What A Coincidence!

If you've been reading you'll notice that on Monday November 8th the topic of my blog was:

 "Jody Sawyer Moment Of the Month: Why Can't All Dancing Be This Fun? 

Which feature this lovely link

 of

 Dancing with Hands-We No Speak Americano

Well I've been watching probably a little too much TV lately due the blizzard and noticed they have a new commercial on McDonalds featured here.

Cleary and Harding Commercial

 Interesting huh?

FHP Winter Warm-Ups

Sooo I did a photo shoot a couple of months ago for Dance Spirit Magazine with the Francesca Harper Project. The theme was "Winter Warm-Ups" and the shoot took place in this beautiful space with tons of light and character. I just recently received in the mail two copies of the magazine and was delighted as to see how well everyone looked. Here are a few shots from the shoot, there are more in the actual magazine so be sure to pick up the January issue!

They came out nice right???????

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Soooo I stayed in NY for Christmas...yes with out my family...in order to be in the city for rehearsals, shows, working, and other ish which is on my 2 page To Do list. Break got a slow start with me being under the weather and rehearsing all day with my Senior choreographer Karole Armitage buttt I got better, love the choreography, and most importantly my friend Denealia came in town! We've been having a blast in the city, especially since her flight has gotten cancelled at least 3 times because of the huge BLIZZARD. In the meantime we've gone to see an Ailey show (fo free...don't ask how),  got mani/pedis, attepted to see the nutcraker, cooked a bangin' Christmas dinner, stretched, played in the snow at central park, steamed, drank lots of tea, all topped off with healage, great wine, and even better conversation. The things I mentioned are pretty much all you need for a great break and I'll remember my Xmas 2010 for years to come. 

Here are some pix from the break so far:

My friend Denealia and I. Cheers!

So much yellow! Oh and snow

Central Park

Dance Films of 2010

While I've already ranted and raved about the most recent dance film "Black Swan" I'd like to take a moment to recognize 3 other dance films/documentaries that I've had the pleasure of viewing in 2010. While most were not seen by the general public they were supported in the dance world and i learned something from each one. Here's a look back at their trailers.

Based on Li's best selling autobiography, MAO'S LAST DANCER is the epic story of a young poverty stricken boy from China and his inspirational journey to international stardom as a world-class dancer.

Trailer

Corella Ballet Documentary

A documentary on the creation and development of Angel Corella's ballet company in Segovia, Spain, his native country, as directed and produced by Gerri L. Gagnon.

Trailer

TuTu Much

A 2010 Canadian documentary film that focuses on the 9-12 year old entering class of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Summer School Program.

Trailer

They Will Be Missed. Two Great Dance Legends Pass in 2010.

Kazuo Ohno

1906-2010

Internationally influential Japanese dancer who founded the butoh movement and continued to perform after his 100th birthday.

It would be remarkable enough for an artist in any field to remain active into his second century, but the physical demands of dance made Kazuo Ohno’s achievement all the more astonishing. Having first performed publicly at the relatively advanced age of 43, he became, in his fifties, one of the founders of butoh, an important movement in modern Japanese dance, and went on to win international fame in old age.

So happy that I got to know her, Denise Jefferson was an American dance educator who served as the director of the Ailey School of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 1984 until her death.

Affectionately referred to as Ms. J — she was instrumental in identifying a child's potential, and mentoring myriad students as they began their journey to becoming some of the greatest dance artists in the world. “Powerful,” “technical,” “elegant,” “consistent,” “beautiful,” “fierce,” “a force of nature”— these are some of the adjectives most commonly used to describe Ailey students. They are also the words that best describe Denise Jefferson.

The Best Dance Magazine Covers of 2010

Here are my five fave magazine covers in 2010 from the publications DANCE Magazine, Dance Spirit, and POINTE in no particular order

Love Misty Copeland! Been following her career for a while now. Not everyday you see black ballerinas on the cover!

Would love to dance with them some day and I know the girl on the cover!

I remember seeing this on the stands and being instantly drawn to it. Dance and fashion have always worked hand and hand through costuming. Who doesn't love getting dressed up?

I had no idea this was Debbie Allen's daughter. She looks great! I guess she gets it from her Mama ;)

The catchy headline instantly grabbed my attention and had me talking about the article with friends for days

Success...Define it For Yourself

Success is often pre-defined by society as the attainment of wealth, position, or honors. 

I'd like to take a moment to say "SCREW YOU SOCIETY!" and define it for myself.

Success, to me, is ultimately a fulfilled life. 

A life that is always involved with the arts.

A life that consists of a professional dance career both nationally and internationally, not dependent on the size of the company but on the amount of growth I get out of it.

A life of travel and cultural exchange.

A life of constant learning about myself and others.

A life of giving.

A life of sharing dance with those who've never been exposed.

A life of love.

A life of  action.

A life of taking risks.

A life of acknowledging fear but never allowing it to hinder me.

A life of being beautiful but not afraid of being ugly.

A life of strong friendships.

A life of awareness.

A life of openness. 

A life of optimism.
A life of balance.

My life.

Writing this list, which I hope to keep adding to, has made me realize something that I just came to terms with senior year. There's only one Courtney Ashley Henry in the world and whatever "successes" are meant for me will be for me. Comparing my journey to someone else's is a waste of time and energy. I can only follow my own path by putting one foot in front of the other and having and open mind and heart.

"Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be"-George Sheehan

'Tis the Season...to treat yourself ;)

So technically I should be saving my money, shopping for others, blah blah blah. But after the crazy week I've had with exams, rehearsals, cold weather (aka aching body), and a breakdown cry to top it all off I decided to treat myself along with 3 other friends and go see the new movie "Black Swan."

It turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made in a while.

I had seen the trailer and accompanying clips on the NY Times website but I still wasn't sure exactly what to expect. Turns out it was everything I could have wanted and more. It was the perfect balance of REAL dancing, relatable scenarios, and craziness.

"Black Swan" dealt with very real issues like mirror complex, perfectionism, body image, and role immersion that are present in the ballet world and then multiplied those emotions and complexes by 100 for a psycho thriller.

Natalie Portman does a stellar job of playing this deeply afflicted ballerina who has unhealthy relationships with her mom, director, dance, and herself. While its obvious that she has a body double (who dances beautifully) when the camera follows Portman's upper body her port de bras is striking and surprisingly believable. You can tell that she's been trained well and fully prepped for the role.

I encourage all to escape the cold and go see it. It's only playing in select theaters but it's worth it. After all, how often does a good dance movie (that's not hip-hop and cheesy)come along? Especially one that exploits the fact that ballet can and will fuck with your head.

Is All Publicity Good Publicity?: A look at recent dance criticism.

Before you read my post you must read these two Dance critiques by NY Times writers Alastair Macaulay and Rosalyn Lucas. Justtt to make sure we're all on the same page;) 

Webster defines criticism as:

The act or art of analyzing and evaluating or judging the quality of a literary or artistic work, musical performance, art exhibit, dramatic production, etc.

In the arts world, specifically of NYC, criticism can sometimes be a tough pill to swallow. Like I mentioned before, all serious dancers are carrying around this fragile little thing called an art baby (whether we know it or not) and when someone "judges" that...it can hurt. 

And yet, it's a necessary evil.

While dance critique has been around for a long time I think its safe to say that my generation has become a witness to its current change. Alastair Macaulay has a history of raising hackles in  the NY dance world and his most recent Complexions review (linked above) has helped to push dance criticism in a very different direction. Macaulay and Lucas have written "ballsy" reviews, telling it like it is without holding back. Its gutsy, sometimes hurtful, but you have to admit...it gets our attention.

While Macaulay is making some valid points his approach is a little to harsh for my liking. Using sharp, blunt sentences, and calling Mr. Rhoden's choreography "efficiently horrid" (within the first paragraph I might add!) was an unnecessary "judgment" of the quality as opposed to "analyzing and evaluating" the work like criticism is supposedly defined as doing. For me, Rosalyn Lucas' article was harsh yes, but not in a biting way. She seemed to truly be offering an outsiders perspective on the 51st season of AADTwhose rep, as a fact, has not caught up to the 21st century.

Dance criticism should consist of a fair and honest analyzation of choreography, evaluating of the dancers, and the overall quality of the individual show and sometimes company as a whole. But at the same time realizing that a lot of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears most likely went into the show being reviewed and despite the choreographer's mishaps or shortcomings, if the company's good, the dancers have worked their asses off to try and relay the vision the best they can and a dance critic should ALWAYS respect that.

Awe and Fulfillment

Although I've never even thought to buy the magazine before, I was required to purchase the December issue of O Magazine for an academic class and was pleasantly surprised by the content. One article in particular caught my attention titled  "The Key to Fulfillment". A pulled quote from the piece pretty much sums it up:

Somewhere at the intersection of joy, fear, mystery, and insight lies awe, that ineffable response to the amazing world around us. Only recently have scientists taken a look at the sensation—and why it may be key to a more fulfilling life. 

When discussing it in class my professor commented “You couldn’t pay me to read this,” implying that the Oprah “cheese factor,” understandably so, was sure to be sky high in this article. However, I did read it and maybe it’s my sappiness, even though I’ll choose to call it artsy-ness ;), and I liked it. I could completely relate to those moments of “awe” when you feel “overwhelmed, surprised, humbled, and even a little terrified all at the same time. As a dancer I can compare this feeling to not only feeling small when gazing at the cosmos like research scientist Heidi Hammel featured in the article but also feeling larger than life when performing on stage. Dance continues to provide my sense of wonder and attachment to the “bigger picture” of life.  I feel incredibly blessed to be hyper aware of my body and as a result be able to more fully realize this “utter fulfillment” or “awe” again and again.

 

More Than A Success: Francesca Harper Answers Questions about her Mom's Celebration Concert

Ms. J

This past week I had the opportunity to perform on the world famous Harlem stage, the Apollo. As if that wasn’t reason enough to be excited, the purpose behind the show was for the late, great, Denise Jefferson, former Director of the Ailey School and all around phenomenal woman. It was a Celebration Concert in her honor that was invitation only, and served as an opportunity to bring generations and cultures together to share, dance, but most of  all remember this beautiful woman who had an impact in some way on every single life sitting in that audience.

I had the privilege of working with her equally talented and passionate daughter Francesca Harper for the show and other projects and here is a sound bite of  a few of her reflections from that emotional and inspiring night.

 Francesca Harper 

Interview

Just Something to Think About

What talent or special skill do you wish you possessed?

When I was first met with this question it was in the context of a weekly RA report. It is the Resident Director's (aka my boss) respectable attempt to make this mundane task somewhat interesting by asking a "Question of the Week." Normally I answer these fairly quickly. Whatever pops in my head first  is usually what I put down and call it a day, but for some reason this one had me pondering. I wound up coming up with some bullshit answer just to get it turned in time but later in the day, on my own time, I really thought about it and came to a conclusion. As "dance-obsessed" as it may sound I decided, wouldn't it be great if I had the ability to pick up choreography instantaneously and with ease? As soon as I was taught it I would know it, giving me more time to concentrate on the artistic nuances as opposed to the steps. 

Being a dancer, I have to admit I've struggled with that over the years. Now that I'm aware of it I can pinpoint that it's actually a result of the way I was trained from 9 years old to high school. The steps and counts were literally handed to me on a platter so I never had to really rely on myself to pick up the steps quickly because I knew it would be reviewed again and again. 

And then came New York. School. The "real world." Where phrases, counts, and gestures, are being thrown at you a mile a minute and it's your responsibility to be quick and not only remember the steps but all the little details tat come with it.

While I must say I've improved tremendously over the past years I still need and want to be better at it. One thing that I must remember though is while I can "wish" that I possessed this talent it is in fact a tangible skill that I can acquire.  

Here is a valuable lesson I learned two summers ago at LINES Ballet that I plan on actively working on again in the studio, please feel free to try it out for yourself!

Don't learn individual steps!

The more complicated the movement is the harder it is to pick up this way. Instead try experimenting with varying ways of remembering. 

You could focus on the flow of the shapes.

Pattern of the feet/arms.

Individual counts.

Natural reaction of your body to the movement.

Either way you choose make sure it's a conscious decision. Simply identifying a method and being aware of how your brain is storing this information is the first step.

Also, connecting the movement and understanding the "flow" of the steps is a huge tip. As soon as you start compartmentalizing each step it makes it harder to remember and your dancing feels and looks disconnected.

Hope these tips help. Everyone's learning style is different, I still haven't completely figured out mine, but at least it's something to think about, and having a specific task while picking up choreography will allow you to build upon that "special skill" that we are all capable of having.

Jody Sawyer Moment of the Month: "Why Can't All Dancing Be This Fun?"

So I've decided to pay a monthly homage to the greatest (and by greatest I mean cheesiest:) dance movie of my generation: Center Stage. If you're a real dancer I'm sure you know every line (even if you pretend like you don't) and the line for this month is: "Why can't all dancing be this fun?" This thought came to mind when watching this video. Their coordination, timing, and contrast between their upper and lower body is sickk. And while they're not doing grande jete's across the floor I think this form of "dance" is just as beautiful...but most of all fun!

Dancing with Hands-We No Speak Americano

Secrets of a Successful Dancer...It's all in the Bag

Sure there are significant qualities like great technique, proportional body, great headshots, and resumes that can make or break a dancer but the true success behind any great professional is the contents of his/her dance bag. If it contains the right amount of items one can be prepared for any situation and never go wrong.

Here are a few essential things I think every dancer should have:

1) Tennis Ball: perfect for rolling out those achy muscles

 

2) Toe Tape: keep way the pointe shoe blisters

 

3)Band-aids: never know when a boo boo will occur

4) Theraband: stretchhh

 

5) Water bottle: have to stay hydrated

6) Emergen-C: perfect little packet full of Vitamin C and energy

 

7) Nuts: ideal snack to munch on

 

8) Needle and thread: for sudden wardobe/shoe malfunctions

 

9) Planner: essential to staying organized

 

10) Shoes: depending on what style of dancer you are. Personally it's ballet and pointe shoes

 

11) MukLuks: the perfect shoe to keep your feet warm

 

12) Small journal/notebook: to take notes/jot down ideas

 

13) Last but not least a cute bag to keep it all in!

 

 

"rosee du matin" premiere

All I can say is SUCCESS!

After all the hard work, stress, tears just minutes before the show, it's done. And most importantly it was beautiful.

It was the strangest feeling sitting in the audience and watching my piece unfold on stage. So many emotions coursing through my veins as I sat next to my boyfriend, teachers, and fellow classmates, literally exposing myself to them all. My dancers did a beautiful job, despite the fact that I had a nervous breakdown after the dress rehearsal earlier that day because the socks they were wearing were way to slippery and caused them to dance safe.

If it's one thing I've learned in the dance world to be true is bad rehearsal means a good show and it was better than I ever thought it would be:)

My lovely Cast <3