Performance tomorrow!

The first performance of Wissahickon Reunion will take place tomorrow Sunday Oct 23, from 10:30 -11:15 AM along the path from Mt. Airy Ave to the Mt Airy Ave Bridge in Wissahickon Park. The performance will feature dancers Beau Hancock, Shavon Norris, Jumatatu Poe, Olive Prince, and Marion Ramirez and a special appearance by percussionist Harold Smith who will be joining us on the didgeredoo.

The forecast is for a mostly sunny day with highs in the low 60’s with a bit of wind. Fine fall weather! I hope you can join us.

Directions

Driving:

From CC: take Kelly Drive (check your GPS as Kelly Drive may be closed tomorrow) or 76W to Lincoln Drive to the first traffic light (Rittenhouse). Turn right on Rittenhouse to first traffic light (Wissahickon) and turn left. Follow Wissahickon (you will cross Lincoln Drive) to Mt. Airy Ave (it’s the last cross street before Wissahickon curves sharply to the right to become Allens Lane. If you find yourself on the curve you’ve gone too far). Left on Mt. Airy Ave. Drive one block to the end of the road. Park along the street. The entrance to the park is at the end of the street. You will find us along the path(s).

From North Philadelphia: Take Broad Street North to Venango (just past Temple Hospital). Turn left on Venago and follow it to Erie. Cross Erie. Venango become Wissahickon Ave. Continue on Wissahickon to Mt Airy Ave ( see directions above)

Public transport:

Regional Rail: The R8 Chestnut Hill West Line will get you reasonably close and there is a train that arrives at the Allens Lane Station at 10:15. Walk west along Allen’s Lane and follow the road as it curves around to the left (it becomes Wissahickon Ave). The first cross street after the curve is Mt. Airy Ave. Turn right onto Mt. Airy Ave. The entrance to the park is at the end of the road (2 blocks). http://septa.org/schedules/rail/index.html

Buses: The H bus gets you reasonably close. Get off on McCalum and Mt. Pleasant. Walk one block north to Mt. Airy Ave. Turn left. Walk along Mt Airy Ave to the end (about 5 or 6 blocks).

Biking: From CC: Take Kelly Drive until it end on Ridge. Cross Ridge and enter the Park. Follow Forbidden Drive to the Mt. Airy Ave Bridge (it’s the one after the Kitchen’s Lane Bridge) Cross the bridge and go up the hill. You will find us along the path(s).

Photo: Pepon Osorio

The Sister Projects and WISSAHICKON REUNION—Sunday Oct 23, 10:30 AM

When I was invited by Jennifer McGregor to conduct a one-year project at Wave Hill, I was overjoyed. It’s a phenomenal opportunity to perform branch dancing in New York City at Wave Hill. New York New York! The Bronx! The old hood! All my friends! I am excited to be able to share Branch Dances @ Wave Hill with you!

AND then there’s my new home, Philadelphia, and the beautiful Wissahickon Woods where the branch dances were born. The NY project provides a structure for developing a similar project at home in Philadephia; hence Wissahickon Reunion. I want to lovingly revisit (on a modest scale) the One Year Wissahickon Project (OYWPP) which moved all who participated. Jumatatu Poe, Shavon Norris, and Olive Prince are back, yay! Toshi Makihara and Noemi Segarra, though not physically present, will be present in our memories. Joining us for the first time are Beau Hancock, Marion Ramirez, and Tigger Benford; and on October 23, Harold Smith with be accompanying us on the didgeridoo.

The first performance of Wissahickon Reunion will be a “fairy” performance; audiences will find us along the path from Mt. Airy Ave to the Mt Airy Avenue bridge. Audiences are encouraged to block out some time to wander along the paths and enjoy a respite from the city. Bring a snack and water, have a picnic! The woods are glorious these days --- the brisk air, the dancing light, and changing leaves, and the wind, make it quite magical. Make sure to wear proper clothing, sun glasses, and walking shoes with grip. The recent rains have caused much erosion and the paths are a bit treacherous. You may want to pick up a walking stick!

Like OYWPP, Wissahickon Reunion performances will be held Sundays at 10:30AM. Give yourself some time to get lost and found! All performances will be held rain or shine; cancellations only in extreme weather. Audiences should check this blog on the morning of the performances for up to date information.

Photos of OYWPP: Pepon Osorio

Announcing 2 cycles of performances in Philadelphia and NYC

Merián Soto/Performance Practice announces two one-year cycles of Branch Dances that will take place in Philadelphia and New York City, beginning in October 2011. Each series, the Wissahickon Reunion and Branch Dances at Wave Hill, will consist of four outdoor performances, one each season spanning from October 2011- June 2012. Soto is joined for these performances by dancers: Beau Hancock, Shavon Norris, Jumatatu Poe, Olive Prince, and Marion Ramírez. Acclaimed musician Robert “Tigger” Benford will create and perform the music.

Branch Dances at Wave Hill

Wave Hill, a 28-acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades, has commissioned award-winning choreographer Merián Soto to return to the Bronx, her artistic home, to develop a site-specific project during a one-year residency. Soto’s project is part of Wave Hill’s 2011–2012 generated@wavehill commission, a program that provides artists the opportunity to create temporal work for the grounds. Over the next 12 months, Soto will develop and perform Branch Dances at Wave Hill.

This project was generated from Pepatian's APAP@HOME 2011 series in the South Bronx, and is further supported by project manager Jane Gabriels.

The first Branch Dances at Wave Hill performance takes place Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 3:00pm. Performances are free with admission to the grounds. The schedule for the entire series is as follows:

Fall: Saturday, October 29, 2011 (Target Free Morning)

Winter: Saturday, January 7, 2012 (Target Free Morning)

Spring: Sunday, April 22, 2012

Summer: Saturday, June 23, 2012 (Target Free Morning)

For more info see: Wave Hill

Wissahickon Reunion

Wissahickon Reunion revisits the award-winning One Year Wissahickon Park Project which investigated correspondences between movement, the elements, physical experience, alignment and balance, consciousness, and performance. Performances will take place on Sundays at 10:30am, rain or shine. Cancellations will be only in extreme weather.

Wissahickon Reunion performance dates are:

Fall: October 23, 2011

Winter: January 15, 2012

Spring: April 15, 2012

Summer: June 17, 2012

Back in Rehearsal

To prepare to get back into branch dancing we lay on 18" balls, letting go into gravity as if hanging off the ball. We slow down and allow ourselves to go to the edge of intensity. When its too much, we pull back from the point of contact with the ball, not all the way, just enough to continue to ride the edge of the movement and sensation. We go back to the practice of evenly matching the quality of energy at the point of contact throughout the body. And, we let the body stretch itself, hang itself.

As we slowly rise from our prone positions we pay attention to the closed circuit of energy between the hands and the feet that is created by our simultaneous attention to these. The four points establish parameters of a circuit of energy. Our attention and perception activate and sustain the circuit, respectively.

We move into the practice of hanging off/from the vertical branch. We continue to pay attention to the circuit created by the hands and feet. The hands now hold the branch vertical to the ground. We experience how our perception of earth's gravitational pull is magnified through holding and sensing the branch. We practice evenly matching the quality of energy at the point of contact, in this case the hands, throughout the body. We practice of evenly matching the quality of the feet (the point of contact to the earth), to the hands (the point of contact to the branch), and then throughout the body. Attention on two or more foci generates energetic connections and movement impulses throughout the body. We practice choosing different pathways hanging in various ways from the branch.

We practice holding the branch horizontally while imagining we still are hanging from it. The muscles retain the memory of hanging and in recalling they imitate, the rest of the body follows. The joints of the feet, legs, and hips open to support this fiction. We ask ourselves, what is moving up to support the the branch? what is hanging?

Now we arrive at the piece, Winter Dance. Its a simple dance; each dancer moves across the projected environment on a slow journey of relationships between the image, the shadows we create, and each other. We move for a while; we step out and watch each other. We identify and look for ways of magnifying potential relationships. We arrive at a score.

Marion comments on how the way the light from the projector gets cut off at the feet makes her think of the feet sinking into the snow. Beau remembers dancing on Lake Erie, the cracking ice under our feet. The piece begins to unfold.

Beau Hancock, Marion Ramirez, and I will be performing Winter Dance at Pregones Theater in Da Bronx on Jan 7.