NYC Sparkworks

I had to cancel the meeting today. But at least it was for fire related reasons. I am working as a fire consultant on an indie video shoot.

I’ve done videos before, but this is very dance oriented. Vanessa is the choreographer for FischerSpooner and her quirky style of Jazz translates well to video. Even more intrigueing is that there is a hand cranked Bolex 16mm shooting in tandem with the DV cam.

I can’t take too many pictures because I have to be responsible for fire, but I am getting a few

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Here it is. Goddard I am not, but it doesn’t suck. I tried to get everybody in there, but the bottom line was footage and time. It’s 6 minutes now, I think I can tighten it up a bit more. I welcome your comments and suggestions. That’s why it’s a rough cut. The music is not meant for the final cut. It just happened to be about right and there were a number of serendipitous synchronicities. I am a sucker for those.

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sany0030

What can I say? That was crazy awesome.

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6-5-08 rehearsal

Great work everybody. This is starting to really come together! Today we finished working out the scores for each instrument. As usual we took a few hits. (Send magic healing rays to Sandhi’s sacrum. Did I mention this stuff is hard?) We also grew by 2 new members. Welcome to the fold Amy and Catherine!

So what did we learn today?

While we still had light I shot the 3 jumps for the rope darters they are posted on the site here!

http://www.nycsparkworks.org/?page_id=33

The rope darters drilled these movements until they were as natural as walking. If we can get the mechanics smooth this is going to be hot.

Next we worked out the balancing for staff. After a fair amount of faceplanting we worked out the movements for the score:

Staff counterbalance: The base settles into a deep center stance ready to lean back with the staff close to their body. The flyer places one foot near the hip socket and steps upward using the staff for balance. Once both feet are in place both partners can straighten their arms and lean back. Never arch your back on this one!

Backlift (a.k.a:Yoke of Christ!): The base gets their back underneath the flyer for a simple lift. The flyer strikes a dramatic pose.

Rolloff: From the back lift the flyer brings their legs up and over rolling backwards until their feet land firmly on the ground. The base flattens out to horizontal and lets the flyer dismount with their own energy.

Partner Windmill: Each partner holds the staff and steps behind in the same direction. With a deep arch they twist around until they face each other again.

Flagpole: The flyer plants the staff into the ground and places their foot in the hip socket of the base. The base reaches over the flyers top leg and behind and under their hips. The flyer lifts their lower leg to be fully supported by the base.

Finally the hoops laid out their score. I am not the most qualified hooper so I leave it to one of you to write out those moves.

Our next rehearsal is Sunday evening. We are just going to drill in what we know until it looks like we aren’t even trying. We have enough material, so we aren’t learning anything new until after the video. I think we are holding out for a rooftop otherwise the park was pretty nice.

We got a lot done today and I think we should all be proud. Most importantly it looked like we were all having fun and learning some new things. Thank you all for your cooperation and hard work.

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That went well. So what did we learn?

New Members!
Welcome Tash and Sean and Bomi. You guys did a great job getting caught up. I am glad to have you on the crew. While I am really glad to have more people, it is getting late in the year. The window for being in the core group is going to close after the video. (Somebody forward this to Matt so we can get him started.)

The Video!
First we need to get this video done and we need to pack in the rehearsals. Consequently, we are going to have a surge in rehearsals next month. The dates are:
Thursday the 5th 8PM
Sunday the 8th 7PM
Tuesday the 10th 8PM
I know we all said we could make those dates, but do send me an email to confirm or cancel. I really need to know who is coming to which rehearsal.

Lets talk about rehearsal.

Ropedart Braves! That was some pretty rough and tumble work up there guys! You all looked like a bunch of savages, but Rousseauian noble savages. This stuff is definitely hard, but we are learning very quickly. Everything you do will be a variation on the score you learned last night.
I will break down the elements of this score later this week when I can video the moves and post them on the sparkworks site. For now, if you have the time you can practice your ropedart parkour moves. Just kick off of a wall, fixed object, or large dog to change directions. It will improve your foot sensitivity. (Let me know if you get up to the backflip I always faceplant on that one.)

The Yoke of Christ! (That may be culturally insensitive, let me know and I will tone it down.) We learned two simple lifts that we can use to get in and out of the performance area. These are easy movements that bring out some of the themes we are after. If this move was hard for you and/or you missed the first rehearsal come a little early next time and we can get up to speed on lifting.

Overall excellent work. Next time the Ropedart Braves will continue running through the score, figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Meanwhile, the Hoopcore will get some moves of their own.

Finally, stuff on the website! I got a little video camera to shoot rehearsal. I will get into the habit of posting the videos on the site. Later this week I will shoot the jumps from ropedart score. Let me know if there is anything you want me to shoot at rehearsal.

Just to make you feel more comfortable, here I am flailing with my rope dart.

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From Crimson Rose…

Congratulations to the 2007 Fire Conclave members.

It would be an honor to have each and everyone of the following
groups join the Fire Conclave within the Great Circle this year.
Thank you for submitting the media and all the work that you and
everyone in your group has done.

NEXT PROCESS
I will be sending information to each group with some comments about
your dance and the next steps.

So good work everybody, but really we are only halfway there. Because of this year’s stricter policies, we are a lean and mean group this year. I was counting on people joining us later in the game, but that just isn’t going to happen. Instead I had to cut some folks, ouch. Right now everybody reading this has attended the rehearsals and participated in the video. If you haven’t done both, you have had a conversation with me about how to make up for it. We’re all professionals here, and we all have obligations outside of this show, but some folks have already given so much and there are only a few more rehearsals. Whatever happens in the next few weeks, honor the efforts of the rest of the conclave. We are all counting on each other.

So on to the preparations!
The costuming has got be stepped up. We have only a few masks for the birds, and almost nothing for the trees. If you haven’t been fitted for a mask yet we have get you started. I am crazy about these masks because they are the costume element that will unify our group. If you already have a mask, then it’s time to move on to the rest of your costume. I have something for the birds, but I need to interact with you hoopers more to figure out what is going to work for you. Also, Firewatch is NOT exempt from costuming. You are as much a part of this show as a performer.
I propose we spend this Sunday afternoon masking and costuming. Let’s say 4-8PM. Some folks can’t make this, so I’m thinking next Sunday we double up and do an afternoon of costumes for those who can’t make this weekend followed by an evening rehearsal. At both costume sessions I will include a short Viewpoints rehearsal.
If you cannot make either session I really need to know. Maybe we can schedule a weekday session. After this we will return to our posted rehearsal schedule.

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I haven’t heard from Crimson about our video yet. She will be look it over and let us know her decision as soon as possible. Since we don’t even know if we are in the conclave yet I would like to hold off on having an official rehearsal for Sunday. Instead I would like to invite you the plethora of events going on in the next week.

On Saturday, at around 11PM The Danger will be thowing a party at Rebel, 251 West 30th St.This party will raise funds for a free event the following week. I will be busting nerd rhymes with Autophage on the late late ~2:30
http://www.thedanger.com/spread.html

If you want to do something more outdoorsy, there is Figment festival on Governors Island.
It takes place from 11-5 on Sunday. Apparently, I will be doing a reenactment of the Viscount Edward Hyde Cornbury he was one of the first Governors on the island and its most famous transvestite.
http://www.figmentnyc.org/

Finally, Next Saturday is One night of Fire. Featuring… us, if you guys are into it. Deb is going to be leading the fire spinning on that, and I will try to get a plan from her. If we still haven’t heard from Crimson by Wednesday we might want to work on what we are going to do for this event
http://www.thedanger.com/

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Posted here and on it’s own page is our video submission for this year’s conclave. Special thanks to Andreas who shot and edited everything. We will have to save his firewhip for the playa I guess. And thanks to our fire watch who did more poi extinguishing in one night than most people do all summer. Clearly its a work in progress, but there are definitely some of the moments we are after in there. Given a few more rehearsals and some acutal music we are sure to sparkle. This is as much of a tool for us as it is for Crimson. Look for what you like and don’t like so we know what to work on.

I must say it was actually pretty challenging to flit to and fro while spinning fire. It’s just not something that poi or hoopers do so it takes some getting used to, but that is what makes this something new and interesting.

Remember kids, it’s easy to start a fire…fun too!

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It has been decided that just getting everybody together is enough of a logistical nightmare without carpooling out to an empty airstrip by JFK. Maybe later in the summer if we want to go all out with fire. So…

Sunday Night Audition Video Shoot!
7-9 PM
The Band Shell of the East River Park!
Be There! For real yo!

Map to Location:

To bring:
Your Mask (If you made one)
Appropriate color scheme
Poi : Bright Reds and Blue (cuz ur birds!)
Hoopers: Greens and Browns (treees!)
Staff or Whip: Dark Reds and Black (Like all ogres do!)
Your instrument of choice both fire and non

Ummm Patience and a can do attitude?

What we will do:
We have 4 patterns that we worked out on Wednesday. We will review them all then run through and shoot them without fire. When it gets to be twighlight we will shoot the more manageable patterns with fire. If you have something special and amazing to do as a soloist we will get to it at the end or at an auxillary shoot next week.

And that’s it! Let’s try to keep things as simple as possible with no last minute changes. Also, if we can all get there at 7PM we will wrap that much sooner.

Bravo in advance

Ben

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