www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIJhFVxW2jk

Choreography by Kate Spanos
Music: “Waiting for Conrad” by Shooglenifty (Venus in Tweeds, 1995)
Performers: Maria Oliver, Kate Spanos, Shannon Sullivan, Rose Trulin, Kelsey Wilson, Abby Zuppan

View all of my videos on YouTube

anonymous from “Tell It to the E-R” in the Chico Enterprise Record, 2 April 2010:

Irish dancers stole the show
Went to see “Keeping Dance Alive” at Laxson Auditorium and just wanted to say bravo to the Irish dancers. They were so wonderful they literally stole the show. Would love to see more of them. The hip-hop was also good. Have to say the rest of the performances were disappointing, but kudos to the Irish dancers and thank them for all the work they did to bring us such a delightful performance.

My reaction: !!!!!!!!!

To the anonymous caller: whoever you are, you are my new best friend. Thank you! I thought this year’s KDA was particularly good and I thought all the performances were really high quality, so this is amazing to hear. It’s true, we did work hard (and had fun doing it!) so thanks to Maria, Rose, Kelsey, Shannon and Abby for all their hard work!

“Waiting for Conrad,” choreographed by Kate Spanos, was a delightful Irish step performance featuring six talented dancers, including Chico Community Ballet alumna Kelsey Wilson. The performers’ talent was so big that, despite their small number, they filled the stage with quick, light and lively dance.

You can read the full article here: Review: ‘Keeping Dance Alive!’ succeeds with lively performances.

Not mentioned in the article was my personal favorite, “Splatter,” which was a contemporary dance choreographed and performed by Cassie Johnston (a Chico Community Ballet alumna) and two other dancers from Vispo Dance of San Francisco. The strength and quality of movement that these dancer possessed was exquisite, and the long 9 minute piece only left me wanting more.

Congratulations to all the dancers!

“Waiting for Conrad” is a contemporary Irish dance piece that emphasizes rhythm and attitude, taking the dance form beyond its focus on competition and athleticism while remaining true to its tradition. As a choreographer, I am aware of the history and influences of Irish dance: many different Irish dance styles contribute to the overall genre (including the old sean-nós style, modern competition style and the theatrical style seen in Riverdance) and Irish dance itself has influenced and been influenced by other percussive dance forms such as tap, flamenco and clogging.

In creating “Waiting for Conrad,” I have started from the traditional base of Irish dance technique that my dancers are familiar with, which is marked by footwork, rhythm and verticality, and have added an element of attitude and expression that is not frequently seen in Irish dance. I have borrowed some movements from tap dance that break the crossed-leg/turned-out foot positions of Irish dance and have incorporated some upper body movement that disrupts the vertical axis of the dancers. In addition, the movement of dancers across the floor creates a spatial map that is non-traditional in that geometric shapes are avoided. Paths have been determined through organic and somewhat random methods, similar to those frequently used in some contemporary dance forms, in contrast to the mathematical precision of traditional Irish céili dance.

Despite having broken a few basic rules of Irish dance in this piece, I have asked my dancers to maintain their best technique and to focus first and foremost on rhythm so that the dance is still undoubtedly Irish. But unlike the steps performed in the competitive realm of Irish dance in which my dancers train, “Waiting for Conrad” conveys a vague story that requires some attention paid to attitude through facial and upper body expression. This contemporary style of Irish dance is relatively new: it goes beyond our “old jigs and hornpipes” as well as transcends the virtuosic glitz of stage shows such as Riverdance, and aims instead for a more subdued exploration of technique and rhythm that may lend itself to more intellectual themes. Irish dance has come from the crossroads of rural Ireland to a new crossroads, where it is pushed to new boundaries of style and form.

Other acts include ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz, hip hop, and tribal belly dance. Don’t miss it–it’s going to be a great show!

Image from last year’s Keeping Dance Alive! 2009
Chaos Interne, choreographed by Chelsea Beights
(check it out: that’s my hand, third from the right, with my head right behind it!)

Show times:
Friday, 5 March 7:30 PM
Saturday, 6 March 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM
Laxson Auditorium, CSU Chico
$18 adult, $16 senior, $14 student/child
Order tickets now!

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I created this tool to help me study for the GRE Verbal and it helped immensely. I figured it would be helpful for others as well, so I’m sharing the love. Any comments and suggestions are always welcome. Go register now and have fun!

I am performing in “Capoeira and Maculele” with Chico Capoeira, “Chaos Interne, ” a Community Contemporary dance piece choreographed by Chelsea Beights, and “Foras An Rince,” an Irish dance piece choreographed by Kelsey Wilson and performed by members of the Maria Oliver Academy of Irish dance.

Here are some press releases and media reviews:

• 3/5/2009: ‘Keeping Dance Alive!’ hits the stage with style (Chico Enterprise Record)
• 3/12/2009: Performing arts review: ‘Keeping Dance Alive!’ shows power of dance (Chico Enterprise Record)

Chico Capoeira

Foras an Rince

I’m in the photo in the article…can you spot me?

I’ve never elaborated because I didn’t know if these colors were actually rhythm-induced, or if they were just my personal associations about how dance steps should be performed to these rhythms. For example, slip jigs are typically meant to be feminine, elegant, light and airy, so my pretty-pastel association makes sense.

However, the other day I was thinking about my set dances. All my hornpipe sets are typically dark browns, such as the Ace & Deuce of Pipering, the Roving Peddler, the Rambling Rake, etc. The Drunken Gauger is a treble jig, and is very light blue and green.

But my Piper, a hornpipe set that I dance at an uncommonly slow speed (73 bpm) is also light blues and greens. I also have another normal speed (~104 bpm) Piper that is dark brown and forest green, just like any other hornpipe. Then I remembered that when a hornpipe (4/4 or 2/4 time) is slowed down enough, it essentially becomes a jig (6/8), in that the multiples of 4, 6, and 8 will “meet” at some point. So this means that maybe these simple mathematics could explain the changing colors of the Piper, going from a brown hornpipe at speed 104 to a light green/blue treble jig at speed 73.

Of course, although this is pretty interesting and it is some compelling evidence, it still isn’t proof that I have rhythm-induced synesthesia. It is totally possible that since the choreographer of the slow Piper (Michael Ryan) was using a slower tempo, and therefore was choosing more jig-like steps, I came to associate the dance more with a treble jig than with a hornpipe. It isn’t that the choreography was originally styled for faster hornpipe, and I’m just doing those faster hornpipe steps to extremely slow music. The steps are actually even faster (physically, my feet are moving faster) than they would be in a hornpipe at speed 104, and the steps feel much more similar to treble jigs that I’ve danced.

My logic has circled back, so again, I’m back to the question as to whether my synesthesia is induced by the actual rhythm, or if it’s just an association that helps me perform the steps in a way that congruent with the music. Anyway, it’s food for thought, and definitely something to experiment with at some point.

It was reviewed by The Orion!