With a smile on my face, I’m giddy reporting that my mind, body and heart are renewed and refreshed from spending a few glorious weeks in Italy. My favorite part of vacation—aside from taking naps and not having to respond to email—is the opportunity to meet new people, and see sights that bring exotic details into view. It’s as if a dormant part of my brain clicks on and colors, textures, architectural details, and the groupings of people and objects come into a vigorously altered focus. The other good part is that the clutter of my regular daily tasks is subsumed by unfamiliar sights, sounds and tastes. I also notice that I have a greater capacity to continue to see or experience more elements of a landscape. For example, a street regularly traversed while visiting the island of Capri kept revealing different sights. And of course these weren’t new. The wild capers growing out of an old stone wall and the rusted gate with intricately engraved details of a family crest were there all along.
This reminds me that I want to take more time to view dance. Not necessarily see more dance but see the same dance performed two, three or more times so that I can enjoy those moments that are right in front of me—the not-so-hidden elements that the choreographer has crafted in the work, yet take multiple viewings to fully appreciate. I’ve said this before: I want dance events to have longer performance runs, and for artists to remount previous works, so that each of us has the opportunity to go back and savor and discover and be surprised by what we didn’t acquire the first time.
This year, during Dancers’ Group’s 30th, my memory has been jogged—sometimes tearfully but always with great joy—of an incredible history that, upon reflection, has given me the gift of working with an amazing array of artists and administrators. This month wraps up our anniversary year with four great tributes to three decades of dance, all the while preparing for some exciting new projects and initiatives. You might have already noticed that this issue of In Dance marks the addition of color to the pages. Our dedicated members, donors and funders help us continue to improve the quality of In Dance, and coupled with the wonderful writers we get to work with each month, we are proud of the part our work plays to keep dance visible. This can been seen in the ever growing number of performances and this issue is no exception.
Featured this month, and I’m sure you will find delight in reading about them, are a variety of projects, artists and disciplines. Mary Ellen Hunt interviews Jack Carpenter and reveals his insights on his multi-faceted work as a lighting designer. The technical theme continues with an insightful article by a first time writer for In Dance, Lucas Krech. His work on the upcoming show with Avy K Productions gives perspective on how a lighting/media artist responds to improvisational movement.
The final installation of the 2012 Rotunda Dance Series wraps up with a free noontime performance by Chris Black on December 7. Frequent contributor Julie Potter talks with Chris about working with her daughter’s classmates to craft a new work for the Rotunda.
Isadora Duncan has inspired many and that is no less true for the work that Mary Sano has generated over the years. Brittany Delaney writes about her introduction to Duncan Dancing and Sano’s unique blend of styles inspired by Duncan and her native Japan.
The respite of time away in a foreign country reminded me of how special the Bay Area is and how much I love the work that takes place here. Living in such a beautiful setting, rich with opportunities to experience hundreds of different kinds of cultural events, is magical.
Be good, be inspired, be surprised and enjoy each moment.
—Wayne Hazzard
