” she explains. Another pillow case is titled, “Parade of Men” and ends with the line, “My bed that year was like a revolving door.”
The text provides rhythm and visual imagery, and Isaacs asks dancers to improvise and interpret the ideas. Several of the dance vignettes are racy, but have a humorous tone.
Barton and Kyle Sorensen stayed late to finalize their slippery satin sheet duet.
“I like it when you really slide on the cases, and the big split,” said Isaacs. “Can you wrap your leg around tighter? Whose hand is that? This is looking great. Let’s do the split again.”
The Atlantic Man is restaged by Isaacs, Terry Wilson and Liv Isaacs-Nicollet. Live music by Steve Baker on piano and Peggy Johnson on bass. Dancers include: Blythe Barton, John Diaz, Trystan Loucado, Minaqua McPherson, Erica Ruse, Zaquia Mahler Salinas, Ariana Siegel, Kyle Sorensen, Shannon Snyder and Jeremy Zapanta; UC San Diego Dance Alumni Beth Calarco, Jessica Curiel, and Cecily Holcombe.
IF YOU GO: “Dances of Love, Laughter and Loss,” on stage 8 p.m. Jan. 16-17; and 2 p.m. Jan. 18, at Mandell Weiss Theatre, UC San Diego. Tickets from $15. (619) 225-1803. sandiegodancetheater.org
Another version of this preview by Kris Eitland also appears at www.lajollalight.com.
Kris Eitland covers dance and theater for Sandiegostory.com and freelances for other publications, including the Union Tribune and Dance Teacher Magazine. She grew up performing many dance styles and continued intensive modern dance and choreography at the Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth, and San Diego State Univ. She also holds a journalism degree from SDSU. Her career includes stints in commercial and public radio news production.
Eitland has won numerous Excellence in Journalism awards for criticism and reporting from the San Diego Press Club. She has served on the Press Club board since 2011 and is a past president. She is a co-founder of Sandiegostory.com. She has a passion for the arts, throwing parties with dancing and singing, and cruising the Pacific in her family’s vintage trawler. She trains dogs, skis, and loves seasonal trips to her home state of Minnesota.